Business Agenda Item 4h
STAFF REPORT
Business Agenda Item
DATE: July 20, 2026
TO: Honorable Mayor and Council Members
FROM: Amy Nilsen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Adoption of Strategic Plan 2026-2036, General Plan Recommendations, and Future Fortuna Workshops Results Report
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council:
1. Adopt the City of Fortuna Strategic Plan 2026-2036.
2. Adopt the General Plan Recommendations document.
3. Direct staff to incorporate the Strategic Plan, General Plan Recommendations, and Future Fortuna Workshop Results Report into department work plans, personnel evaluations, budget development, City Council staff reports, hiring and onboarding, policy development, and City Council orientation.
BACKGROUND:
The City of Fortuna initiated a comprehensive planning process to establish a clear vision, priorities, and policy direction to guide decision-making and community development over the coming years.
This effort included the development of two complementary documents:
• The Strategic Plan, which establishes City Council priorities, goals, and implementation actions.
• The General Plan Recommendations, which provide policy direction and potential updates for the City’s long-range land use, infrastructure, housing, and community development framework.
The process was designed to ensure alignment between Council priorities and broader General Plan policy direction, while incorporating significant community input.
Planning and Engagement Process
The Strategic Plan and General Plan Recommendations were developed through a multi-phase process that included:
1. Project Initiation – Contract awarded to Jen Rice Consults March 2025 o Identification of project scope, goals, and deliverables.
2. Community Listening and Stakeholder Outreach – Summer and Fall 2025 o Staff, City Council, and community interviews conducted to gather input on community priorities, challenges, and opportunities.
3. Listening Campaign Report to City Council on December 15, 2025 Business Agenda Item 4h
4. Detailed description of community, staff, and City Council workshops from November 2025 to April 2026 in Chart 1 as shown on the next page.
5. Draft Plan Development – May – June 2026
o Preparation of draft Strategic Plan goals and General Plan Recommendations based on staff, community input and Council direction.
6. Finalization – July 2026
o Final Strategic Plan and General Plan Recommendations prepared for Council consideration and adoption.
Chart 1:
Event Date & Location
or Method
Participants Purpose
Staff
Workshop 1
Nov. 18, 2025
Monday Club
13 department
directors &
deputies
Turn listening results into early planning
frameworks; begin developing the
Compass.
Champions
Design Session
Feb. 3, 2026,
Monday Club
8 community and
staff leaders who
guided the listening
campaign
Provide feedback on draft listening
campaign report, identify findings that need
to be explored in workshops, guide agenda
and Compass elements, and plan outreach
Community
Workshop 1
(W1)
Mar. 25, 2026
River Lodge
~75 residents
(including a few
staff &
commissioners as
community
members)
Test and refine listening results for broad
co-ownership; test and expand guiding
principles; open the conversation about
Fortuna's future priorities.
Bilingual
Polls*
1. March 25:
paper
Online:
2. Mar. 25–April
2 3. Apr. 2–9
1. n=40 during W1
2. n=162 during +
1 week after W1
(157 Eng., 5 Span.)
3. n=24 between
workshops (23
English, 1 Spanish)
1. Understand community vision and values
priorities to refine the Compass
2. Understand strategic and land use
priorities
3. Refine workshop 2 design
Community
Workshop 2
(W2)
Apr. 11, 2026
River Lodge
~75 residents
(including 15
Workshop 1
attendees and some
staff residents)
Apply Compass’ draft guiding principles
toward indications of community priorities;
broaden co-ownership of City direction; test
City spending and land use ideals.
Staff
Workshop 2
Apr. 21, 2026
Monday Club
11 department
directors &
deputies
Translate community results into priorities;
develop strategy maps to prepare for joint
session with Council.
Staff-Council
Joint Session
Apr. 27, 2026
Monday Club
11 staff, 4 Council
members, 1 public
Confirm Compass and strategic and land
use priorities; establish Council's role going
forward.
Spanish-language translations of both the Strategic Plan and General Plan Recommendations are included with the July 20, 2026, agenda materials to ensure accessibility for Spanish-speaking community members.
Business Agenda Item 4h
DISCUSSION:
Strategic Plan
The Strategic Plan establishes a framework for City Council priorities and organizational focus.
While the specific goals are detailed in the attached document, the plan generally:
• Identifies key priority areas for the City (e.g., staff retention, economic development, parks, trails, and fiscal sustainability).
• Establishes measurable goals and objectives.
• Provides implementation actions to guide staff work plans and resource allocation.
The Strategic Plan is intended to be a living document that will guide annual budgeting and policy decisions.
General Plan Recommendations
The General Plan Recommendations document provides a policy-level update framework that:
• Identifies areas of the existing General Plan that may require updates or modernization. • Reflects community priorities gathered during the engagement process. • Aligns long-term land use and development patterns with Council priorities. • Supports land use, housing, economic development, infrastructure investment, parks and public facilities.
These recommendations are not themselves a full General Plan update but are intended to guide future amendments and implementation efforts.
Alignment Between Documents
The Strategic Plan and General Plan Recommendations are designed to work together:
• The Strategic Plan establishes near- to mid-term priorities and actions. • The General Plan Recommendations provide longer-term policy direction and framework guidance.
Adoption of both documents will ensure consistency between policy direction and implementation priorities.
Future Fortuna Workshop Results Report
This report contains results from six planning workshops and related polling conducted between November 2025 and April 2026 as part of the Future Fortuna project to develop the City’s first Strategic Plan while also informing an update to the City’s General Plan. The purpose of this report is to:
• Put detailed workshop results in the hands of staff, Council, community members, and partner organizations who want to understand and apply them in a variety of ways; and • Illustrate the "process trail" of how those results informed development of Fortuna’s Strategic Plan 2026–2036 and General Plan Update (GPU) Recommendations.
This document walks through each source of information in sequence, describing what was designed and why, what was heard and produced, and how specific themes emerged and were traced through the process, and reinforced each other across a continuous “trail” of results that built upon each other, from fall 2025 listening campaign results to the final staff-Council working session in April 2026.
Business Agenda Item 4h
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no immediate fiscal impact associated with adoption of the Strategic Plan, General Plan Recommendations, and Workshop Results Report.
Implementation of identified strategies and recommendations may have future fiscal implications, which will be evaluated and brought to the City Council for consideration as part of future budgeting and project approval processes.
ALTERNATIVES TO STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS:
The City Council may:
1. Adopt the Strategic Plan and General Plan Recommendations as presented, and this is the recommended action based on input from staff, the community, and your City Council.
2. Adopt the documents with modifications, not recommended as significant time, resources and community participation helped shape these documents.
3. Continue the item and provide additional direction to staff, not recommended.
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
1. Receive staff presentation and review Council questions
2. Open Public Comment
3. Close Public Comment
4. Motion to adopt the City of Fortuna’s Strategic Plan 2026-2036, the General Plan Recommendations, and Future Fortuna Workshop Results Report, and direct staff to incorporate these documents into department work plans, personnel evaluations, budget development, City Council staff reports, hiring and onboarding, policy development, and City Council orientation. Roll Call vote.
ATTACHMENTS:
• Strategic Plan (English)
• Strategic Plan (Spanish Translation)
• General Plan Recommendations (English)
• General Plan Recommendations (Spanish Translation)
• Future Fortuna Workshop Results 2025-2026 Report