In 2014, the City of Palm Desert completed a new strategic plan that envisions what the City will be over the next 20 years.
Titled Envision Palm Desert - Forward Together, the document was the culmination of a process that began in February 2013 when the Palm Desert City Council approved a contract with the nonprofit National Civic League for assistance with the preparation of a new strategic plan .
The first step was the identification of an Initiating Committee made up of community members representing various key entities and sectors in Palm Desert including College of the Desert, the McCallum Theatre, the Chamber of Commerce, and more.
The Initiating Committee was assigned the responsibility of working out the logistics of the strategic planning process, including establishing a meeting schedule and naming the effort. The Initiating Committee also identified key community stakeholders who should be invited to participate in the strategic planning process. All Palm Desert residents and business people were also invited, via an article in the BrightSide newsletter, to share their input by nominating themselves and others as volunteer stakeholders.
As a result of these outreach efforts, more than 100 community members representing diverse interests, backgrounds, and viewpoints served as volunteer stakeholders sharing their knowledge, experience, and insight to help produce a community-wide vision for the next two decades.
On May 22, 2013, these stakeholders met with National Civic League representatives and select City staff at Desert Willow Golf Resort as part of an initial kick-off meeting to learn about the process and discuss issues affecting the City’s future. The City Council, along with community stakeholders and participating staff, were also invited to complete an online survey to identify opportunities and challenges facing Palm Desert.
In subsequent meetings, stakeholders were assigned to task forces that discussed important community topics including Economic Development; Land Use; Education; Tourism and Marketing; Energy and Sustainability; Parks and Recreation; Transportation; Arts and Culture; and Public Safety. City staff worked with these task forces to answer questions and provide information. Stakeholders met a total of nine times between the kickoff meeting and the final meeting on December 10, 2013.
A blue ribbon panel of community leaders serving as the Strategic Plan Steering Committee used the input from these committees to help create the strategic plan document, which on February 27, 2014, came before the Palm Desert City Council for review and adoption..
Envision Palm Desert - Forward Together is the City’s fourth strategic plan since its incorporation in 1973. Accomplished goals from past strategic plans include the creation of the Civic Center/Civic Center Park complex, the establishment of Palm Desert as a Charter City and, most recently, the completion of the Palm Desert Aquatic Center.
