2025
City Council
Teambuilding, Goal
Setting and Strategic
Planning Workshop
• •
HINDED IN 1810
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Munagement Consultants
-
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BridgeGroup LLC
Management Consultants
10434 East Wayne Moody Lane
Tucson, Arizona 85747
(520) 891-1953 Phone
520) 721-7101 Fax
[email protected]
August 4, 2025
Ms. Tanya Romo
Deputy City Manager
City of San Bernardino
290 North D Street
San Bernardino, California 92401
Dear Ms. Romo:
BridgeGroup LLC is pleased to present our Qualifications for developing and facilitating your City Council Workshop. We look forward to working with you, the City Manager, and the City Council on this project. Thank you so much for considering engaging our firm to help your organization and community.
The steps outlined in this proposal are based on what we think will work best for the outcomes you want to achieve in the Council Workshop. We recognize that you and the other workshop participants have a much better handle on what may or may not work best for your community, so we are flexible in modifying our approach to meet your needs for the outcomes you want to achieve.
The approach we are recommending is based on our experience of over 20 years of facilitating, developing, and implementing effective and result-oriented strategic workshops/retreats for public sector clients. We take significant pride in our track record with clients in tailoring our approach to their needs, making immediate adjustments to the approach when necessary, and responding promptly to any issues that may come up in the workshop planning process.
If you have any questions or require additional information regarding our proposal, please contact me at (520) 891-1953 or email [email protected].
Very truly yours,
Mike Letcher
Mike Letcher
President and CEO
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
COVER
Contact Information 4
Personnel Qualifications 5-6
Workshop Development Approach 6-13
Sample Agendas 14-16
Project Timeline 17
Proposed Cost 17
References 18
Deming Cycle
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Contact Information: Why Use BridgeGroup LLC?
BridgeGroup LLC was established in 2005. The corporate website for BridgeGroup is (www.bridgegroupllc.net). BridgeGroup has offices in Tucson, Arizona and San Diego, California.
BridgeGroup is a certified MBE and DBE firm. President and CEO of BridgeGroup LLC, Mike Letcher is the sole owner. Bridge Group has experience consulting with non-profit, municipal, tribal, state, federal and private sector clients. Our firm's consultants have worked with clients on all the key services we provide. The most important asset BridgeGroup brings to clients is that our consultants have implemented projects as senior managers. They also have a proven track record of success in their fields of expertise. We provide uncompromising quality to our clients. Seeking the services of a consultant to work with you and your organization to address issues is not an easy task. We will not disappoint you or your organization.
Most consulting firms have built their business on simply helping you to identify solutions that, given time, your organization could have developed. These firms focus on quick wins and not creating sustainable improvements. Building sustainable improvements will provide you with a way to continue making effective changes long after the consultant is gone. BridgeGroup believes that it is not only important to solve your issues, but also to leave you with the tools, new processes and systems to sustain the improvement effort in your organization.
As our clients, we listen to your needs. This provides the critical information necessary for us to ask the right questions that ensure our services are effective for you. It is easy to produce package solutions that have been provided to other clients. Our goal is to make sure that the solutions you need work for you and are specifically tailored to the unique environment of your organization. The following is a link to Website: https://bridgegroupllc.net/ Cell Number (520) 891-1953
Address:
10434 East Wayne Moody Lane
Tucson, Arizona 85747
Email Address: [email protected]
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Personnel Qualifications of Project Consultants
The City of San Bernardino is seeking a consultant to develop a City Council Workshop.
BridgeGroup is committed to developing and facilitating a successful workshop. We will work effectively with you and the City Manager to develop and implement a result-oriented workshop. The focus of our approach is to develop a workshop that provides a seamless process for improving governance and implementing current and future priorities.
Our consultants for this project have extensive experience facilitating the development of Governing Board Workshops. Their experience working with a variety of clients in the public and private sectors will be very helpful to the City of San Bernardino. We are proposing to staff this project with our most experienced management consultants. No sub-consultants or contractors will be used. Our consultants will be involved in each phase of the project. Detailed resumes are available upon request.
