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Martinsville City Council, along with City Manager Earl B. <br />Reynolds, Jr. and Assistant City Manager Dewey Cashwell gathered at <br />Martinsville Memorial Hospital Board Room for their annual planning event <br />on Thursday evening, August 10~. Prior to the event, the facilitator David <br />Blaclrman interviewed each member of Council. The interview's were <br />conducted to seek consensus on the issues and process that would bring the <br />group to a strategic plan for the community. It was agreed that this year <br />Council would seek to develop a new plan and not build on the previous <br />year's plan, as has been the practice. This process seems fitting in light of the <br />significant changes that have occurred in Martinsville during the past few <br />years. Changes in employment, reduction in resources and the. emergence of <br />new issues are the principle reasons for this approach. Participants were <br />provided copies of goals identified by Council over the past few years and <br />encouraged to review them prior to the event. <br /> <br />Thursday evening the group met to hear Mr. Robert O'Neil, Executive <br />Director of the National Academy of Public Administration in <br />Washington, DC. Mr. O'Neil informally discussed the changes occurring in <br />goven~ment and the expectations of citizens. Important insights from that <br />presentation includes: <br /> <br />Boundaries are becoming irrelevant. This includes organizational <br />boundaries. <br /> <br />g It is becoming more difficult to find someone in charge. <br /> <br />~ No one person can fix anything by themselves. <br /> <br />Most issues are regional in nature or confined to a neighborhood. <br /> <br />Citizens expect a seamless solution to their problems, which requires <br />the collaboration across structures. They expect quick solutions.. They <br />are looking for a single portal that can give them access to potential <br />solutions from all phase of government. <br /> <br />People are much better prepared to deal with government interface. <br />They have more models to compare the performance of their <br />government, many of which are not relevant due to differences from <br />state to state. <br /> <br /> <br />