City manager starts strategic planning process for Iowa City

IOWA CITY – When the City Council was looking for a city manager last year, it made clear that having the new hire develop a strategic planning and goal setting process for the city was a high priority.

Now that City Manager Tom Markus has been on the job four months, he's getting started on that work.

Markus is recommending the city hire Iowa City-based the Thomas Group to conduct two telephone surveys, one of business owners and another of citizens.

He also wants to hire the Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Iowa to, using the survey results as background, hold focus groups with city staff and the City Council to identify and prioritize goals for the next two to four years and develop strategies to meet those goals.

At its Tuesday meeting, the council will be asked to approve agreements with each organization. The Thomas Group would be paid $9,460, and the Institute of Public Affairs $3,000.

The surveys would occur this spring and summer, Markus said, with the Institute of Public Affairs facilitating the goal setting process next fall. That work would carry over past the November election, when at least two new council members will be elected, he said.