Heartland Visioning - Government

To continue our series of entries on the Hearland Visioning draft plan, here is my brief descripiton and take on the Government section.

First of all, I was very surprised to find that this section is only one short page. Maybe that is good thing, because the key to this Vision becoming a reality is the people in the community and private investment, not relying on the government to make it happen.  We do however need their support and some items in the Vision do & will fall in the public realm of government responsibilities.

The Vision for Governement is: Shawnee County will have streamlined, efficient governments that work with state and federal governments to create a better quality of life for all Shawnee County. I think the important words to note in this are efficient and streamlined. I don’t know if there are many people that would describe our local government with quite those words currently, but to move forward & grow, we do a an efficient & streamlined government. Read the rest of this entry »

Heartland Visioning::Infrastructure

First, I’d like to apologize for being remiss about getting this up sooner.  Now, for the review:

The vision listed under infrastructure is as follows:  Shawnee County will build a community that promotes learning, health, safety and growth for all residents through long-term planning and best practices. I think this is probably a pretty fair assessment of just about all people everywhere :)  Who doesn’t want this?  But it is among the top 10 issues that were deemed the most important in our county.  In fact, this section addresses 3 of the top ten issues.  Here’s a copy of it so you to follow along.

The strategies are broken into 10 areas of infrastructure… almost like a wish list.   We’ve all mentioned this before, but this is an ala carte type of thing.

Read the rest of this entry »

  • denise
  • October 21st, 2008
  • No Comments    
  • City Government, Getting Involved, Improvements, Topeka News, Vision

Heartland Visioning - Part 2

I have taken a close look at the Long Term Strategic Plan, page 15 (Click here for the PDF), in the draft vision. This one page is the overall summary and broad goals for the process: the core values, vision, and key benchmarks.

I found the Core Values to be very powerful. Being a member of the Task Force I was able to vote on these, and I hope they are representative of what the community would want it’s values to be: Trust, Innovation, Positive Attitude, Integrity, and Faith in God. I found it very interesting that Trust every week that we voted was always the number one value. It is something that we are very much missing in this community and if we can repair the trust within the community, I think this would be a successful process. If we use these five values to guide the decisions of the community, hopefully in the future we can use these to actually describe our community. I would love to one day say that Topeka is an innovative city with people that have a lot of integrity.

The Vision is really the very broad framework to guide our efforts and hopefully get all of the community, government and organizations working towards the same goal. In theory I think it is hard to argue with any of the Vision points. Who wouldn’t want to live in a city that did all of these. How we get these accomplished is the tough question, but I think the importance is that we all buy into these, even if some parts seem almost unattainable. We have to start believing that we can make this city better. It will be a long process and we may never make all parts of the Vision come true, but isn’t it worth a try? Read the rest of this entry »

Heartland Visioning - Review Pt 1

Over the next few weeks we will be slowly going through the Heartland Visioning draft. Page 3 of the draft has a Comments and Input Form, this is a great way to send in your thoughts on some of the points and ideas in the plan.

Let me say up front that this plan does not appear to me to be a “take all or leave it” situation. There are good ideas laid out just as there are (in my opinion) bad ideas. One of the wonderful things about America, that I sometimes think we forget, is that we can disagree while still appreciating each others differences of opinion. Respect is the name of the game. If you disagree with someone, that’s ok, just explain your reasoning and don’t belittle. The way you treat others is a great reflection of how you feel about yourself.

I’m going to start with the Call to Action (page 4), going kind of point by point of some of the items I see that stand out.

1. “…1,500 citizens…” - A personal thanks to all who got involved. Everyone has a sphere of influence, it is great to see people trying to expand their spheres.

2. “We are in a downward spiral. Our population is growing older. Not enough skilled young workers are available to replace those who will be retiring. The tax base is shrinking. Those left are paying more, yer services are decreasing. Our quality of life is diminishing. We are slowly dying on the vine.” - Reading this gave me a positive first impression of the draft. We can’t fix the problem if we aren’t dealing in reality. Many of us see this with our own eyes (and pocketbooks) and understand the situation. I think this pretty much nails the situation on the head.

