Residents and business owners in Elsmere are invited to share their ideas about the community’s future, at the Community Listening and Design Session, Thursday, Jan. 28.
The meeting marks the commencement of Elsmere’s first-ever strategic planning process.
Citizens and businesses are invited to work with the mayor and city council to establish a shared vision, priorities and strategies for the future of Elsmere.
The meeting will take place at the Elsmere Senior Center, 179 Dell Avenue. Refreshments will be served at 6:30 p.m. and the meeting begins at 7:00 p.m.
Everyone in the community is encouraged to participate.
What is a strategic plan?
It’s where citizen input shapes a community’s future. A strategic plan is a document based on resident, elected official, city staff, and business comments that becomes a guide for where Elsmere uses financial resources for the next 5 to 10 years. That’s why it is so important for the public to attend, so that each sector of Elsmere are well represented and their comments are heard.
What is a listening and design session?
Listening and design sessions are part of the planning process that gives Elsmere residents an opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns about the future of the community. Additionally, citizens can visualize their ideas with maps, pictures and markers, showing one another their ideas for the future of Elsmere. The session gives the citizens of Elsmere a voice on what they want for their families, businesses and future.
During the listening and design session, the Elsmere Mayor and City Council will become the audience. They put aside expectations about what they think they should hear and instead focus on what citizens are actually saying.
This will provide community leaders with an opportunity to gain valuable information they might not hear in any other context.
Listening and Design Sessions are convened for many reasons, particularly to hear from citizens and businesses.
The goal is to hear the ideas, suggestions and concerns and establish priorities. This will allow the city’s leaders to take action on those ideas and priorities for the betterment of the community.
This initiative is funded by the City of Elsmere with assistance from professional development advisors from the Kentucky League of Cities (KLC). The listening session will be collaborative and open to the public.
For more information or for comment, contact Mayor Marty Lenhof at Lenhof@cityofelsmere.com or City Administrator Alex Mattingly at Mattingly@cityofelsmere.com or at 859-342-7911, extension 5.
City of Elsmere