let me know
when that tells
me no you're good but before we start
our council meeting you're gonna need to
restart your
computer otherwise our incoming audio
from like cheat and stuff is be like
[Laughter]
that'll be
fun well thank you all for coming early
on this lovely sunny evening here in
December in Ohio I really do appreciate
you all coming um the the specific
intent for this meeting is for us to
talk about the vision and mission
statement for our strategic plan so um
I'll walk you through some of the stuff
that we've been working on but um Troy
do we have to do um a so you will need
to do a roll call so that we have that
officially done and uh I don't know if
you do the I don't think you have to do
the Pledge of Allegiance for the we'll
do that at the uh at the next meeting
but I will I'll call a roll yeah if
that's if I can be so bold as to do that
Miss lamp key Mr Kingler here miss s yes
Mr Markham here miss FAL here Mr
Marcelino I am and Jen Robinson I am
here so um you all remember um it's been
several months now but Jess invited um
law the lovely law to come and and U
work with us on um our Dei training and
we spent I think the majority of that
two or thre hour meeting just really
kind of deep diving into our mission and
vision statement I I for one thought it
was a really great meeting and so when
we uh the mayor and I were talking about
readdressing this for the Strategic plan
we pulled out those old notes and kind
of started to tweak some things so
what you see up on um the screen today
is um what is currently on our website
which has been tweaked a little bit but
then also you can see some of the
additions and um things that we are
proposing to to strike and and add so
I'm GNA give everybody um a minute to
kind of scroll through that Ben if you
don't mind
um thank
you and then I'd like to kind of open up
the floor to any thoughts that you all
might have about any additions you'd
like to make any tweaks that you think
might be important uh we really want to
capture kind of this kind of new place
where we are as a city and really make
sure that that that is um is formalized
in our mission and vision statement so
I'll give everybody a second to read
it
yeah the highlighted section is added
um
yes
I'm assuming everybody's had a chance to
to look over that um I will remind you
that when we met with law one of her um
one of the things that she encouraged us
to do instead of writing these big Hefty
sentences that kind of became cumbersome
and we were all getting caught up in
what kind of words we wanted to use that
we kind of list things out in bullet
points which is why it is presented this
way but I'd like to get your thoughts on
how it's presented if you think that
there's anything that needs to be added
if there's anything that you are
concerned
about I'll open that up now
Jess have a different word the first
line or second line so we don't
sayure oh I see
uhhuh I'll I'll I'll Echo that on mine I
had scratch that out and just Chang it
to create an environment that is
welcoming and provides a sense of
belonging just to Great be a little more
active and
also spice up the narrative a little bit
see we like
spice did chat GPT do thate no no chat
GPT
could we add visitors to that first
sentence under
Mission it speaks to Residents
businesses and organizations but also
those who visit our city
yes I
go right I had a couple notes that I
wrote down here and the
paragraph above the mission
statement I think right I think is is
um yeah Ben right above the mission
statement this is this is taken from the
website I thought it was important I
know this isn't included necessarily in
our strategic plan but we want to make
sure that history yeah yeah I just when
I read that I mean I think it's I think
it's great I wouldn't remove anything
it's awful heavy on schools and I would
consider adding that we have a
nationally award-winning Library we are
a AR burum and we do also uh have the
governor's mansion here so those are
sort of I would call out as
well
um on the uh oh hold on some new things
have been you have changed some things
you saw it good because you've changed
things that I was going to change so
excellent um I don't know
what I don't know what a built
environment is an overall and and
overall built environment that's a
question planner geek planner term for
existing conditions in structures the
human building environment and then the
only other change I had was that
sentence that says has Financial
self-determination and sustainability I
think is not as clear as it could be and
I my guess is we want to say is
financial self-determination and fiscal
sustainability right that's all I
got
amazing Jenna notic yeah you had first
ring suburb CR out was the logic of that
I just remember that there were certain
connotations in that meeting that some
of the verbiage we used I know first
ring refers to where we are located
geographically but I also like when we
talk about top tier and first ring it
sometimes has that um kind of a heavier
connotation to
It Up For Debate clearly it was just
just one of the the suggestions that I
wanted to make yeah there's like a whole
an association of first spring suburbs
in Ohio feels like it's not I've never
heard it ConEd to be fancy okay always
I've always known it to just be like a
