Strategic Plan

Strategic Plan

The Strategic Plan will guide operations for 2023-2025.

The intent of developing this Plan is to:

  • Acknowledge and celebrate recent accomplishments;
  • Align the organization’s vision with that of the community;
  • Identify shared goals to guide strategic and day-to-day work and investments;
  • Clarify understanding within the organization of the roles of City Council and staff;
  • Highlight the ways that the organization can perform at a high level; and
  • Help build collaboration and alignment between City Council and staff.
  1. Introduction
  2. Our Team
  3. Setting the context


Strategic Plan coverThe City Strategic Plan (PDF) was adopted by the Cornelius City Council in April 2023, and is intended to guide the organization's work over the 2023 to 2025 timeframe. The Plan includes an organizational vision, mission, and values, goals, and actions, and a process to ensure reporting and accountability.

The last set of goals formally adopted by City Council were approved in 2019. There were a total of five goals and 26 objectives (actions). A Council and staff retreat was held in 2021 to update the Council goals, which were established in draft. The 2021 draft also contained five goals, comprised of 19 strategies (actions). The draft goals were never formally adopted, and in February 2023 a Council and staff retreat was held to revisit them, recommend updates, and produce this organizational Strategic Plan. The Plan, includes an organizational vision, mission, values, goals, and actions to guide the organization’s work for the next two years. The Plan also recommends a process to ensure reporting and accountability, and a timeline for revisiting and updating the Plan.

The City will work on these goals while implementing the City’s other plans and maintaining core City services. We look forward to work with our local and regional partners as we set out to achieve these goals.

Mission:

To promote community involvement in building a safe, inclusive, and sustainable community by providing equitable access to fair, efficient, and effective public services.

Vision:

Cornelius is welcoming, inclusive, and collaborative; strives to build trust and community for all; and honors our past while embracing our future, built on equity and sustainability.

Aligning with the Vision:

To align the group around a future state of mind, in 2021 the team imagined how they wanted Cornelius to look, feel and function five years into the future. The team discussed what a movie featuring Cornelius in five years might feature. They imagined the movie poster, what the key story lines would include, the cast and crew, and what others in the community might say about the film. This exercise produced a draft vision, which was revisited and modified by the group in 2023.

Values:

Values express how elected leadership, senior staff and employees will strive to work together to achieve the mission. They provide guideposts for the team and leadership to stay focused on the long term while delivering core City services.

Goals and Actions

Below are the updates on the progress and timelines for the goals and actions outlined in the strategic plan.