KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Kalamazoo city commissioners held a weekend retreat to do some long range planning, but they fell short of their goal.
The target was to set priorities for the 2027 budget, because funding, manpower, and time are all limited.
Initially the session, held at the new KRESA Career Connect Center Saturday turned into a gripe session for the newly elected commissioners who felt they had not been on-boarded properly.
Particularly Jae Slaby who feels she doesn’t understand the nuances of being a commissioner, and isn’t getting information when she asked
Mayor Dave Anderson says they came on board at a time of transition, a month before new City Manager Malcolm Hankins arrived.
When they got down to the work of the meeting, setting priorities, Mayor Anderson asked them to work at a general level, and rank priorities from a list of issues set by the public at dozens of Imagine 2035 sessions.
Those areas of concern were housing, trust and safety, economic vitality, arts and culture, city operations, transportation, youth & family, and environment.
Slaby complained that was too limiting and that they should be allowed to pick their own priorities.
When they went through each issue, Slaby complained she didn’t have enough data, and detail to make those choices. She was reminded by Hankins, that was the staff’s job once they had the board’s priorities.
They just ran out of time.
Commissioners will submit their comments in writing and let City Manager Hankins know their priorities, and they will discuss the results at a future meeting.
They had hoped to give department heads, who were also in attendance at the day-long session, a clear vision of their unified priorities, but that probably wasn’t the impression they walked away with.
The board gave high marks to new City Manager Hankins on the job he has done in his first few months, and Hankins expressed his heartfelt appreciation to the city commission and the community for the warm welcome he has received.
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