geographical statement that you were
old okay right CL maybe in my mind a lot
of the the old verbiage was first ring
top tier so for me it was just something
that was kind of put together but no I
if there is a specific definition that
refers to where we are geographically
totally fine leaving it in if you but
I'm not yeah I'm not counting your
connotation way I just try
to Sam was there discussion about close
knit I thought that we might have
discussed that sorry right after that
close M neighborhood uh the first ring
go back up to first ring orever it's
just like I forget did we discuss that
at all I
don't remember if we did in what context
as in we maybe want it to be just its
historic neighborhoods as opposed to
close niit because close niit to some
degree indicates sealed off to some
degree I think perhaps not I don't know
but I I just can't recall if we had a
discussion but throwing it back out
there
okay I would be fine taking it out
because I think we are known for our
historic neighborhoods that we are a
close-knit community really you know I
guess depends on who your neighbors are
and where you are in the city we don't
want to just assume that everybody is
close-knit um I think maybe Troy has
this over here but a way of saying we
know our
neighbors
or I I think some of that has to do with
scale of the neighborhoods so like
walkable or human scale is another nerdy
one that most feel like human scale but
that's
like
uh well we use walkable Main Street down
below true
um
historic close let's let's highlight
that we're gonna highlight that close we
share driveways yes we can see right
into your kitchen window yes that's how
real do we want this statement to be
close as the writer and me would tighten
that up just a little bit efficiently
and and keep close-knit but say Bexley
is known for a historic and close-knit
Community instead of neighborhoods
plural which implies separate
neighborhoods within the city so that's
just a suggestion it's purely a writing
so would we be known as a historic
forgot you guys were seeing the screen
XY is known for its historic and
close-knit Community is how I would say
to it to somebody I would not say close
it neighborhoods because just to be
frank with you when you say close-knit
neighborhoods you are also acknowledging
that the different sections of Bexley
are sort of ins distinct from each other
and yet friendly with each other which
is not how I would really probably want
to describe
it
okay an idea for a first ring suburb we
could also just say our circumference to
downtown are we a mile a mile from you
know Bexley a suburb a mile from
downtown Columbus that's you know known
for it's historic so in the shadow of
downtown
[Laughter]
Columbus the heart of it
all but I was think I was trying to
think a lot of times when I'm describing
it to people who you know I'm constantly
with that yeah come down or their kids
are here this morning dropping the kids
off um from Dublin Westerville and and
they had some questions about things and
I said well you know we are a mile so
yeah there's a
way that's a
great way Four Mile bike ride from my
house to Columbus City
Hall put that in yeah put that in Matt's
[Laughter]
house oh now I'm you all are watching me
type and now I think I've spelled
Capital wrong
okay is it making you nervous
now N I am I am the queen of relying on
spell check okay so I'm gonna unstrip
this spell
Che well I
just and I actually so I found my notes
we got heavy division at our training
with Shandra and I have all those
okay okay let's um I love these
suggestions um so what I I think maybe
the mayor and I can do is kind of tweak
through some of these things and send it
back out to you guys does that work um
can we just revisit the mission before
we go on to the vision statement does
anybody have any other additional
thoughts can we take questions from the
audience as well
you're in charge here joh yes Miss
Lewis yes please come up and uh identify
yourself
please Constance Lewis 663 you CLA um I
would like to have something in there
about slate roofs and the architecture
of our
community in in wishing to preserve
those things it would be nice if it was
part of the the mission and vision so
something along lines of like um
preservation of our historical
architectural um details no that is
actually I would vision gets more
specific here in a second yeah um
Mission speaks to it globally in the
final bullet point
Integrity I definitely want slate in
there because we're trying so hard to
keep those slate roofs and the young
commun the young people are coming in
and their slate roofs are getting so old
and they are begging for
asphalt and we're seeing the Slate roofs
die one after another so just to
preserve the Slate roofs and the history
and architecture of the community
thanks all right
don don Le 663 you clear in the
highlighted area it says create an
environment that is welcoming and
provides a sense of belonging for all
community members
numbers to me that infers that it's not
quite there why not say Beckley is or
has an environment that is
welcoming to me that leaves a question
mark the word creating that it's not
done
yet thank you Sam thank you N I don't
know that we are done yet I think
there's a lot of work to do there's
always you always want to be the better
