CITY OF PACIFICA
COUNCIL AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT
4/14/2025
1 SUBJECT:
Approve the updated City of Pacifica 2023 to 2030 Strategic Plan Mission, Vision, Values, Goals and Strategies
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Approve the updated City of Pacifica 2023 to 2030 Strategic Plan Mission, Vision, Values, Goals and Strategies (Attachment A).
STAFF CONTACT:
Kevin Woodhouse, City Manager
(650) 738-7409
[email protected]
Yulia Carter, Assistant City Manager
(650) 501-6004
[email protected]
BACKGROUND:
Since at least 2017 the City Council has convened annually to identify and review the key priorities to be considered during the development of the City’s next annual budget. This process has ensured that the City’s most important issues are addressed within the context of changing priorities, emergencies, and limited staffing and financial resources.
In 2023 the City Council elevated the prior annual priority setting process into a comprehensive Strategic Plan, which is a best practice for high functioning organizations. The Strategic Plan includes a Mission, Vision, Values, and Goals to be focused on and achieved through 2030.
The Strategic Plan also includes the top Strategies necessary for achieving each Goal, with the Strategies subject to review, clarification and prioritization during each annual process prior to the development of the City’s annual budget. This annual prioritization process to achieve longer term Goals helps focus and manage the City’s scarce resources.
A definition of each of the Strategic Plan elements is provided below:
Mission - The City’s Mission is a statement of what the City does and strives to do on an ongoing basis. It sets the boundaries and expectations for the City and its work.
Vision - The Vision statement is aspirational, identifying the desired outcome of the City’s efforts and changes over a long period of time.
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Values - The listed Values for the City reflect how the City does its work, from the City Council through front-line staff. Values typically embody both current and desired approaches for internal and external performance.
Goals - The City’s Goal statements capture the primary focus for the City to achieve its Vision over the next seven years. Each Goal statement is ambitious, encompassing an aspirational set of work to be done, especially given that most City operations, funding, staffing, and time is devoted to day-to-day services and other non-discretionary work.
Strategies - The City Council has selected a limited set of top Strategies to achieve each Goal. Some Strategies may be accomplished over one to two years, while others may persist throughout the life of the Strategic Plan.
The Pacifica Strategic Plan, as adopted on May 8, 2023 and modified on May 13, 2024, is on the City website at https://www.cityofpacifica.org/government/city-council-strategic-plan.
DISCUSSION:
This year the City Council convened in a public workshop format on Saturday, March 1, to review progress on and possible changes to the Strategic Plan. The PowerPoint used to guide the Council workshop is provided as Attachment B and the draft minutes of the meeting as Attachment C.
Following a review and highlighting of the City’s many accomplishments this past year as detailed in the PowerPoint, the Council, City Manager, and City Attorney identified the following factors which have led to the City’s success over the past year:
• Collaboration between Council, staff, volunteers and the public • Regional relationship building
• “Listening to hear,” (without responding defensively) • Willingness to tackle difficult issues and tasks
• Cohesion of the City Council, focused on moving ahead • Commitment, energy and professionalism of the staff and Council • Community engagement, including boards and commissions • This annual Council Strategic Plan prioritization process The City Manager provided an overview of the fiscal challenges facing the City of Pacifica as presented in the PowerPoint. The Council appreciated the additional information and analysis provided by staff and discussed the need for continued focus on the City’s financial sustainability, as well as the benefits and impacts of increased housing as required by the State.
The Council then received extensive public comment, as detailed in Attachment C, with the most comments received related to housing, climate action/sustainability, and infrastructure needs.
The City Council reviewed the Mission, Vision, Values and Goals adopted in 2023. The only changes requested by Council were to ensure that the City’s Values are structurally and grammatically uniform.
The bulk of the Council workshop was spent reviewing the Strategies necessary to achieve each Goal as well as the staff work plan and progress to date. Given the City’s ongoing Pacifica City Council 3
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resource constraints and existing priorities as reflected in the Strategic Plan, few substantive additions to the Strategic Plan were directed by Council at this time, although specific comments were provided on most of the Strategies and work plan items for staff’s consideration.
Most of the requested changes to the adopted Strategies could be summarized in two categories:
• Updating the work required in the future based on the accomplishments of the past two years; and
• Broadening the work required to reflect additional possible solutions and needs.
