FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Paula Hertwig Hopkins, Assistant City Manager  - (573) 874-7214
or Renee Graham, Public Communications Officer - (573) 874-7316

Public input sought for ‘Imagine Columbia’s Future’ vision implementation draft report

COLUMBIA, MO (January 27, 2009) - The visioning draft implementation report is available for public review and comment during the next 30 days. According to Assistant City Manager Paula Hertwig Hopkins, the comment period, which runs through 5 p.m., Friday, Feb. 27, is a continuation of the public involvement that has guided every step of the vision process.

“The vision plan began with community aspirations for Columbia’s future. Now, we must decide how to turn vision goals and strategies into community actions,” says Hertwig Hopkins.

Compiled by local visioning consultant The Communications Center Inc., the draft implementation report includes an inventory of existing efforts, an inventory of new resources needed to accomplish identified goals, groupings of goals and strategies, the identification of organizations and entities that could be involved in implementation and guidelines for convening public dialogues.

The Columbia Vision Commission will use the implementation report as a tool for tracking vision progress and making implementation recommendations to the City Council in two-year increments. Appointed by the Council last month, the nine-member Columbia Vision Commission recently selected its 2009 officers: Jeffrey Williams, Ph.D., will serve as chair; Dan Goldstein, vice chair; and Julio Lorio, secretary. Other members include M. Dianne Drainer, Tracy Greever-Rice, Lorenzo Lawson, Jay Lindner, Philip Peters Jr. and Jan Weaver.

Hertwig Hopkins says that public input on the community resources inventory is particularly important. “Columbia has citizens, churches, clubs, organizations and businesses who are already working on community issues outlined in the vision plan.

If members of the public know of projects, organizations or resources that aren’t in the current draft, we need to hear from them. If members of the public have a passion for a specific issue, we need to hear from them. By working together, we can turn vision goals into community accomplishments,” says Hertwig Hopkins.

How to view the report
• See the link on the city’s home page at www.GoColumbiaMo.com. Click on the “Draft Vision Implementation Report” link under “announcements,” or;
• See the link on the Missourian Watchword Web site at www.thewatchword.wordpress.com, or;
• Request your own printed copy ($21) or a CD ($1). Contact Renee Graham, public communications officer, at 874-7316 or at RYG@GoColumbiaMo.com, or;
• Inspect printed copies at the following locations:
o Reception desk, main floor, City Hall, 701 E. Broadway
o Columbia Public Library, 100 W. Broadway

Making comments
• E-mail The Communications Center Inc. at bdinfo@buildingdialogue.com, or;
• Make anonymous comments online using one or more of the brief surveys linked to the “Draft Vision Implementation Report” under “announcements” on the city’s home page at www.GoColumbiaMo.com,or;
• Send mail comments to The Communications Center Inc., 1905 Cherry Hill Drive, Columbia, MO 65203.

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