version of yourself right I think that
I'm a great person but we I can probably
be better and so I think that we want to
encourage future uh Generations that's
what I would say back to it I think it's
a fair point that we've made some
strides and obviously you're a welcoming
person and as there are many people but
I think we want to set the tone
personally that we should continue to
strive to find new ways to welcome
others into our
community I agree maybe we can say
continuing to or or we just leave it but
to to make it seem like it is the active
thing that we are doing because this is
our mission so you know in order to
continue to create create a space uh or
an environment that is
welcoming yeah
yeah okay let's move down to the vision
statement so we can um begin to look
more specifically some of the specific
details yep getting there makeing note
check in them
twice I'm going to make this a little
more compact as we're talking about them
so you'll see some changes happening
don't freak
out this is for those of us who have
really bad eyesight and appreciate the
big white spaces in between I'm sorry no
you're fine I've read it a couple times
all right well Ben is tweaking why don't
we all take a minute to kind of review
and then we can uh have a a deeper
conversation
as you guys are reading this when we get
when you get down to the
um encourages a high standard of
architecture streetcape greencape and
overall built environment uh perhaps we
could add something in there that speaks
to U the preservation of the historic
Integrity of our homes I'm a little
nervous to get too specific I appreciate
um Connie's comments about slate but I
don't want to get that specific
necessarily in um in this
document
yes Mr Markham I'll just had that I i'
like that sentence a lot you know after
the last uh few weeks of listening to
our architecture review board I'm just
really impressed at the sort of
thoughtful professionals that we have
here and the thought and and you know
that open uh process where all that is
considered and valued and I think it's
really nice that it's reflected here too
I think I think that is one thing you
notice when you come to to Bexley as you
uh uh I you know I campaigned this year
and as part of that you walk around the
neighborhoods and every time I do it
every four years I go oh my gosh look at
the houses I look look at these amazing
houses you know you're just always
constantly seeing some really neat uh uh
so I I think that is one thing that
definitely uh belongs here okay yes I
think Jen I think Jen with where you're
going with that you can almost just
put encourages a high standard of
architectural
Integrity because that identifies the
historical piece I believe because I say
that a lot living in a house that has a
slate roof leg glass
windows you know when you live in it you
know you understand it on all levels
when you're repairing and keeping up
with it and the maintenance and maybe
only one guy in the town does like glass
window
repair I just want to make I think it's
important that we distinguish between
architectural integrity and historic the
historic Integrity of our homes because
while often times that goes hand inand
I'm one of the few people in Bexley who
lives in a new build so you know um but
I would want to make sure that those
that that you know those surrounding
homes still you know they historic
Integrity remains
intact one thing I
would please twe I'm just writing so
that I don't lose it from my
head I would
um I would add commercial
districts yes
um although that
doesn't institutions as well but our uh
longstanding efforts to bring commercial
preservation on
board
often discussed but you know something
want I'd love to keep working on
yeah
institutions good on the homes
institutions and Commercial districts
yeah
yes Matt I will neither confirm nor deny
if chat GPD helped me find these
words but let's go with uh I I don't see
anything on here about Community
engagement and
diversity okay so what are you do you
well so something to the effect of
encouraging active civic participation
and embracing
diversity that's cool
yeah we can put that under the uh the
bolded statement can you say that again
to create a vision statement for I will
neither confirm nor deny that I asked
chpt be very helpful for like finding
the blind spots yep so I didn't
see engagement and diversity yeah
asterisk next to anything that was
created by a robot just so we can have
that for our records um encouraging
active civic participation and embracing
diversity civic participation Look it's
even even came up and what was that the
last part and and embracing diversity
embracing diversity thank
you quick question it's more of like a
format yes yeah is the vision statement
are all of these bullet points going to
get rewarded because I think a vision
statement I think of what you're what
you're striving to be versus mission is
your core and what you are currently
like what what you're about versus where
you're going right like we say has safe
homes and Safe
Streets oh I see what you're saying like
the way it's worded in the bullet points
I I don't know if it was going to get
rewarded in the total vision statement
to say like we're striving for these
things or this is our vision for our
