The city council of Hillsboro, Oregon, adopted a community plan called Hillsboro 2020 Vision and Action Plan in May 2000, although the process began in 1997 when the city was considering an update to its comprehensive plan. Former city manager Tim Erwert encouraged staff to broaden the effort and involve citizens because the city was experiencing significant growth and change.

In 1998 the city appointed a citizen's task force and charged it with collecting more  input from the community, crafting the original vision statement, and identifying focus areas and an action plan. The plan addresses six major areas:

• Strengthening a common sense of community
• Enhancing all neighborhoods and districts
• Preserving the environment
• Fostering economic opportunity
• Expanding support for and access to arts and cultural activities
• Promoting community health and safety.

As Chris Hartye, senior project manager, describes it “the action plan is critical.” Without an action plan detailing implementation steps and responsibilities, there is a greater chance the plan will not be acted upon.

The city of Hillsboro has taken a number of steps to ensure inclusion of all residents. As the Latino population grew, the city held meetings in Spanish and also translated materials into Spanish. In 2005, the city established a Latino advisory group to identify how to best work with and engage Latino community members.

Hillsboro is now in the second decade of implementing the plan. Each year a citizen-led implementation committee reviews the plan. They can add or modify action steps. Every five years a strategy review takes place. This occurred in 2005 and 2010 when committee members went back out into the community and asked people what additional strategies and action steps they would like included to achieve the vision. Usually the strategy review adds about 30 new action steps as well as new community partners.

“There is no substitute for going out to where the people are,” explains Chris Hartye. The input is best when you conduct outreach at a place like a farmer's market or a church event. One great example of the process is that in the 2005 review, people said they wanted an off-leash dog park. Although that wasn’t immediately possible, when the city had an opportunity to buy a parcel of land that was perfect for a dog park, the Hondo Dog Park was developed. Named after a K-9 dog that lost its life in the line of duty, the park has become a popular gathering place for the community.

Of course there are challenges. There has been a lot of growth and new residents. It has been harder to engage newcomers who have not owned and been part of the process. Hillsboro is a much more diverse community now, with Asian and other populations represented. City staff and citizen volunteers will be actively reaching out to them by going “where the people are.”

The city of Hillsboro was chosen for this article because it is one of 20 local governments that responded to ICMA’s State of the Profession Survey in 2012 and reported the following high priorities:

• Work directly with the public to ensure that their concerns and aspirations are consistently understood and considered.
• Partner with the public in development of alternatives, identification of the preferred solution, and decision making.
• Place decision making in the hands of the public.