All of the proposed changes to the Strategic Plan Misson, Vision, Values, Goals and Strategies are provided as a red-line document in Attachment D. The City Manager recommends Council adoption of the updated City of Pacifica 2023 to 2030 Strategic Plan.
FY 2025-26 Staff Workplan
Based on the Council workshop, City staff has also updated the staff workplans for each Strategy under each Goal, as summarized in Attachment E using the City’s AchieveIt software package. These draft workplans reflect staff’s understanding of the Council’s direction for each Goal and Strategy and the work and timelines possible given existing and anticipated resources and current priorities.
In preparing the FY 2025-26 staff workplan, staff conducted a comprehensive review and cleanup of all departmental tasks and subtasks to ensure accuracy, relevance, and alignment with current priorities. This effort included categorizing tasks based on their status, updating timelines, refining descriptions, and removing outdated or completed items. This process involved adding new items that address emerging priorities and anticipated mandates, carrying forward relevant tasks that were not completed in prior years, and updating recurring items that appear annually due to regulatory or operational needs. Existing tasks were reviewed for accuracy, with edits made to clarify scope and revise language.
As part of the FY 2025-26 staff workplan development, a number of new tasks and subtasks were added under each Strategic Goal. These additions reflect emerging priorities, state and local mandates, and internal capacity-building initiatives that align with the City Council's longterm objectives. Below is a summary of the new tasks:
Goal 1: Enhance Organizational and Fiscal Stability
New tasks under this goal focus on strengthening internal operations, supporting workforce development, and improving long-term fiscal sustainability. These include initiatives to enhance recruitment strategies and continue filling vacancies, deliver an employee engagement survey, develop coordinated department-level follow-up plans, and establish ongoing training programs for executive, managerial, and supervisory staff. The City also plans to implement a new Performance Management Program and continue exploring low-cost plus high-impact enhancements to the employee benefits package. On the fiscal side, new items include promoting housing as economic infrastructure and selection and implementation of a new community development and permit tracking software system for building, planning, and public works, tools that will improve efficiency and support compliance with state regulations.
Goal 2: Improve and Steward City Infrastructure, Streets, and Facilities This goal includes new efforts related to capital project advancement. Specifically, staff will Pacifica City Council 4
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pursue funding opportunities for Phase 2c of the Beach Boulevard Infrastructure Resiliency Project (BBIRP). If successful, the project will proceed with planning and implementation of this critical phase following completion of Phase 2b.
Goal 3: Prioritize Protection and Development of Affordable Housing New items in this category support the City's commitment to housing affordability and Housing Element implementation. Tasks include developing an Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance (HE-1-6) and continuing work on policies and actions aligned with the adopted Housing Element. These efforts contribute to meeting RHNA targets and ensuring that housing development in Pacifica remains accessible and inclusive.
Goal 4: Pursue Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation A number of new tasks are tied to the implementation of the Local Coastal Land Use Plan (LCLUP) and broader climate resilience goals. These include securing Coastal Commission certification of the Sharp Park Specific Plan, updating coastal hazard mapping through a new LCP amendment, and developing and adopting an Implementation Plan for coastal zoning and development regulations. The workplan also includes launching the Shoreline Adaptation Plan and the Coastal Access and Resilience Program, both vital for long-term coastal planning and hazard mitigation.
Goal 5: Broaden Public Communications and Collaboration New initiatives under this goal aim to expand community engagement and transparency. These include growing the CERT Leadership Team with trained community volunteers, developing public engagement plans for major wastewater capital improvement projects, and launching public-facing dashboards on the Police Department website to increase transparency around technology use.
The staff workplan continues to be extremely robust given the City’s staffing levels. Notably, it is worth elaborating on the Community Development Department’s (CDD) full slate of tasks related to certification and implementation of the Housing Element and implementation of the Local Coastal Land Use Plan (LCLUP) once it is certified by the Coastal Commission.
Following completion of the rezoning for the Housing Element opportunity sites that is required for certification, CDD will begin the process of modernizing and streamlining Pacifica’s Zoning Ordinance, permit processes, and technology. This includes a two-step approach to modernizing the Zoning Ordinance. The first step is reorganization of the code, without making substantive changes, so that it is easier to use, understand, and update moving forward. For example, this would include grouping all of the zoning and overlay districts together and using standard tables to convey permit requirements and development standards. The second is a comprehensive update, including public engagement, that would include citywide objective standards and design guidelines, revised permit findings, and other changes identified in the Housing Element. CDD will also begin work on other implementation items such as exploring changes to the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance and analyzing public sites.
