Iowa City establishes goals for next two years

IOWA CITY – City Council members, both present and future, set their priorities for the next 12 to 24 months as part of goal-setting session Tuesday.

The meeting was led by Jeff Schott of the University of Iowa's Institute of Public Affairs and included the seven City Council members, the three people recently elected to the council who take their seats in January and a few senior city staff.

The session was part of a strategic planning process advocated by City Manager Tom Markus. It already has included meeting with city employees and will continue Dec. 5 with the council reviewing ideas on how to improve organizational effectiveness to accomplish the goals, according to Schott's report of Tuesday's meeting.

The council's priorities, Schott said, were:

- Work with the Iowa City school district to invest in upgrading older schools and neighborhoods and to ensure new elementary schools help form neighborhoods designed for long-term stability.

- Develop a plan for commercial areas outside of downtown and Towncrest – two neighborhoods already the focus of redevelopment efforts – to increase commercial property tax revenues. Those could include the areas around Scott Boulevard and Rochester Avenue, Benton Street and Mormon Trek Boulevard and Sycamore Mall.

- Develop a comprehensive marketing and communications plan, such as all city departments using the same logo and tagline and being more proactive about providing information beyond news releases.