City of Chino
City Council and Executive Management Team Goal Setting Workshop Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Chino Police Department
5450 Guardian Way, Chino, CA 91710
BACKGROUND
The Chino City Council and the City’s Executive Management Team held a Strategic Plan Goal Setting Workshop on October 22, 2025, for the purpose of reviewing, updating, and prioritizing the City’s Strategic Plan Goals for FY 2027. The session is held annually to lay the foundation for the City's budget for the next fiscal year and builds on the goals and work plans of prior years. The workshop was facilitated by Patrick Ibarra of The Mejorando Group. Department Deputy Directors and division managers were invited to attend.
GROUND RULES, INTRODUCTIONS, AND DESIRED OUTCOMES
City Manager Linda Reich introduced the session, noting that the workshop provides an annual opportunity for the team to discuss the future of the City of Chino as a team and for staff to receive input directly from the Council.
STRATEGIC PLANNING AND GOOD GOVERNMENT
Purpose of Strategic Planning
The facilitator provided opening remarks on the purpose of strategic planning and goal setting, noting that success is by choice, not by chance. The desired outcome for the session was to put together a plan for the City to be successful “by choice.” This plan will identify issues and the role, if any, the City Council would take in addressing them, with the understanding that the City can’t solve everything and that there are resource and capacity limits.
After opening remarks on the purpose of the session, the Mayor and City Council participated in several facilitated exercises.
Ground Rules
The consultant provided information on keys to effective governing bodies. Council discussed practices that support sound decision-making, accountability, and teamwork between the City’s elected and appointed leadership.
Benefits of Good Government
The City Council was asked to identify the benefits of good government that enhance the quality of life in the community. They identified the following benefits:
Visible progress in the community
More engaged and satisfied residents
Improved quality of life
A sense of safety
A healthy and sustainable budget
Transparency and accountability
Well-prepared and professional staff
Responsive service to the public
This discussion reinforced what the community should experience when the organization is functioning well and the City is fulfilling its purpose.
Workloads, Priorities, and Allocation of Resources
Mr. Ibarra noted the following as food for thought:
What is our purpose as the City?
Our purpose should guide our focus and resources.
Need to be intentional and disciplined to not stray from purpose.
Need to have a plan outlining how we do it and how it is going to provide and improve what we do Nothing is automatic, to create and sustain, actions must be purposeful.
Resources - Cities work within resource and capacity limits; how will the City prioritize given limited resources? Money
Time
Money isn’t the City’s most precious resource, it is time.
Staff
80-90 % of staff time is dedicated to providing core services What do we want to spend our staff’s (remaining) time on? Staff training should be thought of as an investment, not an expense Mr. Ibarra discussed that city staff generally do three types of work:
Foundational – Work on standards, policies, procedures, which can be forgotten or ignored, but are the foundation of the reliable delivery of services. Need to modernize to stay on top of things.
Services – The core day-to-day work providing services to citizens. Has to be redesigned, updated, and presented.
Projects – Work on specific issues and projects, with start and end dates and a determined amount of funding.
He noted that City staff work simultaneously on all three, with staff spending time working ON the department (processes and policies), sometimes as much as AT what they do (delivering services). There was discussion about the importance of streamlining, modernizing, and improving processes and procedures, as inefficiencies and outdated policies and practices negatively affect capacity and operations.
DEPARTMENT FY 2025 ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND FY 2026 WORKLOAD The Executive Management Team provided an overview of each department’s top accomplishments for FY 2025 and highlighted the existing priority goals and work plans for FY 2026 (outlined in Attachment 1) as a starting point for discussion of FY 2027 goals.
During the presentations, Council members asked questions and requested additional information and consideration of the following:
Facilities and Capital Needs
Community Building:
Council expressed concerns about the condition and functionality of the men’s restroom at the Community Building, given the high level of programming occurring there. CSPR staff reported that restroom improvements are in their work plan and that they are coordinating with the Building Official on a redesign.