city is that like is a source of pride
in terms of so I feel like that kind of
thing should go in the mission statement
you know if we are a source of Pride
right we can certainly tweak some of the
word but every bullet point would be
read our vision is that Bexley is a
community that has safe homes and
streets okay so it to me that that
brings it into the vision realm but if
you have a suggestion about how to tweak
that just that um insures I mean we we
can use the same words over and ensures
safe homes and and Safe Streets you want
more of an
active um active description yeah just
reads a lot like it's short as to go in
the mission State versus Vision but yes
go
with ability are you saying Matt
like our vision is that Exley community
that centers on families of all kinds
like an active verb like that versus uh
yeah or like has selfdetermination and
fiscal
sustainability that has
we I guess that's not a good I guess
that could be a vision that we that we
have in the future that
but to me I don't know I when I worked
on mission statements before it was kind
of like Mission what we are now Vision
what we where we're going what we want
last worksh I see that the vision part
is like we have a vision that
we and then the part of that that it
sounds to me like maybe and I could be
totally misconstruing is then those
sentences revert to a passive part of
what I feel is sort of an active
sentence but then if you wanted them to
be more Dynamic I think we could easily
change that well I don't know easily but
you know Jen could stay up an hour or
two tonight and do that after the
meeting because it's it's a 30 minute
meeting right
so these are our notes my notes from the
Dei training
uh we had this carage for the Curiosity
intellect and whole personhood of our
children was one that I don't remember
ex I don't remember any of the context
of these I just wrote them down and we
had environmental stewardship is
identified as something that was
missing okay resource resource
stewardship anti-racism
uh collabor of independent surrounding
communities notes on preservation and
more sustainability stuff so I don't if
I remember correctly Ben the um if you
could stay on your notes sorry the um
cares for the Curiosity intellect and
the whole personhood of our children
came after a conversation about being
consistently anti-racist and it was it
was in the kind of the Dei realm of it
all if I'm if I'm remembering correctly
um
the conversation we spent a lot of time
in that meeting talking about like these
kinds of things start young you know
these the the acceptance of of ourselves
and others starts young and I think that
was kind of how we came to that
um the the statement of the personhood
of our children I'm not sure how to put
that into a vision statement if if
you're suggesting that we try to to uh
oh I'm just I'm just suggesting that
these were the notes that I found okay
um I do remember
that yeah Troy while we're all yeah and
I will say I think this is an important
uh part of what we're doing here because
I think you know not to generalize too
much but I would I would say like the
2005 vision statement might be a little
more isolationist and I think here we
are in 2023 2024 we do that is like
something that we are now actively uh
focusing on right collaborating with our
surrounding communities and sort of like
not having borders but more of you know
extending those communities within each
other um and doing that Synergy and in
in terms of that um this is fine I don't
want to be too picky but I wouldn't say
like what Matt is saying here like that
seems like a very very weak statement to
me is collaborative and interdependent
with surrounding communities and in that
way I I I really would feel just my
preference it do like a huge preference
but collaborates with surrounding
communities and you know uh I I would I
would say to be is collaborative seems
fairly uh plain vanilla in terms of what
that you know what I think we kind of
envision our roles here you know these
last few years that we've been working
on so you're talking about the is
collaborative and Inter um
interdependent uh with surrounding
communities is that the yeah in the
vision statement been just FYI above
sustainability yeah oh
yeah so that you're suggesting that
works
collaboratively is that I mean I'm up
for suggestions there I think is
collaborative seems like it's happening
to us instead of collab like I I use the
term collaborates
collab with surrounding communities you
know something like that I I I would be
my if I had my preference I would move
it up further into the the thing as well
too but you know again this is just me
being nitpicky since not at all hanging
out we are here laurian and then
Jess statements from
somec Disney
Instagram it's all to be to make to
provide to create capture to help to BR
inspiration so it's
all yeah I mean I would you know for
instance I would argue right now that we
currently have an outstanding
walkable environment might not be the
best bikable so maybe bikable stays in
the vision continue to Foster an outdoor
walkable
while uh you know providing a more
bikable environment but I I would argue
so so I would say you know an
outstanding outdoor walkable environment
should be in our mission because that is
what we have now versus the vision of