Another critical CDD workplan item is to procure and implement community development software for building, planning, and public works permits. Such software will allow the City to track compliance with State laws, generate data for State-mandated reporting, increase efficiency of reviews, provide excellent customer service, and increase transparency for decision makers, applicants and the public. As with any major software implementation, this project will require significant CDD staff time and coordination across departments to successfully bring it to life. While the long-term benefits will be substantial, the implementation Pacifica City Council 5
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phase will certainly reduce staff capacity to advance other workplan items, making prioritization of workplan initiatives essential.
With the updated LCLUP scheduled for a Coastal Commission hearing on May 8, 2025, CDD’s and the Public Works Department’s workplans include an aggressive schedule for initiating processes to develop the Shoreline Adaptation Plan and the Coastal Access and Resilience Plan. Both efforts must be started and meet certain thresholds before the Special Shoreline Resiliency Areas established in the updated LCLUP can take effect. The LCLUP also includes starting work on updating the Implementation Plan - the Coastal Zone and development regulations in the Pacifica Municipal Code.
The annual budget process serves as the primary mechanism for the community and City Council to consider how resources are allocated to sustain ongoing services and support a limited number of new initiatives. As the City Council reviews the proposed budget in the coming months, the availability of resources will ultimately define the level of progress that can be achieved on the Strategic Plan and other identified priorities. It is important to note that “resources” extend beyond funding, as they also include staff time and organizational capacity. In Pacifica, where staffing levels remain limited and recruitment and retention continue to pose challenges, the ability to advance new strategic initiatives must be balanced with maintaining core services. Therefore, the Strategic Plan implementation must be aligned with both fiscal and operational realities to ensure that progress remains meaningful and manageable.
Strategic Planning “Bike Rack” Items:
During the Strategic Planning workshop on March 1, 2025, numerous new potential workplan items were identified by the Council, with direction for staff to evaluate these items for potential inclusion in the Strategic Plan by identifying required resources such as staff time, budget, timelines, additional studies, and community outreach and education. These new potential workplan items, parked in the “bike rack” flipchart to capture them as potential add-ons to the higher priority strategic plan workplan items already directed by Council, are the following:
1. Council Chambers Art Program
2. Council Pay
3. E-bikes and Bike/Ped Conflicts
4. Arbor Day/Adopt-a-Tree Program
5. Food Truck Ordinance
6. Sustainability Commission
In summary, it is the City Manager’s assessment that the City does not have staff capacity, nor does the City Council have agenda capacity, to fully undertake these add-on workplan items for FY2025-26, without removing or delaying other higher priority items on the workplan. However, it is also the City Manager’s assessment that two of the six items, and part of a third item, would require much less staff resources than the other 3.5 items, and therefore could potentially be added to the workplan as lower-priority items to be pursued if and when staff resources are available. The six items are briefly summarized below, categorized from lower to higher resources required, with more analysis provided in Attachment F.
Potentially Feasible:
1. Council Chambers Art Program: The Council Chambers has wall space to set up a small rotating art gallery. However, art displayed in public buildings requires developing policies and guidelines, plus management/curation/promotion of the program. The program description in Attachment F summarizes the many components of a program Pacifica City Council 6
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that would need to be addressed if the program were City led and administered.
However, if the City’s role was minimal and limited to policy and guidelines development, and the program was managed and curated by the Sanchez Art Center, then this workplan item would be potentially feasible to accomplish.
2. Council Pay: The purpose of this effort would be to evaluate and potentially increase the low stipend that Councilmembers receive for their significant time commitment in serving as Councilmembers. A modest increase in stipend could make a difference in the future for garnering interest from community members in wanting to serve as a Councilmember. However, this item would require staff research and analysis, legal review, potentially a consultant, and public input. The entirety of the process, as described in Attachment F, would be somewhat time consuming, and potentially controversial, but is potentially feasible to begin during FY2025-26.
Partially Feasible:
3. Arbor Day/Adopt A Tree Program: The purpose of this item, as staff understands from the discussion at the Strategic Plan workshop, would be for the City to take over lead of the annual Arbor Day event from Tree City Pacifica, and for the City to create and manage a citywide adopt-a-tree program. As described in Attachment F, the Public Works and Parks, Beaches, and Recreation Departments currently lend substantial support to Tree City Pacifica in this annual event. Continuing this level of support is feasible for these departments. Taking on the lead in planning and carrying out this event may be feasible for these departments as long as Tree City Pacifica continues to operate as a strong City partner. However, creating and implementing an adopt-a-tree program would require additional staff capacity in the Public Works Department and is not feasible unless other Public Works projects or maintenance activities were reduced.
