FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Renee Graham, Public Communications Officer - (573) 874-7316

Vision Action and Implementation Open House scheduled for July 30

COLUMBIA, MO (July 25, 2008) - As visioning moves forward over the coming months, a
Vision Action and Implementation Open House is planned for Wednesday, July 30, at the Activity & Recreation Center (ARC), 1701 West Ash Street. The open house from 4 - 8 p.m. is designed to accommodate “drop in” participants.

According to City Manager Bill Watkins, visioning revealed a collective desire for Columbia to be a connected, informed, engaged community.

“The vision report already guides city decision-making,” said Watkins. “Now, we need to reconnect with visioning participants and the public-at-large, have them review the draft implementation report, gather input on a visioning commission and seek community-wide effort support for turning vision goals into actions.”

The open house offers immediate feedback opportunities through on site electronic surveys, conversation stations and intermittent presentations as follows:
“Vision Management and Oversight Entity”
First presentation from 4:15 – 4:45 p.m.; repeated at 6:15 – 6:45 p.m.
“Initial Visioning Implementation Plan”
First presentation from 5:15 – 5:45 p.m.; repeated at 7:15 – 7:45 p.m.

The event focuses on the completion of two of the implementation tasks included in the final plan as approved by the visioning committee in December 2007 and accepted by the City Council on Feb. 4, 2008.

In April 2008, Sarah Read, president of The Communications Center Inc., was contracted to serve as the city’s visioning implementation consultant. Read, a former visioning committee member and citizen topic group facilitator, consulted with members of the City Council, former sponsor’s council and visioning committee throughout April and May. Based on their feedback, Read presented a preliminary report on visioning implementation at the June City Council retreat.

Following the July 30 open house, a visioning celebration is tentatively planned to coincide with Twilight Festival on Thursday, Sept. 4, at the Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts. This will be a community-wide event that celebrates current visioning efforts with music and entertainment, invites public engagement and stimulates conversations about where to go from here. It is also an opportunity to present new ideas for community-wide collaboration and to identify the public-private partnerships needed to tackle some of the more complex vision goals.

For more information on visioning, including the opportunity to sign up to receive Vision updates by email, please visit www.GoColumbiaMo.com, or call (573) 874-7316.

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