Consultant Mike Letcher, MPA, CPM, ICMA-CM, TQM President and CEO of BridgeGroup LLC.
He has 30 years of experience as a city manager, budget director, finance director, human resource director, and general services/facilities director in cities from 6,000 to 500,000- population. He is a recognized expert in developing strategic plans for public sector clients.
Mike is a certified total quality management (TQM) facilitator and the recipient of innovation awards for programs he has developed in Human Resources, Finance and Customer Service.
Mike holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration from the University of Kansas and has published national articles on strategic policy development, strategic budgeting, improving customer service, teambuilding and redefining the relationship between the Mayor and Council and City Manager. He is an Associate Professor in the University of Arizona, Masters of Public Administration Program (MPA).
Senior Consultant Bill Stipp, MPA - Bill has over 35 years of top operational and executive governmental experience and recently completed his third term as an elected At-Large Councilmember for a community of over 115,000 in metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona. He served seven years, one a Chairperson, on the Board of Directors for the regional public transportation authority for the metropolitan Phoenix Region.
He has previously served on several national, state, and regional boards including the Board of Directors for the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association and the State of Massachusetts' Joint Labor-Management Commission mediating municipal contract disputes. Bill's work has involved communities ranging from 15,000 in population to over 120,000 which included a "turn around" position as Administrator for a Special Taxing District in Arizona. His education includes a Master of Public Administration Degree from Grand Canyon University. 5 "Help is on the way"
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BridgeGroup Consultants Mike Letcher and Bill Stipp have a unique combination of executive and academic level strategic planning expertise, along with a proven track record of developing effective Workshops for our clients. Why should you select BridgeGroup for developing your strategic plan? We have:
• Extensive experience facilitating elected board and staff strategic planning development meetings.
• Over 20 years of experience facilitating governing board workshops and developing actionable strategic plans.
• Our strategic planning and goal setting approach is recognized as a best practice by ICMA: https://conference.icma.org/education-session-details/?session=3062818 Experience working in Cities and Towns throughout the country.
Extensive experience working with Mayors, City Councils, City Managers and Board of Directors.
• Academic experience teaching strategic planning at the graduate school level. • A passion for developing effective and result oriented strategic plans. • 100% client satisfaction with our services.
Workshop Development Approach
Our approach to your workshop with the Council
is straightforward: stay focused on what matters
Strategic most - results and consensus. We use data
Consensus Direction.
from a confidential online survey to build
consensus within the City Council and provide
•Data the strategic direction needed to achieve your
desired outcomes. The workshop will be guided
by four (4) principle-focused outcomes:
1. Learning more about one another through an Ice Breaker Exercise.
2. Determine how members of the city council can become more effective in their roles.
3. Reach consensus on the goals that the City Council would like the City Manager to achieve over the next year.
Reach consensus on key components the City Council would like to see in a new strategic plan.
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Objective Setting - Phase I and Phase I|
We will have an initial meeting with you and the City Manager to confirm and establish the desired goals and objectives of the workshop. We will work collaboratively to create questions for a custom on-line survey to gauge the views of the City Council based on those objectives.
This dynamic process allows the city to gain valuable information beforehand, saving time in the workshop and having more focus on the interaction and dialogue to address issues and ideas generated from the survey. Our value added is that you will have feedback from the survey on key components of the workshop during the planning phase.
How will this be done?
BridgeGroup will develop a custom online survey that will gauge the views of the City Council on workshop outcomes. This process allows the workshop to focus more on Council interaction and dialogue to address issues and ideas generated from the survey results. Our value added is that before the workshop you have feedback from the survey on:
* What do councilmembers perceive as their purpose, priorities, and individual roles, and what can strengthen their effectiveness as a Council?
» What are the areas they need to work on to be a High Performing Board (HPB)? * What are some of the goals they would like the City Manager to achieve over the next year?
