FORM OF GOVERNMENT (cont)

The Town hierarchy supports the strategic plan of the Town. Through elections and regular opportunities for citizen input, Town citizens direct the Council’s vision and mission, which are achieved through the strategic plan. The Town Manager reports directly to the Town Council and implements the strategic plan. The Town Attorney and Municipal Judge ensure the Town is operating legally and enforce the Town Code. Citizen boards and commissions provide additional feedback on Town operations with regards to the strategic plan and goals. Finally, the departments support the strategic plan through service delivery that supports one or more of the strategic goals. More information on the creation of the strategic plan is found in that section.

Town Departmental Organizational Chart

TOWN VISION, MISSION AND STRATEGIC GOALS

Town Of Parker Vision

The Town of Parker’s vision is to be the pre-eminent destination community of the Denver Metro area for innovative services with a hometown feel. We will be an area leader in economic and community development, and strive to be at the forefront for services, civic engagement, and quality of life.

Town Of Parker Mission

The mission is the way in which the Town intends to achieve its vision of being an area leader and pre-eminent destination community. The Town mission is to enrich the lives of residents by providing exceptional services, engaging community resources, and furthering an authentic hometown feel. We promote transparent governing, support sustainable development, and foster a strong, local economy.

Town Of Parker Core Values

Leadership, innovation and good governance are not possible unless all of Town staff from the Council down operate using a shared set of values. The Town values are as follows:

Teamwork

• Communicate openly, honestly and frequently with all members of our team

• Demonstrate fairness, compassion, and consistency in our interactions with others

• Recognize the value of all members of our organization

• Form partnerships with the community

• Listen to and respect the ideas and concerns of others

• Enable team members to strike a healthy work and life balance

Quality Service

• Treat each customer with professional courtesy, warmth and friendliness

• Create a hometown feeling in our facilities and our community

• Focus on problem solving by listening empathetically while responding promptly and fairly

• Serve our customers efficiently and knowledgeably

• Strive to meet or exceed the expectations of our customers

• Treat all coworkers as customers

Integrity

• Embrace a culture of honor and trustworthiness

• Exhibit conduct that inspires public confidence

• Manage the Town’s business honestly and directly

• Honor commitments and promises

• Be reliable, dependable, and accountable for our actions

• Learn from our mistakes

Innovation

• Create a proactive, empowering environment

• Embrace the challenge of change

• Encourage and develop creative ideas in all areas of the Town

• Transform innovative ideas into reality

Town Of Parker Strategic Goals

The strategic goals represent a combination of organizational and town-wide goals for the community. Each goal supports an aspect of the Town mission, and each department develops its annual operational budget and strategies to support one or more goals. A more in-depth discussion of the strategic goals are found in the Strategic Plan detailed on the Town of Parker website.

Support an Active Community

Parker will stimulate community creativity and engagement through high-quality cultural and educational programs and amenities. These will include family-friendly community events, accessible cultural venues, state-of-the-art facilities and innovative lifelong learning opportunities, all of which are vital to a creative community.

Enhance Economic Vitality

Parker will promote the public health and safety of our community by protecting our residents’ welfare through prevention services and a safe transportation network. Parker fosters a feeling of personal safety and security through a visible, responsive public safety presence and a proactive focus on prevention, intervention and safety education.

Innovate with Collaborative Governance

Parker will demonstrate our commitment to balanced growth, community development and infrastructure using a visionary plan for a sustainable future. We support a healthy, futurefocused community with exceptional services and a hometown feel. Parker supports well-planned development and excellent infrastructure.

Mission

The mission of the Town of Parker is to enrich the lives of residents by providing exceptional services, engaging community resources and furthering an authentic hometown feel. We promote transparent governing and support sustainable development and a strong, local economy.

Parker will demonstrate our commitment to the health of our community, both indoors and out by providing access to outstanding parks, trails and recreation amenities and activities. We promote a healthy lifestyle and work to meet the needs of a diverse, multigenerational community.

Foster Community Creativity and Engagement

Parker will be an area leader for economic growth by supporting the development of thriving businesses and industry. We will play a critical role in shaping quality of life, creating a sense of place, and providing fiscal stability for the community.

Promote a Safe and Healthy Community

Parker will support transparency, accountability, and fiscal sustainability by using innovative techniques to optimize performance. We engage in regional relationships and governing partnerships, including our education, fire, water providers and governmental agencies. Parker employs a high quality, dedicated workforce to support these goals.

Develop a Visionary Community Through Balanced Growth Vision

The Town of Parker’s vision is to be the pre-eminent, destination community of the Denver Metro area for innovative, top-quality services with a hometown feel. We will be an area leader in economic and community development, and strive to be at the forefront for services, civic engagement, and quality of life.

Strategic Goals And Operational Strategies

Process For Creating Strategic Goals And Operational Strategies

The strategic plan evolved during 2015 as a cooperative project led by the Town Manager’s office and included participation by the Town Council and Town staff. Citizen participation was funneled through the elected officials. The outcome was the development of a vision statement, mission statement, and strategic goals. The plan complemented the Parker 2035 Master Plan, and it guides budgeting as new and ongoing budget requests must align with the strategic goals and objectives in the plan.

The strategic goals are meant to be high-level and guide the Town for many years, but the strategic plan to accomplish the goals is not static. As priorities of Town citizens evolve, Town leadership uses citizen engagement to make changes to the strategic objectives and the ongoing departmental strategies that support them. Citizens have input through Town elections, citizen boards and commissions, feedback on social media and through the various community surveys put out by the Communications team. For example, the most recent community survey was completed in 2021. The results affirm that the Town’s strategic goals are still in line with the citizens’ values and priorities. The community survey also provides one measure of the Town’s performance regarding its mission. The survey shows that most citizens are happy with the overall direction of the Town, while managing growth is an area of concern. To that end, the 2023 budget and 10-year Long-Range Plan are both focused on balancing infrastructure growth with community programming and achieving an optimal timing for capital projects.

Guided by the strategic plan and elected leadership, the departments develop operational strategies every year that support the strategic goals and ultimately, the mission and vision. The budget process is the catalyst for this planning since the Town does not have unlimited financial resources to implement every possible strategy. Once each department identifies their operational strategies, they are used to develop the annual budget requests. All capital expenses, new personnel and significant incremental operational expenses must be presented with an explanation of how the item supports one or more strategic goals. The strategic goals are also used in the annual pay-for-performance reviews completed each year. Specific departmental strategies are organized by the goal they support and included in the following pages of this section. The departmental strategies are also included in the budget detail section by department, where they are referred to as 2023 Goals and Performance Measures.

Measuring Performance

In addition to soliciting citizen feedback on Town performance, each department also reflects annually on its progress towards its past and current strategies. The result is a discussion of prior year accomplishments and performance measures by department in the budget detail section.

The Town Manager’s is leading an ongoing project to further operationalize the strategic plan. The project will ensure that departmental strategies are actual goals (vs. activities) that support the Town’s mission and vision through the strategic framework discussed above. The project will also create more robust performance measurement for the various Town departments. The process has started with select departments and will be rolled out in conjunction with new performance measures software to all departments in the near future.