2014/04/23 Council Agenda Packet

' } Everett Fire Department Strategic Plan—2013 Planning Methodology "Plans are only good intentions unless ' they immediately degenerate into hard work." —Peter Drucker ' As the quote above suggests, a plan does not change anything if not followed by immediate action to implement it. But change starts with a plan. In order for any organization, public or private, to reach its full potential, it must have a plan. An organization that knows where it is going, knows the environment in which it must operate, and identifies how to get there has the best chance to meet the needs of its community and achieve its vision. This planning process has served to refresh the organization's commitment to professionalism and set the path toward future success. ' The approach taken in this planning process includes an in-depth environmental scan from three perspectives—the elected officials; the community being served; and the internal fire department staff, including line, management, and support positions. The feedback from each of these areas is summarized below. ' The Elected Officials All but one of the elected officials for the City of Everett was interviewed by the ESCI team on the first day of the site visit. The council members were interviewed in small groups. The common perspective ' they shared was that the community has tremendous pride and respect for its fire department, and the council places a high value on the service provided by the fire department. The council has pride in the ' way the fire department conducts itself in providing its core services to the community and in the image the fire department projects to the community while performing those services. Many council members also expressed concern or frustration that the economy places the city in a difficult position of choosing what will be funded and to what level, given that the community also values keeping their taxes in check. Some council members expressed consternation at the conflict with labor and how that conflict is occasionally aired in public. Most council members interviewed admitted ' that they were often confused at data being provided to them—some by fire management and some by fire labor—which appear to either be in conflict with each other or use different data sources to draw ' different conclusions. Thus, council does not know how to turn the data into any sort of course action. The result is typically status quo. Page 3