We wholeheartedly support Bill Johnson for Planning Board. His proven ability to bring people of different views together in support of a common goal, his project management skills, his work ethic, and, in particular, his clear view of long-term strategy will benefit the Planning Board and the town.
An example of Bill’s strategic vision is the five-year strategic planning process he introduced to town government. Until two years ago, long-range budgeting for the town was particularly difficult for the Finance Committee and the newly created Capital Planning and Investment Committee, as there was little insight into the long-range strategies and tactics for the various town departments, boards, and committees. The Master Plan was not a useful reference point, as it had not been updated since its writing in 2002.
In the summer of 2011, Bill proposed an initiative that every town operating group create a five-year strategic plan to be reviewed and updated annually. He architected a simple system, demonstrated its use with the FY12 Board of Selectmen goals, and championed its successful adoption through the All-Boards meeting process. For FY13, all groups submitted a five-year strategic plan with their FY13 five-year operating and capital budgets. Both FinCom and CPIC found this to be valuable, making long-range budgeting far more effective.
In the summer of 2012, Bill proposed adding measurement of progress-against-goals for the fiscal year just ended, which was embraced by all departments, boards, and committees and served as the basis for FY14 five-year plan submissions.
In the long history of FinCom and the more recent history of CPIC, there has never been a more useful long-term planning approach. Kudos to Bill for championing a planning process and tool that has achieved broad acceptance, provides visibility into synergy between town departments and committees, and serves as a platform for measuring concrete results.
Bill would be a great addition to Planning Board because facilitating the development of objective, long-term strategic plans for the Town of Harvard is exactly the successful work that he has been doing for the past two years.
Alice von Loesecke, Chair, Finance Committee
George McKenna, Chair, Capital Planning and Investment Committee