* What are key components they would like to see in a new strategic plan? Development of the Workshop - Phase Ill and Phase IV
Icebreaker Exercise
A City Council has a defined role that is outlined in a state statute.
While these laws provide legal parameters and guidance for their position on the council, they do not help them relate to each other more effectively. One of the principle focus outcomes in the workshop is for the council members to get to know one another on a more personal level. Our goal is for the city council to learn a little bit more about the person they work with in governing the city without the limitations of title and decorum. We will work with you to determine the best strategy for integrating this into your workshop.
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Being an Effective Board Survey
The common denominator for most
governing board members is the desire
to serve and make a difference in their CIL
community. To accomplish this, they
must collaborate with other members of
the governing board. The High-
Performance Board (HPB) questions that
will be included in your survey are designed to assist the City Council in determining how they can be more effective working with each other. The HPB survey will gauge the governance levels that are a priority for the City Council.
Level 6-Baldrige Organization and/or
Ickinsey 7S Surveys informs a
evels for continous improvemen
evel 5- Governance Expectation
uides all Level
Level 4-Strategic Plan guides level
3,2 and 1
Level 3-Board Governance i.e liquor
He and is on level budget
Level 2-Consituent Response Focus
Level 1-Day to Day Operations Focus
What do all these levels mean in the chart above? Improving board governance is a journey.
The chart identifies six (6) levels boards can operate at during their journey of improving the governance of their communities.
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What do all these levels mean in the chart above? Improving Board Governance is a journey.
The chart identifies six (6) levels Boards can operate at during their journey of improving the governance of their communities. The Board's leadership determines what level their City is operating at on a day-to-day basis. Most municipal Governing Boards operate at Level 3. The focus is on day-to-day operations. They love "being in the weeds" and the details of day-to-day operations that ideally should be left to the manager and staff. Their Board meetings are focused on doing the routine business of government. Very little focus is paid to strategically planning for the future of the community or improving their effectiveness in governing the City.
In moving to Level 4, they develop a strategic plan that not only guides the priorities at Levels 1- 3 but opens their Communities up to work on opportunities for the future. Along the way, the Board decides it would be good to look at developing expectations for each other. Is it really that simple? Yes, it is that simple. By developing expectations for the Board, you can move beyond the stage of relying on the rules of the City Code or State Statute in defining the relationship. While these rules are important, they do not give you a playbook for ongoing governance improvement. The survey will gauge the governance levels that are a priority for the City Council.
City Manager Goal Setting
Our firm is recommending several tools to assist the City Council and City Manager in determining goals/projects for the next year. All or a select number of the following tools can be used in the workshop depending on your preference.
To set clear and achievable one-year goals for the City Manager, the City Council should begin by grounding its work in Simon Sinek's "Why" - the City's core purpose and reason for existing. This shared purpose acts as a filter for deciding what deserves time, resources, and action. By clarifying the Why for each goal, the City Council ensures that every priority aligns with delivering visible and meaningful value to the community.
The City Council's broad goals should stay focused on four core strategic categories: each rooted in the city's "Why" and strengthened by Jim Collins' the Hedgehog Concept. This concept is about simplifying an organization's focus on core strategy, much like a hedgehog's one powerful defense mechanism. This focus will help identify where the city is deeply committed, where it can be the best, and what sustains its resources. "Help is on the way"
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The following is a summary of the city council's previous goals that would be confirmed or amended in the survey prior to the workshop:
• Financial Stability: Ensure the City's long-term fiscal health by focusing only on actions that safeguard, grow, and wisely manage resources.
• Focused, Aligned Leadership and Unified Community: Build an organization and culture that attracts, retains, and motivates excellent people while strengthening trust and connection with the community.
• Improved Quality of Life: Commit to goals that directly enhance residents' day-to-day experiences, safety, and well-being through better services and community responsiveness.
• Economic Growth & Development: Advance priorities that attract investment, modernize the built environment, and position the City for sustainable, future-ready economic success.