3. “…increase the size of its available workforce…retain existing workforce…making our community attractive to young workers…grow business and our economy…expand our tax base” - This is the crux of it all, summed up. Businesses create jobs, jobs need workers, attractive community will bring the workers in, tax base expands (Topeka expands possibly), economy increases, cost per citizen goes down, quality of life increases. It is all interconnected.

Read the rest of this entry »

  • Travis Gooden
  • September 25th, 2008
  • 1 Comment    
  • Topeka News, Vision
  • ,

Visioning reveals true colors

The following is a link to an op-ed by Mike Hall of the Topeka Capital Journal. He attended the most recent Heartland Visioning Task Force meeting.

Read the blog at http://blogs.cjonline.com/index.php?entry=7633

Being an intentional Topekan

One of the frequent things heard (and I’ve been one to say it) is that there is nothing to do in Topeka. Being a part of this group has made me ponder how I think about Topeka. So, last month I made a choice to rediscover Topeka. Here is what I’ve enjoyed:

  • Marion Lane Candles on Kansas Ave - I’d always wanted to go, but never really made the effort to go there. It is a beautiful shop and has really lovely staff people. My home is now full of candles that were locally made.
  • Millennium Cafe in the Topeka & Shawnee County Library - I’ve starting going there about once a month to have lunch with friends. It’s not far from my house and offers a healthy alternative to what I usually consume :)
  • Helen Hocker Theater - Another place I’ve meant to go. My husband, brother-in-law and his wife and I enjoyed an afternoon of a fun musical filled with ’80s music and references… Bueller, Bueller…. it was fun!
  • Annie’s Place - this is a usual favorite, but a Topeka-specific restaurant.
  • Brickyard Barn Inn - I attended a Chamber Fast Forward Event that was held there this month. It is a beautiful, serene place. The food’s good too. (Yep! I enjoy food!)
  • Classic Bean - I met a dear friend there about a week ago. I’m not a big coffee drinker (but I enjoy the smell!).
  • The Blind Tiger - a marketing information meeting was hosted by the Blind Tiger. Yummy sandwich and fun atmosphere.
  • Collins Park - Independence Day parade… it’s become a bit of a tradition in the family.
  • Topeka West High - I attended one of the Heartland Visioning Community meetings there. Have you taken the time to get involved?

Places on my list to go to this month:

  • Lily’s - it’s a new specialty shop for women in the Gage Shopping Center. I plan on checking it out.
  • Brick Oven - It’s seems so long since I’ve gone there. (Don’t be fooled, this is not a chain.) I need to find an excuse to go… any takers?
  • Boss Hawg’s - I’m so glad that Fast Forward will be held there this month.

My challenge to you is to find what Topeka holds for you. True, some things may be a bit off the beaten path. But I dare you to stop the next time you’re thinking of heading out of town for something, to take pause and check to see if what you are looking for might just be right around the corner.

  • denise
  • July 14th, 2008
  • 17 Comments    
  • Getting Involved, Vision
  • , ,

Visioning Meeting Pt.3

Process narrows visioning priorities

After 3 meetings, developing the local economy tops the public’s list

By Tim Hrenchir

The Capital-Journal
Published Friday, June 20, 2008

Economic development should be Topeka and Shawnee County’s top priority while better governance should come in second.

Improving the community’s quality of life, education and self-image are third, fourth and fifth, respectively, on the priority list.

Mike Burley / The Capital-Journal

Jerry Farley

That was the consensus of more than 650 people who took part in three community "visioning" meetings this week to share ideas for making Topeka and Shawnee County a better place.

Read more here http://cjonline.com/stories/062008/bus_292968006.shtml

  • Travis Gooden
  • June 20th, 2008
  • 1 Comment    
  • Getting Involved, Topeka News, Vision
  • , ,
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