AUBURN – Thrifty spending, open communications and economic development for small and large businesses are part of the city’s goals for the coming year.
The City Council will formally adopt a set of goals at a regular meeting next month.
“Your goals should align directly with the budget,” said City Manager Pat Finnigan. “It gives staff a guide to the council’s priorities for spending for the coming year.”
Finnigan said she’d be bringing her budget to councilors in May.
Work on council goals began in February. Each councilor gave Finnigan their most important short- and long-term goals. She summarized them and put them into a list that she presented at Monday’s workshop.
Councilors didn’t debate the merits of individual goals at Monday’s workshop but spent the time cleaning up the list and combining similarly worded goals. For example, several councilors said keeping taxes level was a priority. They also agreed that they needed to make sure the city is friendly to small business.
“We can put those together, in one sentence,” said City Councilor Bethel Shields.
Communication is another goal. Councilors said they want better communication between staff and council, with the School Department and with Auburn residents.
“If you look at this list, I think it’s significant how many of our goals have to do with communication,” said Councilor Eric Samson. “I guess that’s one area everyone agrees we can improve upon.”
One possible solution was to create a non-voting spot on the City Council for a member of the School Committee. Mayor Normand Guay suggested having the Auburn Charter Commission review that idea.
But Guay said the city has made huge strides in that area in the past month. All City Council meetings are now broadcast on Great Falls TV and all council packets are posted on the city’s Web site.
“I think there’s no question that people have much better access to what we do than they ever have,” Guay said.
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