March 19, 2024

A well-run government priority for city

In order to properly manage the first three purposes in the proposed action plan the city will continue working to lead with effective, efficient governance. The final purpose in the 2017-2019 action plan is set to manage the city’s financial resources and assets responsibly, align resources to improve services and attract, develop and sustain a diverse workforce committed to quality service for the city.

Lead with effective,
efficient governance

“The city’s purpose is to protect and prudently manage city resources, to enhance transparency, accountability, integrity, efficiency, effectiveness and innovation in all operations, to provide responsive customer service, to support data-based decision making with timely short term and long-range analysis, and to attract, motivate, and develop a high-quality workforce dedicated to collaborative decision making,” city senior analyst Natalie Umsted said.

To accomplish the goal, the city will work to continue implementing annual initiatives from the Americans with Disabilities Act Transition Plan. Specifics to the plan includes improving handicapped accessibility to the library service desks at the Newton Public Library.

The city will also work to establish a five-year building and facility maintenance plan and evaluate future uses of the Maytag Park caretakers house. The house, which has been used as the city’s park office in the past as well as a residence, is in need of restoration work and has been identified as the potential new parks department office.

Additional objectives the city will undertake include providing financial analysis and preparing plans for ‘warning trends’ within the city’s financial trends report and reviewing and updating city policies to meet audit recommendations.

Another big initiative the city is working to roll out is improving payment convenience for citizens. In the next three years, plans to accept online payments at the library, for all city services and to begin accepting credit card payments at all city facilities will be implemented city wide.

Also, a new website design is a priority for the city to create an all-encompassing web design that aligns the city and its stakeholders. The project coincides with the objective to partner with local and regional agencies. Over the next two years, the city plans to implement monthly meeting with local economic development agencies to maintain a unified vision for future development in Newton. Also, work to develop and adopt an annual set of shared strategies with those agencies is also suggested.
To expand Newton's partnerships beyond city limits, the city plans to visit 12 cities throughout the region to learn about and share best practices and identify four new partnerships between governmental agencies for shared services, collaboration and regional efficiency.

Other areas to be addressed include reviewing the fiber optic access opportunities at the library, using the Lean System to increase and improve operational effectiveness and efficiency and use performance reporting to set goal and improve services.

Finally, the city will continue to attract, develop and sustain a diverse workforce committed to quality service. Strategies such as developing a purposeful approach to succession planning, staff development and performance by designing and implementing an outreach recruitment strategy and developing and implementing an all-inclusive routine new employee orientation.

“I went back and crosschecked my notes from the planning session and I can’t find a thing that is missing,” councilwomen Lin Chapé said. “The bigger question is the challenge of getting it all done but it is tremendously exciting, look at we have just done this year.”

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com