Cities & Villages, Ohio Municipal League Journal
January/February 1998

Zanesville: A Forward-Thinking Community

Rob Fanjoy

The best way for a city to deal with issues concerning the entire community is to get the entire community involved. But how does a city government get broad input from all its citizens and develop strategies based on those concerns? Zanesville Mayor Jack Fenton and other city officials began using a unique goal setting and planning program last fall to do just that. And they are so pleased with the results, they can hardly wait to continue into the new year.

The Goal Setting/Team Building Program -- a partnership between the Ohio Municipal League and the Rural Universities Program, which consists of Ohio University, Miami University and Bowling Green State University -- has created a strategic goal setting and planning "toolbox" for Ohio’s small and mid-size municipalities. The City of Zanesville agreed to pilot the program and began to work with Ohio University’s Institute for Local Government Administration and Rural Development (ILGARD) in the fall of 1997.

Zanesville city officials are working at proactive decision making by creating and trying to maintain an open dialogue with the citizens. "With a $33 million budget, we need goals and strategic planning to do our best," says Fenton, "and we’ve tried to get input from everyone in the community."

The Goal Setting/Team Building Program consists of gathering information (which may include a citizen satisfaction survey and town meetings), demographic research, and a survey of city officials. Administration and council members then spend some concentrated time examining the information and developing strategic issues, goals, and action steps. For Zanesville officials, an intensive weekend work session was conducted in October to develop these components. Two additional work sessions were held to finish identifying initial goals and developing action steps. Officials have a written plan, but it is not a "final report." It is an active document that will be revisited and revised on a regular basis as goals are achieved and new ones set.

"We really enjoyed working with Mayor Fenton’s administration and the city council on this initial phase," says Marsha Lewis, assistant director of ILGARD’s management advisory services. "It’s clear that they are committed to an ongoing dynamic process of team building and goal setting and not simply interested in creating a report that becomes a shelf document."

The Goal Setting/Team Building Program is based on a similar program developed by Dr. Joe Ohren, a professor at Eastern Michigan University and a consultant with the Michigan Municipal League. Dr. Ohren spent many years working with local governments to develop the model for identifying goals and objectives for small to medium sized cities, creating action plans to meet those goals, and building more effective relationships among community leaders.

Fenton was eager to have Zanesville as the pilot city in the Ohio version of the program, "I was real excited at the start, because we (Zanesville) did basically the same thing with labor and management within the city government, and it worked great. I can’t wait to see what we can accomplish when we have the support of Ohio University and the OML."

Central to the program is citizen input. The first step for the City of Zanesville was a "Consumer Satisfaction Survey," which gauged citizens’ perceptions of city services, such as effectiveness of delivery of those services and problem areas within city government. The survey was conducted by the Institute for Local Government Administration and Rural Development (ILGARD) at Ohio University. The survey found that Zanesville residents are fairly satisfied with their city services and the manner in which they are provided, but also pointed out a few problems the city faces, and suggested what the administration can do to solve them.

In addition to the citizen survey, Fenton set up a series of town hall meetings in each ward of the city. All citizens were invited to voice their concerns, support, and ideas to Fenton, city council members, and department heads. Fenton says the meetings "started slow but progressed and got more constructive, many people even stayed after the meetings to continue discussions."

Based on input from the survey and community meetings, as well as their own knowledge of the city, elected and appointed officials developed a list of strategic issues impacting the city. Officials then began focusing on issues such as taking advantage of Zanesville’s location to make it a regional hub for tourism and strengthening the city’s investment strategies.

One of the goals Zanesville developed relates to improving the quality of residential neighborhoods. A task force of representatives from administration, council, and the court has been set up to discuss code enforcement issues and develop solutions. The city has also aggressively sought state and federal grant money to improve housing quality and supply. Tackling residential neighborhood issues has been a major initiative of Fenton’s in the program during the last part of 1997, but he says "I’m looking forward to next year, to get even more done."

An important component to the program is team building among elected and appointed officials. Administration departments and council members spent time at the weekend work session examining barriers to effective communication and developing ways to overcome those barriers. Since the Goal Setting/Team Building Program is an ongoing process, this dialogue will continue as officials examine progress and continue to plan together.

Although the Goal Setting/Team Building Program is a work in progress, Fenton has already seen results. He states that communication between city officials in various departments and residents of Zanesville has improved significantly. According to Fenton, the greatest beneficiaries of this program are the citizens, "they loved contributing at the town hall meetings; they can’t wait to have them next year."

Marsha Lewis is the Assistant Director, Management Advisory Services, for the Institute or Local Government Administration and Rural Development, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio. Phone: 614-593-4388