Public Works Service Yard:
Council noted the importance of considering the long-term needs at the public works service yard and maintenance area as part of broader capital planning.
City Hall:
Power and capacity issues at City Hall. Need to purchase generators for City facilities.
Signage and Euclid Avenue Improvements:
Council noted that updating signage citywide will be challenging and will require careful planning.
Public Works reported on Euclid Avenue improvements and related Caltrans funding. Council requested that staff obtain information on the actual cost of improvements completed in the neighboring jurisdiction or by the associated developer to better understand comparative costs.
Public Facilities:
Continue to pursue opportunities to purchase properties, including additional park land.
Housing and Land Use
Workforce/Affordable Housing:
Council asked whether staff have evaluated workforce housing options for individuals who work in the City but cannot afford to live here. Development Services staff indicated that this concept has not yet been formally studied and will be explored further.
Growth, Density, and Neighborhood Character:
Council discussed changing regional development patterns, including pressure for higher-density and high-rise projects, and expressed ongoing interest in preserving opportunities for single-family housing, safe neighborhoods, and manageable traffic and parking conditions.
Organization-wide Processes and Operations
Council discussed the City’s need to focus on “in-house” governance and operations issues, noting the importance of the “business” side of City functions, which requires the City to operate to standards. There was significant discussion about the workload in most departments, which is significantly focused on identifying, catching up on, and cleaning up legacy issues. Council noted that the Department Directors, most of whom are new, have to spend a significant amount of time addressing inherited issues.
They expressed the desire to see these addressed so that staff can focus on innovation and future trends.
Resource Allocation:
Monitor workload and service demands to determine the allocation of additional staffing. EMT to report on staffing needs for Council funding.
Compliance Monitoring and Being Proactive:
Council emphasized the importance of complying with required plans (e.g., hazard mitigation planning) and aligning departmental work with future trends rather than reacting only to legacy issues.
Need to Update Policies and Processes:
Council observed a recurring theme of outdated processes and policies across departments and emphasized the need for a more regular mechanism to review and update them, ensuring issues do not remain unresolved for extended periods.
Recognizing 2025 accomplishments allowed both Council and staff to acknowledge the time and effort involved in delivering results. Reviewing the 2026 workload underscored that, beyond day-to-day core services, staff are already committed to several substantial initiatives, addressing legacy issues, and updating and improving policies and procedures. The information provided context for considering layering priorities and any new goals for FY 2027.
There was significant discussion about staff capacity and the need to ensure that departments are appropriately staffed to perform their jobs successfully, with direction to the City Manager to bring staffing recommendations to Council for consideration.
CITY VISION AND MISSION STATEMENTS
The consultant led a brief discussion on the City’s mission and vision statements, noting that a vision is typically aspirational, inspirational, and ongoing.
The existing Vision and Mission statements were reviewed as organizational guideposts.
Vision: Chino is a vibrant city. It is a great community in which to live, work, and play, that is recognized for integrity and dedication to public service.
Mission: Together, we take pride in providing quality, caring service to our community.
Council reaffirmed the continued relevance of these statements for now and agreed that any revisions would require a separate, focused discussion at a future session.
