Wake County Board of Commissioners adopts its first strategic plan

WAKE COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- Wake County Board of Commissioners has adopted the organization's first strategic plan.

The plan includes 24 goals to guide future county policy choices, budget priorities and staffing resources.

All 24 goals fall into six areas: community health and wellbeing; growth, land use and environment; inclusive prosperity; lifelong learning; safe community together; and foundations of service.

These goals lay out outcomes that the county wants to achieve over the next five years.

"Our board has dedicated countless hours to building this plan over the past year, and we're proud to see our efforts result in such a strong document," Chair Shinica Thomas of the Wake County Board of Commissioners said. "We look forward to making progress in each of our goal areas, which will benefit the residents who rely on our programs and services."

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The board also approved a new vision statement for the county: "Passionate. Proactive. Purposeful."

The press release said it shows the county's commitment to planning to meet Wake County's residents' needs, and every decision is made with intention and purpose.

"We're grateful to the commissioners for seeing the value in developing this plan and devoting the time to make it great," Wake County Manager David Ellis said. "It will serve as a guidepost for our staff and me as we strive to move the needle forward in all these focus areas."

The commissioners started the strategic planning process in April 2023. This included internal teams organized by the county, focus groups and presentations.

Community engagement activities gathered over 2,400 comments from stakeholders and employees.

Internal teams also created new purpose statements and goals describing desired outcomes.

Wake County staff will now identify the initiatives necessary to achieve the outcomes for each goal.

This step will begin in late spring or early summer after the fiscal year 2025 budget development process.

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