Heading into the New Year, the City and Borough of Sitka (CBS) Assembly approved the third annual update to its 2022-2027 Strategic Plan. The plan identifies five areas of focus for Sitka: quality of life for Sitkans, community engagement and communication, economic sustainability, infrastructure improvement, and CBS employment.
The December update includes a checklist of “complete and ongoing” action items. The Assembly looks to the strategic plan as a compass to guide its 2026 decision-making.
Complete and Ongoing Action Items
Now finishing up year 3 of the five-year plan, the Sitka Assembly lets the community know what progress has been achieved. Below is a summary of the identified goals and action items and a score of how many actions items are “complete and ongoing” out of the amount of action items proposed for each goal. Assembly action shows prioritization of economic sustainability and CBS employment.
Quality of Life (2/5)
For the plan’s first goal to “preserve the quality of life & affordability for all Sitkans,” 2 out of 5 action items are complete and ongoing. CBS has identified opportunities to relieve utility cost burdens and reviewed the impacts and benefits of tourism in Sitka. The three remaining items address housing, childcare, and food security issues.
Community Engagement and Communication (0/3)
Goal #2 seeks to “improve communications and strengthen relationships throughout the community.” Zero action items are marked as complete and ongoing. Action items include “increas[ing] engagement and participation through storytelling,” collaboration with non-profits to address community concerns, and building relationships with underrepresented community members.
Economic Sustainability (3/5)
Although the Sitka Assembly seems to have delayed action on Goal #2, they took prompt action on Goal #3, completing 3 out of the 5 action items. Goal #3 prioritizes “align[ing] resources and financial and economic policies for a sustainable community.” CBS has prepared financial reports intended to support this goal, identified and implemented policies that optimize the economic benefits of tourism, and convened economic partners to discuss business support and employment training opportunities.
The remaining two action items: 1) “Develop a fiscal policy that includes guidelines for areas of fiscal operations such as debt management, infrastructure replacement, metrics for fiscal health of funds, reserves, and other areas” and 2) seek economic diversification.
Infrastructure Improvement (1/5)
For Goal #4 to “plan and invest in sustainable infrastructure for future generations,” CBS has developed asset management plans. Action steps that are not completed and ongoing include identifying infrastructure gaps and obtaining funding for capital needs and deferred maintenance, evaluating and communicating alignment of infrastructure needs with available resources, collaborating with public land management agencies and stakeholders to “develop sustainable active transportation infrastructure,” and identifying resource overlaps with existing infrastructure.
CBS Employment (3/5)
The final priority expressed by the Strategic Plan is to recognize CBS as “being a great place to work and excellent service provider to the community.” 3 out of 5 action items are completed and ongoing. CBS has developed a succession plan to address workforce recruitment and retention, improved customer service delivery, and improved the organization’s internal information flow and employee engagement.
The remaining 2 action items are to develop clear policies for professional training and development and to implement standard policies and procedures to enhance the organization’s stability and consistency.