where we're going of where of where you
want to
be same with the you know maybe maintain
Financial self I would argue right now
we have self you know we're fiscally
sustainable
and financially sound and maybe use a a
verb like maintain or just that that's
what I was saying about the language the
way the bullet points are it's you know
I feel like we have a lot of those
already and then sort of further
extrapolate where where do you want to
go with expanding on
those and then set goals to get there
and then track your goals and then get
it yeah can a vision statement not
reaffirm sort of what you know to be
your strengths that that you're kind of
saying this is our vision is to like yes
we are very
walkable I think being outstandingly
walkable are we may mostly mostly
outstanding walkable yeah we be more
outstanding walkable yeah we do better
yeah could we create more sidewalks
where there aren't sidewalks can we you
know yeah so I don't I don't I I I think
many of and we might have done it wrong
back when we this by the way so like no
no pride of like past year but like many
of these things were true when we had
this vision statement exercise last time
but it was like we want them to be more
true I know I remember that kind of
coming
out Jen in the very last sentence yeah
can we say has a welcoming business
climate that supports vibrant and
successful corridors I don't know that
we need to say business again when we
already referred to
it oh I see
yep
so
sustainability that's just a placeholder
until we
work something more
uh yeah Matt MC pe's gonna run that
through the algorithm a couple more
times Jen are we trying to go through
these all or this the rest of this as
well tonight or no just these just this
yes
mck peek I'm referring you to academic
misconduct right now do it yeah I like
someone can get it done Jen Robinson
can we gonna talk real real fast Jen on
that on that first one can we um maybe
combine um or change the language to
that values families of all kinds and
then add the sentence uh from the
mayor's notes about children that's a
great idea um I think it says volumes
that maybe that would be be the first
you know I think you usually put what's
most important
first so to that end Troy I know you
said just it's just your preference to
move things up but that's why we're here
so if there's something that you'd like
to be kind of shifted and moved into a
different uh you're shaking your head no
but I feel like there's a yes in there
no I regret my
comment regret no regrets no regrets
always should we try to is this I mean
should this be like a
hierarchical that sounds like a long
meeting yeah it does sound
like but if there's something that
really jumps out like what is Bexley
known like when when people think of
Bexley they definitely think of like
green Bexley think of sustainability
think of trees like there are certain
things that I think we can if we feel
like it makes sense to move up in that
list we can certainly move it up that if
you guys are happy the way it is I'm
just pleased to
punch Tree
Huggers is it too is there too much
here a
lot it is a
lot what I like about what we have here
is that the mission is much more
succinct um and um you know I think when
we first started to kind of talk through
this with law we had a mission that was
like you know a good page long and we
kind of really work to to tweak that
down um and if we're going to have some
some bulk to it I think the vision is
where is where we do that
um any other thoughts yeah Sam if you
think it's mayor if you think it is too
long is there anything specifically you
would like to remove
I mean I guess that's the other question
is what don't you value you don't Value
Green Space or you don't value children
I mean what you I'll tell you what I do
value Sam I value you Sam I appreciate
no but seriously if there's something
you know no I'm just it's hard I was
musing out loud yeah
um well you know it's very interesting I
tried to do some deep dives into we have
this posted on our website and I tried
to look at other cities around us
similar size people don't have their
mission and Visions like on their on
their their you know their websites
which I mean good for us for doing that
we're saying very clearly who it is that
you know we want to be and what we're
working towards so um I think quite
frankly if we are all comfortable with
the way it reads I say we leave it I'd
rather be working on a lot of stuff yes
for sure but like to just to answer
Sam's question like okay so is adaptable
for the future while maintaining classic
strengths totally agree however we've
said at the top we added this recently
future forward community so we've
already said that about adaptable for
the future and classic strength is kind
of oozing in many of the other bullet
points so like that might be a redundant
bullet point and there is a lot about
preservation and fit built environment
in multiple bullet points that maybe can
get sequestered so that just might with
a little bit more sort of
if we know what the points we're trying
to hit here from this conversation I
think we can maybe hone it a little bit
I agree yeah I'd lose the line above it
too to be honest I was just Troy I was
just gonna say that as as we were
talking through
that lorianne
yes