HEADWINDS – Local and national trends, opportunities, and constraints on the horizon Mr. Ibarra led an exercise looking into the future, exploring how the City's role in building community and the City itself are evolving. He noted the following:
Better to plan a change before you have to, than because you have to Try to understand and extrapolate the potential impact on the community, city, departments, and what we are trying to do Consider the volatility of change
Consider opportunities
He provided examples of general trends:
Shifting demographics – adjusting and anticipating impact on public policy Economy, purchasing/consumption habits (“The Experience”), and social habits (pickleball) Impacts from growth (increased traffic, parking, density, and opportunities homeownership, etc.) Unknown factors that may emerge
Multi-jurisdictional issues related to infrastructure, utilities, and other service-related areas Council identified the following local trends in Chino:
Changing demographics – growing Chinese and Hindu populations Politics and citizen activism – increasing online and in person. Mr. Ibarra noted that the loudest aren’t necessarily the majority, discussing how the public can be broken down into “fans”, “fickle,” and “frustrated” – with different needs and ways to engage them Struggle with the State to maintain local control; state mandates New and old Chino - growth in south vs. older parts of City Need for new infrastructure
Regional transportation infrastructure
Aging infrastructure
Stark site development
Euclid Avenue
Council noted the following during the exercise:
City needs to be entrepreneurial, innovative
Council is supportive of staff trying new things, taking risks, and making improvements Need to engage the public where they are
PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
The consultant posed the following questions for Council to consider:
How aggressive and assertive does Council want to be as policymakers to shape the future of the community? Is Council clear and cohesive/aligned in how they want to shape the community? Once you are in, it is hard to take yourself out.
STRATEGIC PRIORITY AREAS AND POTENTIAL FY 2027 GOALS
Mr. Ibarra noted that the presentations by EMT revealed that the Directors are focusing substantially on “inside the building” issues to improve their operations, ensuring they are stable and reliable, while also working “outside the building,” on what the public feels, the delivery of services, and projects.
He stressed the importance of the Council being aware of how resources are being deployed, the need for them to be intentional in their decision-making, and to think through to the future.
He asked them to consider, “A year from now, October 2026, what will be happening that the City should be considering now?” The City Council identified the following major issues on which they would like to be intentional and focus:
Economic Development – Need to become more active in recruiting businesses. Competing vs. finding our niche and embracing synergy with what is going on in the surrounding cities Infrastructure and City facilities
Technology – Critical to all City operations, especially PD, Public Works, and Finance. Need for an IT Master Plan.
Staffing and organizational well-being
NEXT STEPS
The following action items and next steps were identified during the workshop discussion:
Community Building
CSPR to continue coordinating with the Building Official on restroom design improvements and return with an implementation approach as part of facilities planning.
Workforce Housing
Development Services to explore workforce housing strategies and options to support individuals who work in the City but cannot afford to live here.
Euclid Avenue Cost Comparison
Public Works to obtain information on the cost of Euclid Avenue improvements completed in the neighboring jurisdiction or by the associated developer to inform future cost and funding discussions.
Process and Policy Review Mechanism
CM and EMT to consider options for a more regular process to review and update City policies and procedures, with an emphasis on addressing long-standing gaps (e.g., required plans such as hazard mitigation).
Public Engagement at Community Meetings
Staff to review the structure and communications approach for community meetings (e.g. development projects), with the goal of clarifying project status and the purpose of public input (e.g., public shaping outcomes vs. veto authority).
Additional Community Engagement Opportunities
Staff to evaluate options for additional Council engagement with residents, such as a recurring community session prior to Council meetings, to improve understanding of City roles and major initiatives.
Infrastructure Resiliency and IT Planning
CM and CSPR/PW to continue evaluating generator and switch needs at City facilities and identify funding strategies. CM to explore development of an IT master plan to guide future technology investments.
Staffing and Mid-Year Budget
CM to bring forward staffing recommendations and related budget adjustments as part of the mid-year budget report at the first Council meeting in March.
Ongoing Project Reports and Regular Updates
Staff to provide a chart showing the various priority projects (Euclid, Pine, Stark, Civic Center Master Plan, etc.) and the estimated project timelines and milestones, costs, and project statuses. The chart and a dashboard would provide a visual representation of the existing workload and progress to date, which can be used to communicate the City's work to the community. City Manager suggested calling the project matrix “Horizon 2045”.
Council and EMT to schedule more frequent follow up goal-setting and progress review updates to monitor advancement of the agreed priority areas and projects.
The workshop adjourned at 3:39 p.m. after closing comments from the City Council and the Executive Management Team.
All directors focused on problem-solving and revenue (TOT, business license, etc.) User fees, DIF, possible TOT, sales tax.
City Council FY 27 Goals Workshop p.1