The City of Union City is starting the year off with a Strategic Plan, which sets city goals through the year 2025. The Strategic Plan contains a renewed mission and vision for the City, along with five multi-year goals that will guide decision-making and resources for the next five years.

The five multi-year goals cover the areas of (A) Financial Stability and Sustainability, (B) Governance and Organization Effectiveness, (C) Economic, Community Development and Public Safety, (D) Environmental Sustainability and Infrastructure, and (E) Communication and Outreach.

Of top priority, the City Council identified nine strategies for the 2020—2022 fiscal years, which include:

• Establish a comprehensive fiscal stability and sustainability plan to address the General Fund’s long-term deficit.
• Determine the level of reauthorization of the public safety parcel tax and develop an informational plan.
• Reduce costs associated with the City’s fire contract with Alameda County.
• Align the provision of critical city services and Strategic Plan implementation with current staffing levels.
• Establish professional development plans for each employee to optimize staff resources, support their growth and demonstrate commitment to employees’ careers through a mentoring program and cross-training assignments.
• Analyze the feasibility of transforming warehouses to attract high-value industrial and commercial uses for the benefit of the community.
• Facilitate the build out of the greater Station District Area through the construction of the Quarry Lakes Parkway, upgrades to the BART Station, completion of the pedestrian rail crossing and the sale and development of city-owned land.
• Develop a multi-departmental approach to address homelessness through coordination with staff, community organizations and Alameda County.
• Conduct outreach and community education about City services, financial resources, areas of cost, and impacts of failed ballot measures.

Many of these strategies are well underway, including reductions in costs associated with the City’s fire contract with Alameda County by way of closing an underutilized fire station and the placement of Measure U, the City’s public safety parcel tax, on the March 3, 2020 Primary Election ballot. If approved by voters, Measure U would renew public safety funding that has been in place for 16 years.

Mayor Carol Dutra-Vernaci expresses, “To earn and keep the public’s trust, we have created a Strategic Plan, which was thoughtfully developed with input from the community and employees. I am confident that the City Council and I have built a plan that will improve our financial health and make our community more sustainable in the future. With a strong commitment to making data-driven decisions, we will be able to more effectively allocate our limited resources in the right areas.”  

Read the full Strategic Plan at www.unioncity.org/goals and head to our Youtube channel to watch a video about the Strategic Plan: https://youtu.be/lcN0Zzg6_90.