A new strategic plan for the City of Flin Flon will give the next council direction from the community as a whole.
All available members of Flin Flon city council and senior administration met with facilitators Eve O’Leary and Becky Cianflone on June 25 and 26 for two half-day workshops, where they identified strengths and opportunities for the city.
“It’s the beginning of a process, because it’s going to involve the whole community,” said Cal Huntley, mayor of Flin Flon.
“They start by compiling information from us, then staff and employees, and on to the citizens of Flin Flon.”
The workshop consisted of identifying what council and the city’s upper management deemed as priorities, though Huntley said those priorities may not indicate the direction of the plan as a whole, due to the community nature of the document. Regardless, he is enthusiastic about it.
“I’m even more excited now. We’ve gone through the two half days, we have a comfort with the process,” said Huntley, who praised the facilitators of the workshop.
Eve O’Leary, regional economic development officer and facilitator for the plan said the workshops held to direct the plan will be modified to suit the group that is being engaged.
“The City of Flin Flon is using an appreciative inquiry methodology that focuses on an inspirational, creative process that moves the City of Flin Flon towards achieving its fundamental dreams of planning the future of Flin Flon alongside the entire community,” said O’Leary, who added that a normal strategic plan covers between three and five years.
“This plan’s timelines will be determined when strategies and action are identified throughout the engagement process.”
Huntley said the strategic plan will give some direction to the next mayor and council that comes directly from local stakeholders.
“I think what we want to do is try to break the four-year cycle, so there would be something in place indicating direction – direction from the community, not the previous council. It’s going to take some effort to prepare,” he said.
From an administrative point of view, Glenna Daschuk, municipal administrator for the City of Flin Flon said the plan will provide administration and department heads with priorities in terms of planning purposes and budgeting.
“We’re just kind of putting down on paper what we’ve done in conversations in the past,” said Daschuk, adding the plan will give focus to the city’s actions.
“[Sometimes] instead of going down path A, it’s easy to say ‘Well, maybe we should do path B.’ This [plan] will say ‘No, path A is important.’ It’s giving us the priorities of where we need to be focused.”
Daschuk echoed Huntley’s enthusiasm for the process.
“Strategic planning is a process that is a definite benefit in this type of an organization, because now we have sat down together, ad we’ve all been at the table to identify what the priorities are. We’re working together as a team now, and everybody understands the priorities that have been set. It will make for a lot more focus and understanding of what we’re up to and why.”
Though ownership of the document would sit with the City of Flin Flon, the process for creating the plan will indicate input and direction from other stakeholders in the community, along with employees, staff, management and mayor and council.
Though the plan will help direct the next council, it likely won’t be complete before the municipal election in October.
“The strategic plan will not be done before the election. The process will be well on its way, and we’re hoping it will significantly help whoever is on the next council,” said Huntley.
O’Leary said a definitive timeline has not been determined for the completion of the plan, but hopes it will be in its final stages at the beginning of 2019.
“I think it’s going to be a good vehicle to engage the community going forward, and helpful to everybody who is part of the City of Flin Flon,” said Huntley.