By anchoring your NEW one-year goals in these categories (or amended categories) and testing each through the Hedgehog Concept - the City Council helps the City Manager and staff stay focused on priorities that truly advance the city's mission and prevent costly distractions from its core purpose.
Once the strategic "Why" and Hedgehog Concept is confirmed, the Balanced Scorecard should be applied as a practical structure to shape well-rounded, balanced goals and projects. This means ensuring that the City Manager's annual goals and projects cover all the critical perspectives: the City's financial sustainability, customer service, the effectiveness and efficiency of internal operations, technology, and the growth and development of the staff.
Using this balanced lens will help the City Council resist overcommitting to only one dimension - like finances — while neglecting equally important drivers of long-term performance such as customer service and technology.
Senge Chart
PROJECT IS EASY TO PROJECT IS DIFFICULT
ACCOMPLISH TO ACCOMPLISH
HIGH IMPACT ON 1 2
ORGANIZATION/COMMUNITY
LOW IMPACT ON 3 4
ORGANIZATION/COMMUNITY
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With clear priorities in place, the Senge Chart becomes a vital tool to focus energy where it matters most. By mapping possible projects or initiatives according to their level of difficulty and their potential impact on the organization and community, the Council and City Manager can filter out low-impact distractions and avoid investing time in projects that drain capacity without delivering results. This disciplined mapping helps the Council concentrate on actions that are both feasible and transformational, while setting realistic expectations for tackling more complex, high-impact goals over time with clear milestones.
Finally, the Lead, Partner, or Support Decision Matrix (LPSDM)©bridgegroupll ensures that once projects are defined, the city's role in each is intentional and strategic - not reactive. The City Council should ask whether the city is best positioned to lead an initiative directly, work alongside key partners in shared responsibility, or support the work of other organizations while focusing its own resources elsewhere. This framework helps align internal capacity, clarifies stakeholder expectations, and prevents mission drift. Together, these concepts build an annual goal-setting process that is anchored in purpose, balanced across dimensions, realistic in scope, and smart in execution — empowering the City Manager to deliver meaningful progress that reflects the community's true priorities.
Lead, Partner, or Support Decision Matrix (LPSDM)©bridgegrouplIc
CRITERIA LEAD PARTNER SUPPORT
STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT Fully aligned with all Aligned with one or Indirectly or no WITH HEDGEHOG 3 Hedgehog circles two Hedgehog alignment with (Passion, Excellence, elements Hedgehog
Engine)
ORGANIZATIONAL We have the internal We bring key Others are better EXPERTISE/CAPACITY skills, people, and strengths but need equipped; we offer infrastructure to own others to succeed supplemental skills this or tools
COMMUNITY The public expects us Shared ownership is Others are expected EXPECTATION OR to lead this expected; the public to lead; the public MANDATE sees this as sees us as a
collaborative contributor
RESOURCE Worth significant Moderate Minimal
INVESTMENT resource/time investment with investment; mostly investment shared indirect or in-kind
responsibility
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RISK IF WE High risk to mission, Moderate risk: others Low risk: initiative will DON'T ACT credibility, or outcomes if are stepping in too proceed without us we do not lead
POTENTIAL High and measurable Good impact when Marginal or FOR IMPACT impact if we lead paired with capable background support to partners overall impact
EXAMPLE Launching a citywide Collaborating on a Providing IT or data INITIATIVE homelessness strategy youth violence support to a regional from the Housing prevention coalition climate action effort Department
How to Use This Matrix
1. Evaluate the initiatives/projects you are considering.
2. Evaluate each row based on how the initiatives/projects fit the criteria.
3. Choose the column (Lead, Partner, or Support) that receives the majority of matches or makes the most strategic sense.
Integrated Strategic Plan Model
During the workshop BridgeGroup will share the survey results on what VISIOn components the City Council wants to see in their new strategic plan. In the Stater rates workshop we also will review our strategic planning approach for emission- developing your new strategic plan. The successful implementation of any organization strategic plan often lies in its integration into daily business practices. We highly recommend that the city use strategic planning integration and begin linking your future plan to the City Council's agenda process, budgets, staff work plans/evaluations and any current and/or newly developed performance measures.
