Manhattan brands new strategic plan effort; website goes live

The City of Manhattan has branded its 8-month strategic planning effort approved last month as “CrossroadsMHK: Shape what matters. Choose our path.”

In addition to the name, the city has scheduled the first round of public engagement meetings for the week of March 22 as the city looks to develop a city-wide strategic plan to guide decision making and investment. On a recent edition of In Focus, City Manager Ron Fehr called the development of the plan a vision for the community.

“It’s also a community plan and the services that the city provides to its constituents and the taxpayers and how do we deliver those and what’s the aspirations of the community as a result of this organization,” he said.

City commissioners unanimously approved an agreement in January with Ohio consulting firm Planning NEXT to help the city undertake the effort.

“Manhattan has never created a strategic plan focused solely on the responsibilities and initiatives of our City government,” said Jared Wasinger, Assistant to the City Manager. “This plan will help prioritize city services, programs, projects and future investments to continue making Manhattan a great place to live. City staff and the City Commission are asking the community to get involved and contribute their ideas and thoughts about how they want their City to run.”

Virtual community engagement meetings are scheduled noon to 1 p.m. on March 22; 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. on March 23; 7 to 8 p.m. on March 24 and 6 to 7 p.m. on March 25.

Registration is available at engagemhk.org/crossroads.