Infeasible Unless Other Workplan Items are Replaced or Delayed:
4. E-bikes and Bike/Ped Conflicts: The purpose of this item would be to assess what problems exist and, if necessary, evaluate E-bike and trail usage policies, laws, and enforcement. This is a major policy issue in some communities, and is a difficult and controversial topic with passionate stakeholders on all sides of the issue. Work on this topic would require significant staff time for the Parks, Beaches, & Recreation Department, Police Department, Public Works Department, Community Development Department, City Attorney’s Office and the City Manager’s Office. It would also require significant public engagement efforts and City Council and Planning Commission agenda capacity. Considering the extensive impact to all city departments’ workloads, extensive public engagement, and regulatory complexities, City staff does not currently have the capacity to undertake the development of a community e-bike program in the upcoming fiscal year unless another major priority workplan item was delayed or replaced.
5. Food Truck Ordinance: Adopting a food truck ordinance is a significant undertaking and would primarily impact the Community Development Department, City Manager’s Office, and City Attorney’s Office. It would also impact Planning Commission and City Council agenda capacity, and is a difficult and controversial topic with passionate stakeholders on all sides of the issue. For the reasons summarized more extensively in Attachment F, City staff does not currently have the capacity to undertake this item in the upcoming fiscal year unless another major priority workplan item was delayed or replaced.
6. Sustainability Commission Formation: Beginning implementation of the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan is a major goal for the City Council. Related, the Council expressed Pacifica City Council 7
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interest in considering the feasibility of replacing the Climate Action and Adaptation Task Force with a new and permanent Sustainability Commission charged with overseeing implementation of the City’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP). Establishing a new Sustainability Commission would represent a significant and ongoing cost to the City in terms of staff time, legal resources, and administrative support. While a Sustainability Commission may provide structure and visibility for environmental initiatives, it comes with a high cost for the City, particularly in a time of constrained staffing and competing strategic priorities. The significant challenges with this item are enumerated in Attachment F.
However, there may be more streamlined alternatives the Council could consider, described more thoroughly in the attachment, such as:
a. Repurpose an existing Commission/Committee with this charge; b. Distribute CAAP implementation tasks amongst existing Commissions/Committees;
d. Continue the CAAP Task Force, assigning it a broader role in supporting implementation of CAAP actions.
Strategic Plan Best Practices
Best practices from other local government agencies suggest several effective steps to ensure continued progress and visibility of the Strategic Plan, including:
• Posting the Mission, Vision, Values, Goals and Strategies on the City’s web page, around City Hall and other City facilities open to the public, and in the City Council Chambers.
• Incorporating the Strategic Plan in the City’s budget and other guiding documents. • Refer to the Strategic Plan Goals and Strategies as appropriate in Council staff reports. • Provide periodic updates on the Strategic Plan at Council meetings or in semiannual staff reports. • Council consideration of which Strategies to delay or drop when providing midcycle direction on new or emerging priorities. • Conduct annual reviews and updates to the Strategic Plan, focusing on achievements and changes related to the Strategies for each Goal. It is not uncommon in other agencies to drop and add Strategies each year in furtherance of the Strategic Plan.
The City Council’s action on proposed updates to the Strategic Plan will be the culmination of a thorough and thoughtful consideration of the challenges and opportunities facing the City of Pacifica and will provide a guide for achieving the Council’s Vision and Goals for the City.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no direct or immediate fiscal impact associated with the City Council’s adoption of the Strategic Plan. However, the Strategic Plan will serve as the Council’s guide for allocation of resources in the budget process and for staff’s prioritization of work given limited resources.
ORIGINATED BY:
City Manager's Office
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ATTACHMENT LIST:
AttA-PacificaStrategicPlanSummaryUPDATED2025 (PDF)
AttB - PacificaSP2025_UpdateStaffReport-POWERPOINT (PDF) AttC-DRAFT_Minutes_03-01-2025_CC_StudySession (PDF)
AttD-PacificaStrategicPlanSummaryUPDATED2025 - REDLINE (PDF) AttE-FY2025-26 Workplan (PDF)
AttF-Analysis of Potential New Strategic Plan Items raised during the Strategic Planning Workshop (PDF)