Strategic Plan
Council
Update
Agenda
Plan Process
Performance
Budget
Measures
Staff Work
Plan
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The Integrated Strategic Planning approach creates a balance that aligns both your financial and human capital (employees) to focus on achieving the strategic goals and objectives of the plan.
A strategic plan is not just a document that identifies the strategies, goals and objectives that prioritize your services, programs, and capital needs, it can offer much more.
To stay focused and effective, the city must align its daily work with its core purpose and the needs of its residents. Strategic Focus Areas define what we prioritize, while Guiding Principles define how we achieve it. Together, they keep our goals clear and our actions consistent.
Our Strategic Planning Process Components
Strategic Focus Area - The intersection of the City's Mission, Vision and Values with the needs of its residents and the City's organizational competency. These focus areas are designed to keep the organization's priorities from getting distracted by what may appear to be competing opportunities. This strategic focus will drive policy decisions and priorities for the city.
Guiding Principles - The strategies guiding the consistent execution of projects, policies and programs that continuously work toward achieving the goals expressed in the strategic focus areas.
Developing Future Strategic Work Plan Projects
The culmination of all these "systems is what will be accomplished. Once strategic focus and community priorities have been established, we will identify the work plan projects that will be completed. We use a simple model to identify those projects after the modeling is complete.
Projects
•What are the Are these projects /Initiativ
issues/challenges we need to onsistent with our prioriti address? • What specific projects or
If we address these issue Initiatives do we need to do f yes, these projects a challenges what outcome over the next two years? We tegrated into the Work Pl can we expect? will use the Why Approach to
determine what projects will
be most effective.
San Bernardino Strategic Work
Priorities Plan
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Sample Agendas
Retreat Agenda Johnson County Kansas - Day 1
• Opening Remarks -
Overview of the Agenda and Outcomes Mike Letcher
Discovering Your Personal and Organizational "Why". Identifying the Commission's Vision for Johnson County. Bill Stipp and Commission Members • Reviewing Commissioner roles and desired outcomes Bill Stipp and Commission Members
• BREAK
Identify what factors influence Commission-Manager relationships based on High Performance Boards (HPB) and mutual expectations for Commission members, between the Commission and the County Manager. Mike Letcher and Commission Members • Identify the Top Strategic Priorities for the County (What will we focus on). Mike Letcher and Commission Members
• Closing Remarks-
Day One four (4) principle focuses:
Finding Your Why as a Commissioner and as a County.
• What is the role of the Commission and how does it impact the vision of the future for Johnson County?
• Exploring High Performing Board (HPB) Characteristics and shared expectations for the Commission, the County Manager while improving meeting effectiveness. • Identifying top Strategic Priorities for the County.
Day One Action Outcomes:
Identify five (5) things the Commission can do to support one another.
Identify ways to make meetings more effective.
Identify five (5) things the County Manager can do to be more effective.
Identify five (5) things the Commission can do to support the County Manager. • Reach consensus on the Strategic Priorities for the next two years. 14|
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Retreat Agenda Johnson County Kansas - Day 2
• Opening Remarks-
Overview of the Agenda and Outcomes Mike Letcher
Review of current state of the budget and identify challenges Bill Stipp and County Staff 0 Review Resident Feedback, Commission and Leadership SWOT Mike Letcher and County Staff
BREAK
• Identify policy/project initiatives to advance the Strategic Priorities (How we will achieve our priorities) Mike Letcher and County Staff
• Closing Remarks-
Day Two three (3) principle focuses:
Review Current state of Budget and identify the challenges ahead.
What is influencing the future for Johnson County?
