Nearly every two years, the Wheat Ridge City Council, Mayor, and staff gather for a strategic planning retreat. I’ve had the privilege of participating in several, consisting of a Friday evening discussion over dinner followed by an all-day Saturday work session. This year’s was especially cherished; it will be my last on Wheat Ridge City Council. I’m not alone in that place, with Mayor Bud Starker and Council Members Janeece Hoppe (District 1) and Amanda Weaver (District 3) all term-limited in our current seats come November. Friday’s session, held at the recently reopened Colorado+, reflected on our progress since our last retreat, with reports presented by each department director. Our packet included condensed summaries of tangible progress from years of community planning efforts and completed action items, accompanied by a thorough timeline of our city’s future work plan. Everyone in the room had a chance to imagine Wheat Ridge’s “Next Chapter” and describe how they believed our city would look and feel in 10-15 years.
Conversations recognized the extensive efforts and prioritization of devoting time, energy, and resources toward building trust and engagement by providing robust public input opportunities and empowering resident involvement throughout the civic processes. Doing so has strengthened partnerships and a sense of responsibility among our community to invest in directing change. Being substantial stakeholders in the process cultivated stewards devoted to the outcome. Creating a strong culture within Wheat Ridge can be attributed to community leaders willing to expend their capital and influence to tackle challenging issues previously punted to “tomorrow.” An unfortunate outcome of that policy practice was not investing with our future in mind, forcing our city to face the reality of crumbling storm and drainage infrastructure. Community Development Director Lauren Mikulak’s comment that “Wheat Ridge has been in a what do we want phase and is now entering the how do we get it phase” really struck me. We have entered a time where we need to put our money where our mouth is and prioritize funding toward implementation. Saturday’s session, hosted at the new Lutheran Hospital, built upon Friday’s discussions and expanded to drafting mission and vision statements for Wheat Ridge. Final drafts will be refined and revealed in the coming months.
My past conversations in Wheat Ridge often consisted of, “Why can’t we have nice things?” Now, we’ve created an environment that’s attracting those nice things and have shifted our focus on how to fund, maintain, and build upon them for generations to come. The ideas and discussions during the retreat were a testament to the commitment to community values and priorities collected and compiled in recent guiding documents, such as the comprehensive City Plan, the Wheat Ridge Prosperity Plan, the Parks and Recreation Pathway, the Sustainability Action Plan, and the Stormwater Master Plan. It also spotlights the commitment of our leaders to have civil dialogue and work together for the betterment of Wheat Ridge, even when we disagree, a far cry from most other political climates. This council retreat was my last one, best one. It’s been an honor and a privilege to represent Wheat Ridge and work alongside a community of doers.
