The Next Step In Our Strategic Plan For Our Area

The "retreat" I have suggested above, the resulting white paper and the scheduling of monthly news conferences by the Mayor and County Commission Chairperson are only initial steps in the strategic plan I am putting forward here. Your input and ideas are important. Let us continue our strategic planning - systematically.

I suggest that the next step in the plan would be a second meeting of elected officials of Cabell and Kanawha counties. In attendance would be the following:

The Mayor of Huntington and City Council Members
The Chairperson of the Cabell County Commission and Commissioners
The Mayor of Charleston and Members of the Charleston City Council
The Chairperson and Members of the Kanawha County Commission
Members of the news media of each area and the public

The agenda for this extended work session would include a review of the current legislative efforts to revamp the states tax structure, a review of legislative efforts to establish "home rule" in the state, a review of severance taxes on natural resources and the potential for the consolidation of city and county public services.

The objective of this work session would be to determine how consolidation of services could reduce costs in each county, while providing a higher quality of service-delivery to citizens. Of course, the real value of this step in our strategy is to get political officeholders working together on statewide issues. What else should be on the agenda for this get-together?