safety
Sam right
punt that to
January to me that reads because it's
safe homes and Safe Streets that you
know we
are we have an expectation that we are
safe you know from crime from you
burglary
yes
violence I mean just a broader way
yeah I would think if you could it's
it's it's a lot of bullet points um you
could get it to like
four vious four buckets I mean I think
there's a lot in there you know when you
talk
about really you could eliminate safe
home homes and streets and overall
safety and lump that into environment
your environment is is everywhere you
are so has an outstanding has a safe
outdoor walkable and bikable
environment or I mean I think you could
get it to four but I mean four or five
if I mean bullet points but to have 12
or dang whatever that's a lot mat have
you ever seen the movie
bullworth no
no it's just my opinion I think it's a
lot you should see it okay
Danny's seen
it I'm not in charge here Jen is but we
got people waving at you oh I'm sorry
I'm I'm studying the words who's waving
at me I'm waving at you hi Jess can we
scroll back down to that very top
sentence the r Vision yeah is aex that
getting there sorry
I feel like and I I get where you're
coming from with future forward because
it seems that that's used a lot in like
especially educational institutions
environments um I'm wondering if we
could say something like Vision our
vision is a Bexley that is
a evolving you know
um
h
Lan do you have something to add to
that welcomeing oh up in the statement
community
that
welcoming yeah I'm that would cover
everything so then it would be if
you right so you're saying add that to
the first
so we
say Let Me Right welcoming
evolving
[Music]
welcoming so you don't like the the
phrase future forward you know how you
window there was that interpretation
that you had and you associ yeah yeah
yeah I I don't not like it I just feel
like there's an reading it right away
and not having it it just sounds like in
a community environment for a
municipality like
evolving well I like the concept of
evolving it it insinuates that we are
we're we're looking at what we're doing
we're yeah we're yeah yeah
evolving to me that encompasses like
past present
future that's versus just future forward
it's like understanding your past to
make for a better future you know what I
think they're both really good I think
one thing that future forward captures
maybe a little bit more is the idea that
you're
not um while you you care for the
history and Architectural Integrity or
whatever you're not stuck in the past
which evolving also says that right but
I think it says it a little bit more P
it's a stronger statement about that and
evolving to me feels like taking some
time with evolving instead of it just
being
reactionary yeah yeah intentional yeah
intentional
yeah like slowly considering where the
ice rink would go
100% all makes sense we evolve into a
community with an ice rink P the plug
where is the ice shink in the vision
sorry just keep hearing iced
cream go
well that's future
forward so hold on a second do we
mention anything
about oh never
mind I'm looking at the has Financial
self-determination and fiscal
sustainability
never mind I'm taking back my
thought all right does anybody have any
other thoughts about what's here how we
might be able to tweak it anything that
you think is redundant anything that
you'd like to potentially move to uh the
mission portion of
this how are we feeling Matt we've
gotten four things
struck
the only other thing I would add is um I
know we're trying to stay consistent
with format but instead of saying things
like has or is choosing kind of some um
more some powerful words like
prioritizes
emphasizes uh
Embraces I think you could work those in
um to show that it really is a a vision
statement and I'm I'm with Matt I think
we could get it down to maybe not quite
four maybe five or
six hey look at that prioritizes ures
promotes I like
that oh that's not how you spell
[Laughter]
values okay
okay let's take one last look at the
whole document we've got about 10
minutes
um and then um I do like this so Jen I
put up this kind of bucketed
concept is one way to kind of focus
it uh that needs some
work Matt or things Friday Matt CL over
there four thanks safety Financial
sustainability and environment and
diversity that was close well
uh and so maybe that's a lot to just
have dumped on there but
um is that on this document I added it
there yes I think it needs work it was a
initial
synthesis from techn technical support
well it does keep it very concise and
very like this is what we value and this
is these are the things that we're
committed to I'm fine can we take some
time U maybe after this meeting you and
I to just yeah we come back with the
drafts
and ask some of the authors in the room
to
assist
us those who are may not be wearing LED
holiday lights
and we have lost our
minds you so oh my gosh no thank you
guys this is great I really appreciate
you guys taking the time to make time to
be here an hour early I know it's like
smack dab in the middle of dinner time
and kids stuff so appreciate it um I'll
get with mayor Kesler um and you guys
can have back the next eight minutes to
uh I don't know get some coffee get some
food get some
something we'll see you this portion of
the meeting