Newberg City Council Approves New Goals for City’s Future

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Newberg’s new city council, lead by Mayor Bill Rosacker,  voted Monday, Apr 3^rd, to repeal and replace the prior council’s goals with new goals of their own. The new goals were developed during a city council weekend work session in February.

Listed below are ex-Mayor Rick Roger’s city council goals (now repealed)  followed by new Mayor Bill Rosacker’s city council goals.  

This is an Opinion Piece.  Your opinion. Which set of city council goals do you feel are the best?

Rick Rogers 2020 – Council Goals

1. Change operational culture to one focused on Customer Service and act to Resolve Ongoing Legal Disputes.
2. Further develop an operational culture that adopts and cherishes Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as core values.
3. Promote development of Affordable and Workforce Housing.
4. Create and support an Urban Renewal Plan and Authority to facilitate the revitalization of Downtown Newberg and the enhancement of the Willamette Riverfront area.
5. Collaborate with local partners and with entities like ICLEI in the development of a Sustainability program (ICLEI: International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, Bonn, Germany)

Bill Rosacker 2023 -Council Goals

GOAL 1: Create and maintain a high level of customer service.

• Improve customer service in the planning/building department.
• Streamline the process for issuing building permits.
• Create a team to involve engineering and planning in regular simultaneous review work.
• Publish a customer service standard with a measurement system.
  
  

GOAL 2: Identify industrial land and attract employers to encourage family wage jobs.

• Identify land other than the Mill site to zone for Light Manufacturing.
• Work to bring land into the urban growth boundary to zone for light manufacturing within 5 years.
• Attract family wage jobs to Newberg using the urban renewal district and CET savings to be competitive.
• Remove barriers/deterrents to new, “clean” / light industrial employers that will provide family wage jobs.

GOAL 3: Ensure Newberg infrastructure (roads, water, city employees) is in good repair and supply.

• Regularly review the capital improvement projects.
• Focus on road and sidewalk improvements in Districts 1 & 3.
• Examine feasibility of increasing downtown parking.

GOAL 4: Enhance community safety.

• Work with NSD to provide an additional Safety Resource Officer.
• Install red light and speed cameras and other speed reduction measures.
• Continue with community policing partnerships.

GOAL 5: Create and maintain a high level of transparency with our residents in order to build trust.

• Expand communication outreach in regard to regular city events and additional involvement with city business.
• Ensure that information shared on agendas and in council meetings shall be clear and have context for the residents.

GOAL 6: Implement a careful and prudent fiscal policy.

• Begin reducing and eventually eliminate the City’s debt in a steady, prudent way without compromising the City’s ability to provide basic, essential services and functions.
• Reduce elements of the municipal billing statement.
• The city will rationally lower SDC fees.
• Ensure that the city has a long-term financial plan that supports its goals and objectives.

GOAL 7: Increase land availability for housing.

• Seek to re-zone small pieces of land inside the city limits from light industrial to residential.
• Work to bring land into the urban growth boundary to zone for residential purposes within 5 years.
• Look at annexation opportunities

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