Until recently, the City of Pleasanton created a two-year work plan after every general election. This plan served as the road map for projects, initiatives, and budget development for the two years ahead. That changed in October of this year, when the City Council unanimously adopted a new five-year Citywide Strategic Plan called ONE Pleasanton.

ONE Pleasanton Strategic Plan

According to city officials, the ONE Pleasanton Strategic Plan “is the result of a months-long collaboration that brought together the Pleasanton community with city staff and council members to create a shared vision for the city’s future.” To ensure community involvement, information was gathered from residents between February and June 2023. The process included “internal engagement with the City Council and city staff as well as multiple community engagement activities, including 11 focus groups, two pop-up events at the Pleasanton Farmers’ Market, and an open house,” they say. One of the focus groups was held in Spanish, and one was held in Mandarin to make sure the opinions of a diverse group of community members were heard. The results of a community survey conducted in May 2023 was also part of the information considered in developing the new plan.

“ONE Pleasanton reflects a significant and forward-looking alignment of the City Council with the city staff and community around a shared vision for the future of Pleasanton,” notes Alexa Jeffress, Deputy City Manager. “The plan includes a refreshed mission and vision statement, as well as updated organizational values of service, integrity, inclusion, and innovation.  While the city, like all cities, is facing new challenges, from water supply and aging infrastructure to natural disasters, the strategic plan provides a clear set of goals and priorities to guide decision-making and ensure that the necessary resources are committed to achieve those goals. This initiative reflects the city's commitment to long-term planning, sustainability, and the overall well-being of its residents and businesses.”

The ONE Pleasanton plan establishes five multiyear goals: Funding our Future, Optimizing our Organization, Investing in our Environment, Safeguarding our City, and Building a Community where Everyone Belongs. The goals support, among other things, sound fiscal policy, improved city services, protecting the infrastructure and focusing on environmental stewardship, fostering a safe and secure community, and fostering community engagement and effective planning “to promote a livable and economically vibrant community.”

“The city is working on projects that are part of a larger vision based on community input and City Council priorities and fit within available resources,” says Jeffress. “Every project that the city is working on is connected to the Strategic Plan. The five-year strategic plan replaces the previous City Council two-year priority-setting process with the goal of helping plan for and execute projects to achieve longer-term objectives, such as fiscal sustainability, organizational effectiveness, and addressing critical infrastructure needs.”

The business community is expected to welcome the ONE Pleasanton strategic plan in part because it includes a strategy to advance key priorities from the recently adopted Economic Development strategic plan. Those priorities include retail revitalization, business retention and expansion, and ensuring the vitality of the local economy to expand Pleasantan’s tax base and generate revenue for city services, according to Jeffress. Those priorities will inform future budget and resource discussions, she says. “The City Council also unanimously identified key priorities in the plan focused on infrastructure, water supply, and emergency preparedness, which includes ensuring that the city’s infrastructure meets the needs of the business community.”

Next Steps

Now that the new strategic plan is official, city staffers are preparing an Implementation Action Plan to describe the specific projects to advance the strategies under each of the five goals. The Implementation Action Plan will identify individual projects and initiatives with a proposed timeline for delivery that considers budget and other resources.

“The city is committed to transparency and accountability, including regular reports, on progress toward achieving the Strategic Plan goals,” notes Jeffress. “The city is developing a dashboard which will include key performance indicators and metrics to provide ongoing progress updates to the City Council and the community. The goal is to have the implementation plan developed and the dashboard launched by early 2024. While the plan sets high level goals and strategies over a five-year period, the city understands that new situations arise and priorities can change, so the strategic plan includes regular check-ins and updates, targeted for every two years, or more frequently if needed. The update process will align with the city’s budget cycle to ensure that resources are allocated as needed to align with strategic plan priorities.”

As Rolf Pendall noted in a 2007 paper written for the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, “More than many slogans, Pleasanton’s–City of Planned Progress–describes the city well. Development in this eastern Bay Area city has been more closely planned and monitored than would be imaginable in many other states, driven by both elected officials and citizens at the ballot box.”

The new strategic plan is just another example of Pleasanton’s planned progress, some might say. This could be considered a new milestone in the city’s history of forward-thinking and determination to address challenges. From a business perspective, the new plan may also signal to those outside of Pleasanton that the city is committed to its future and to preserving the characteristics that make it such a desirable place to live and work. Certainly the Mayor as well as the unanimous City Council agree this plan is the right step for Pleasanton.

"The inaugural Five-Year Citywide Strategic Plan embodies our shared vision for a city that thrives while honoring our historic character,” according to Karla Brown, Mayor of Pleasanton. “This plan is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our community and city leaders. Together, we are forging a path toward a more prosperous, sustainable, and inclusive Pleasanton."

For more information about the ONE Pleasanton Strategic Plan, please visit www.cityofpleasantonca.gov/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=37402.

For more information about the City of Pleasanton’s government, please visit www.cityofpleasantonca.gov/gov/default.asp.

Photo: City of Pleasanton