Comp Plan Committee

Revises Vision Statement

By PARKER FISH • Special to AllOTSEGO.com

ONEONTA – The city’s Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee agreed nothing should be left to interpretation in new plan:  It met for an hour tonight to simply re-word the vision statement.

The vision statement summarizes the characteristics of the city, and what the future should be. In essence, the vision statement summarizes the entire comprehensive plans in a few short sentences.

“In my line of work, this is what we would call a mission statement, rather than a vision statement,” said LEAF Executive Director Julie Dostal, committee  member.

The vision statement, as Oneonta Mayor Gary Herzig put it, “shouldn’t necessarily state what the city is, but rather, what the city wants to be.”

By the end of the meeting, the committee had come up with a tentative version of the vision statement, which read as follows:

“Oneonta aspires to be a vibrant, thriving community known for it’s traditional urban fabric, surrounding natural beauty, strategic partnerships, equal access to amenities, strong educational institutions, and a commitment to economic and social justice. We see ourselves as a small city that attracts new businesses, and supports existing businesses for a thriving workforce, a regional destination for cultural and recreational entertainment, where all students and residents accept responsibilities for making decisions that lead to a healthy, equitable, and sustainable future.”

The committee adjourned the meeting after working for an hour to revise the vision statement, with Dostal saying she would upload the statement to Google Drive so that all of the committee members could make revisions. No specific date was set for the next meeting of the steering committee, but all committee members agreed to meet in two weeks.