• Identifying projects or initiatives that support strategic priority areas. (Action Outcome) Day 1 Agenda for City of Saint Charles, MO Time
Workshop Opening Remarks - City Council President Bridget 10:00-10:10 am Ohmes
Overview of the Agenda and Outcomes for the Workshop 10:10-10:30am Section- Mike Letcher
Draw Our Visions for Saint Charles Team Exercise- Mike 10:30-12:00 pm Letcher and Mayor and Council Members
Lunch and Mayor's Presentation on French City Vision 12:00-1:00 pm Overview of and Discussion of High Performing Councils - 1:00-1:30 pm Mike Letcher
Review of Survey Results (Teambuilding) - Mike Letcher 1:30-2:00 pm Break 2:00-2:15 pm
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Mayor and Council Review and Discuss Survey Results and 2:15-3:30pm Mayor and Council Draft Expectations- Mike Letcher
Mayor and Council Reach Consensus on Expectations- Mike 3:30-4:30 pm Letcher
Closing Remarks- City Council President Bridget Ohmes 4:30 pm Dinner and Pictionary Game 5:30-7:00 pm
Day 2 Agenda Item City of Saint Charles, MO Time
Breakfast 7:30-8:30 am
Workshop Opening Remarks - City Council President Bridget 8:30-8:40 am Ohmes
Overview of the Agenda and Outcomes for the Worship 10:10-10:30 am Section- Mike Letcher
Review of Survey Results and Developing Strategic Project and 10:30-11:00 am Policy Priorities - Mike Letcher
Break 11:00-11:15 am
Mayor and Council Teams Develop Proposed Projects and 11:15 am-1:15 pm Policy Initiatives Based on Focus Areas and Strategies and Propose Changes or Additions to Strategic Operating Policy. (Working Lunch)- Mike Letcher
Mayor and Council Reach Consensus on Project Policy 1:15-2:30 pm Initiatives and Strategic Operating Policy - Mike Letcher Closing Remarks- City Council President Bridget Ohmes 2:30 pm 16 "Help is on the way"
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Project Timeline
We are suggesting a simple, yet effective approach to the workshop.
Phase I consists of the previously mentioned objective setting meeting with the City Manager and Deputy City Manager in August 2025.
Phase Il consists of the survey being developed and administered in August-September 2025.
Phase IlI- consists of the development of a workshop workbook and PowerPoint in September 2025.
Phase IV is the formal workshop to be jointly scheduled.
Phase V is a post workshop summary to be provided as needed within two weeks following the workshop.
Proposal Costs
This quotation is valid for a period of 90 days from the date of this proposal. We are willing to discuss adjusting our quote based on more information regarding the requirements and objectives for the type of facilitation desired. Our cost for facilitating the City Council Workshop is $28,500.
Phase Service Cost
Phase 1 Objective setting and survey development $8,000 Phase 2 Survey distribution and compilation of results $5,000 Phase 3 Develop workbook and PowerPoint presentation $4,000 Phase 4 Facilitation of the workshop (1½ days) $10,000
Phase 5 Post workshop summary $1,500
TOTAL not to exceed $28,500
Travel Costs are included in the Not To Exceed cost
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References
City of St. Charles, Missouri
Project Description: Developed new strategic plan for the city. The new plan was linked to their budget, staff annual work plans and Mayor and City Council agenda process. Developing the strategic plan involved meetings with the Mayor City Administrator and Executive Team members. Governing Expectations were also developed for the Mayor and Council to work more effectively with each other and the City Administrator. We conducted two Council Workshops with the city on improving Council effectiveness and teamwork.
Reference: City Administrator Larry Dobrosky
Phone: (636) 949-3262
E-Mail: [email protected]
Johnson County, Kansas
Conducted a two-day retreat for the County Board to evaluate their effectiveness, purpose and priorities as a Board. We also developed new FY 26 priorities for the Board and County Manager. The Workshop was developed through meetings with the Board Chair, County Manager and Deputy Manager and preworkshop survev results.
Reference: Deputy County Manager Julie Karins
Phone: (928) 710-7164
E-Mail: [email protected]
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