ADAIRSVILLE, Ga. — The Roswell City Council hunkered down with city department heads at their annual planning retreat, focusing on working out the kinks that clog communication channels and erode internal and public trust.
The session, held in Adairsville Feb. 20-23, was facilitated by Peter Sorckoff, whose consulting company Seer World applies behavioral science to business problems. Through a number of exercises, elected officials and city staff aired grievances on how information is shared among them and to the community.
One element raised involved City Council liaisons, council members assigned to monitor and interact with a specific department, like transportation or public safety.
While the intent of council liaisons is to give the low-down to the rest of the council on agenda items before decisions are made, or before they arrive at council committee meetings, Deputy City Administrator Sharon Izzo said city staff found that isn’t happening.
Deputy City Administrator Jeff Leatherman added that there’s no system in place to address how council liaisons and staff effectively respond to the overwhelming number of emails from residents.
But, Mayor Kurt Wilson said the current council is much different from years past, in terms of engagement and cooperation. He said past councilmembers have been guilty of pigeon-holing information from one another.
“Historically, there were real silos,” Wilson said.
Setting goals
A primary objective to the retreat was having elected officials and department heads draft goals. Altogether, staff refined its list from dozens to a few overarching goals to be solidified in future weeks.
Infrastructure projects spanned from Big Creek Parkway, the city’s parking strategy to hiring a program manager for the city’s Capital Improvement Plan. Dozens of projects were also identified under…
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