Mount Clemens commissioners review strategic plan draft emphasizing equity, fiscal sustainability and a new master plan RFP

Mount Clemens — City staff and commissioners spent a multihour work session reviewing a proposed strategic plan that the mayor said will guide budgeting and operational priorities.

The plan reiterates the city’s mission “to enhance our community through effective and equitable public services” and lists core values including inclusiveness, responsiveness and ethical conduct. Kevin (staff) summarized a February 2024 DEI training series that used anonymous employee surveys and produced a set of “start/stop/continue” actions; start items include interdepartmental inclusion activities and training, while stop items target resistance and exclusion. “We broke it out into separate sessions where we purposely didn’t have supervisors there to get more, true opinions,” Kevin said during his presentation.

Why it matters: Commissioners said the plan will feed directly into the budget process and public expectations about service delivery. Several members pressed staff to attach measurable hiring and promotion metrics for diversity and to consider best practices for smaller municipal workforces rather than adopting targets designed for large organizations.

Staff provided specific fiscal context. Greg (finance staff) reported the city’s defined-benefit pension system is roughly 96% funded and said diversified, long- and short-term investments have enabled recent capital work. “The pension system right now is 96% funded,” Greg said, and staff noted that only a handful of Michigan plans reported comparable funding levels. Commissioners asked that the financial section include clearer public-facing education on debt, tax base and the city hall project.

Master plan and timeline: Planning staff told commissioners the current master plan dates to 2010 (with a 2016 update) and proposed issuing an RFP in the second quarter for a comprehensive citywide master plan. The RFP budget was estimated at about $100,000–$150,000. Brian (planning/DDA executive director) said the new master plan will include downtown and riverfront components and that public participation and consultant approaches will be written into the RFP.

Grants and metrics: Staff reviewed grant activity (federal, state, SEMCOG, FEMA, EGLE, CDBG, MEDC and others) and said the five-year general fund projections and 10-year water/sewer rate models are updated annually and linked to the CIP. Commissioners recommended adding clearer outcome metrics — for example, dollars actually secured from grants and the public‑education metrics that show whether outreach reduced confusion about city finances.

Next steps and direction: Commissioners asked staff to: refine measurable metrics for DEI and hiring appropriate to the city’s small workforce; prepare an RFP and budget estimate for the master plan; and expand public‑education elements explaining the city’s fiscal picture. No formal votes or policy adoptions were taken at the session; the commission adjourned at the meeting’s end.

The commission expected to return later with a revised plan and a draft RFP schedule for the master plan.