In
response to changing trends and the political and
economic landscape in the late 1980s, the City Council
and Mayor Bud Clark called for Portland’s first
City-led and community-owned effort to plan for
a greater future for the city. The two-year process
was funded by the City, with an initial contribution
from the Portland Business Association.
The goal of Portland Future Focus (PFF) was to
engage citizens in creating a vision of Portland
in the year 2000. This vision, born from the values
and expressed needs of Portlanders, would shape
a strategic plan outlining clear and definable goals
and strategies to guide Portland’s growth and to
ensure that the city’s future was a self-determined
one, rather than a mere adaptation of its circumstance
and surroundings.
In 1989, 55 leaders from a cross-section of community
interests were chosen by the mayor and project staff
to examine current trends and to create a preferred
vision of the future.
Citizen Involvement
Portland Future Focus was an ambitious initiative,
and boasted broad-scale involvement for a city of
its size. Many public engagement methods were utilized
throughout the process to gather the data needed
to create Portland’s vision, including a survey
of community values, a speaker’s bureau, eight major
policy meetings, open work group meetings and a
newsletter.
The Vision
By the year 2000, Portland residents wished to
see a culturally diverse urban center that had preserved
both its history and environmental integrity, and
that remained the core of the region’s economy.
Children and families were recognized as the community’s
top priority, as was promoting understanding of
and appreciation for Portland’s increasingly diverse
population. This vision, or preferred future, spoke
to the city’s desire for a nationally-ranked education
system, distinct neighborhoods and housing opportunities,
a vibrant arts community and lower crime rates.
A regional focus and strong cooperation between
jurisdictions, as well as forging new, lasting partnerships
between local agencies and organizations, were seen
as critical to reaching all of these goals.
The Plan
As a result of the comprehensive nature of community
needs and the resulting vision statement, Portland’s
strategic plan addressed a broad number of issue
areas. Designed by Future Focus working groups made
up of community experts, stakeholders, policy committee
members, and local consultants, its six action plans
concentrated on the same focus areas as the vision
statement:
- Crime
- Diversity
- Economy
- Education
- Growth management
- Leadership
Each work group was charged with the task of designing
appropriate action plan items to reach the community’s
six most critical goals. Draft action plans became
refined and finalized through a series of public
hearings hosted by the policy committee.
Implementation and
Results
Various stakeholders throughout the city joined
to work collaboratively towards the successful implementation
of specific programs. The most lasting results,
however, were the partnerships formed as a result
of cooperative efforts throughout the process. According
to Debbie McCabe, Project Manager for Future Focus,
“the individuals involved were very invested in
the process,” and their ability to lead and to influence
others “resulted in terrific recommendations” and
lasting collaboration. Associations like the Citizens’
Crime Commission became much stronger in the community,
as did dialogue among Portland business owners.
The efforts of working groups contributed to the
way we as a community address social issues. Among
other lasting trends, there emerged a reprioritization
in education towards early outreach and intervention.
Drawing from the innovative work of the Oregon
Progress Board, the City of Portland and Multnomah
County created the Portland Multnomah Progress board
in 1994 to design and implement benchmarks (concrete,
numerical indicators) used to monitor progress and
measure success in achieving public goals. Many
of today’s benchmarks grew from Portland Future
Focus’ action plans and are reflective of the project’s
ambitions.
Building on Portland
Future Focus
Portland Future Focus was successful in developing
strong partnerships and a benchmark system to measure
performance. After over 15 years, both the partnerships
and the benchmarks need to be reinvigorated. visionPDX
has laid a foundation for this work, as well as
raising the bar for public engagement.
Furthermore, visionPDX has been strongly integrated
into planning efforts, like the Portland Plan and
the Vision into Action Coalition. These efforts
will follow the adoption of visionPDX, ensuring
that the priorities identified in the visioning
process will be integrated into the City budget
process as well as the day-today and year-to-year
decisions about programs and priorities.
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