LORAIN – City Council approved spending $15,000 to develop a strategic plan for the city`s future during a special meeting Monday night.

After about 90 minutes of questioning city administrators, Council passed the ordinance 9-1.

A $15,000 grant from the Stocker Foundation also will help pay the $30,000 price tag for Public Service Institute, a Cleveland-based company, to develop the plan.

“We have 30 miniature plans for this city,” Mayor Tony Krasienko told Council. “None of them tie in whatsoever to the previous plans. Those plans go up on a shelf, and they`re forgotten. (A strategic plan) should sit by the side of everyone`s desk every day so (decisions) are made after asking, ‘Does it fit with the strategic plan?`– Without it, we`re flying by the seat of our pants like we`ve been doing. It`s like painting your windshield and then going for a drive.”

Council members repeatedly sought reassurances that if more money is spent on creating a strategic plan that it would be used, followed and updated – ideally once a year.

“The issue at hand is not really ‘is this needed,` but can we afford to spend the money without a good chance of success?” Councilman Dan Given, D-at large, said. “Are we looking for a document to tell us what we already know? I would love to have baby successes in this town — mediocrity is just wonderful here, and it`s just frustrating as hell. Progress is not going to stop. Do we have the staying power to keep going on?”

Councilman Craig Snodgrass, D-8th Ward, questioned how this latest plan would differ from previous versions.

“We don`t own an identity,” Krasienko said of the city. “We used to be a motor town, then we used to be a steel town. We all say the lake and river are our future. How? What`s been done up to this point does not work, and sometimes we`ve been our own worst enemy with equal blame to go around the city.”

Krasienko told Council a strategic plan would be a blueprint for future development and goals for the city.

Councilman Tim Howard, D-3rd Ward, abstained from the vote, while Councilman Dennis Flores, D-2nd Ward, voted against the expenditure.

Resident Loraine Ritchey summed up the public opinion expressed during the Federal Programs Committee meeting that took place just before the special Council meeting.

“I`m going to hold your feet to the fire,” Ritchey said. “If you do this, I want to see some implementation.”

Contact Alicia Castelli at 329-7144 or acastelli@chroniclet.com.

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