[Vision-l] Vision Implementation Needs Your Input

[Imagine Columbia’s Future]

City of Columbia
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 27, 2009
Contact:  Paula Hertwig Hopkins
Assistant City Manager
(573) 874-7214
or
Alternate Contact:  Renee Graham
Public Communications Officer
(573)874-7316
								        
                              
Public input sought for ‘Imagine Columbia’s Future’ vision
implementation draft report   

(COLUMBIA, MO) -- The visioning draft implementation report is
available for public review and comment during the next 30 days.
According to Assistant City Manager Paula Hertwig Hopkins, the comment
period, which runs through 5 p.m., Friday, Feb. 27, is a continuation of
the public involvement that has guided every step of the vision process.
“The vision plan began with community aspirations for Columbia’s
future. Now, we must decide how to turn vision goals and strategies into
community actions,” says Hertwig Hopkins.

Compiled by local visioning consultant The Communications Center Inc.,
the draft implementation report includes an inventory of existing
efforts, an inventory of new resources needed to accomplish identified
goals, groupings of goals and strategies, the identification of
organizations and entities that could be involved in implementation and
guidelines for convening public dialogues.

	
The Columbia Vision Commission will use the implementation report as a
tool for tracking vision progress and making implementation
recommendations to the City Council in two-year increments. Appointed by
the Council last month, the nine-member Columbia Vision Commission
recently selected its 2009 officers: Jeffrey Williams, Ph.D., will serve
as chair; Dan Goldstein, vice chair; and Julio Lorio, secretary. Other
members include M. Dianne Drainer, Tracy Greever-Rice, Lorenzo Lawson,
Jay Lindner, Philip Peters Jr. and Jan Weaver.

Hertwig Hopkins says that public input on the community resources
inventory is particularly important. “Columbia has citizens, churches,
clubs, organizations and businesses who are already working on community
issues outlined in the vision plan. If members of the public know of
projects, organizations or resources that aren’t in the current draft,
we need to hear from them. If members of the public have a passion for a
specific issue, we need to hear from them. By working together, we can
turn vision goals into community accomplishments,” says Hertwig
Hopkins.

How to view the report

●See the link on the city’s home page at www.GoColumbiaMo.com.
Click on the “Draft Vision Implementation Report” link under
“announcements,” or; 

●See the link on the Missourian Watchword Web site at
www.thewatchword.wordpress.com, or; 

●Request your own printed copy ($21) or a CD ($1). Contact Renee
Graham, public communications officer, at 874-7316 or at
RYG at GoColumbiaMo.com, or; 

●Inspect printed copies at the following locations:
Reception desk, main floor, City Hall, 701 E. Broadway
Columbia Public Library, 100 W. Broadway

Making comments

●E-mail The Communications Center Inc. at
bdinfo at buildingdialogue.com, or;

●Make anonymous comments online using one or more of the brief
surveys linked to the “Draft Vision Implementation Report” under
“announcements” on the city’s home page at
www.GoColumbiaMo.com,or;   

●Send mail comments to The Communications Center Inc., 1905 Cherry
Hill Drive, Columbia, MO 65203.

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