Your City Your Way Initiative

May 2011 - Letter to Residents
Former Mayor Oscar B. Goodmand and City Manager Elizabeth N. Fretwell sent a letter   to residents in May 2011 outlining the many steps the city has taken to to keep the city fiscally strong, to preserve key services and to try and save as many city jobs as possible.

March 2011 - Letter To Community Leaders
Former Mayor Oscar B. Goodmand and City Manager Elizabeth N. Fretwell sent a letter  to community leaders on March 29, 2011 outlining the many steps the city has taken to to keep the city fiscally strong, to preserve key services and to try and save as many city jobs as possible.

Your City Your Way, January 2011 - Results
The city held another series of town hall meetings in January 2011 as part of the “Your City, Your Way” effort.

During these meetings, residents heard a presentation from City Manager Elizabeth N. Fretwell on topics that included city finances, redevelopment and an update on progress with the city’s top priorities. Participants also participated in small-group discussions.

• PowerPoint presentation
• Final Report
• Jan. 12 - Charleston Heights Arts Center
• Jan. 13 - Centennial Hills Community Center
• Jan. 18 - Doolittle Community Center
• Jan. 24 - East Las Vegas Community / Senior Center
• Jan. 25 - Veterans Memorial Leisure Services Center
• Jan. 27 - Durango Hills Community Center

Budget Update - May 2010
Summary of final budget cuts for fiscal year 2011
Las Vegas City Council Approves Fiscal Year 2011 Budget

Budget Update - March 2010
Las Vegas city manager unveils fiscal year 2011 budget reduction recommendations
Summary of proposed budget cuts for fiscal year 2011
Las Vegas City Council Adopts Fiscal Year 2011 Tentative Budget

The Your City Your Way Initiative - Results
The Your City Your Way Initiative seeks to understand residents’ attitudes about the city and its programs and services, so the city can better respond to citizen needs.

Below you will find information on the methods used during this process and the results of those efforts.

Your City Your Way - Final Report

A phone survey conducted by the Cannon Survey Center . Watch the Nov. 4, 2009 presentation given by the Cannon Survey Center to the City Council.

Focus groups facilitated by UNLV - Findings prepared by the UNLV Department of Sociology

A series of town hall meetings

Jan. 11 - Summerlin Library and Performing Arts Center - Summary

Jan. 19 - City Hall, City Council Chambers - Summary

Jan. 25 - YMCA Durango Hills - Summary

Jan. 27 - East Las Vegas Community / Senior Center - Summary

Feb. 4 - Doolittle Community Center - Summary

Feb. 9 - Centennial Hills Community Center - Summary

Feb. 16 - Veterans Memorial - Summary

Feb. 18 - Northwest Career and Technical Academy - Summary

Feb. 22 - Chuck Minker Sports Complex - Summary

Feb. 24 - Southern Nevada Health District - Summary

Feb. 27 - YMCA Meadows Lane - Summary

March 1 - Starbright Theater - Summary

March 4 - Charleston Heights Arts Center - Summary

As a result of this initiative:

• The city will be better able to respond to citizen needs
• Citizens can better understand the issues facing the city

We thank those who participated in this process. We appreciate the feedback that will help us improve the city’s services as we move forward in very financially difficult times.

To successfully engage the citizens, we partnered with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Department of Sociology to help facilitate the focus panels and record data at the town hall meetings.  To reach out to those who could not participate, KNPR will aired edited versions of the focus panels and town hall meetings.

The Cannon Survey Center presented the City Council with the results of the Community Survey in October and we expect that the Department of Sociology will present the results of the focus panels and town hall meetings to the City Council in March 2010. At that point, the city manager will be able to use the data to make some recommendations to the City Council supported by meaningful data from the community.

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Message From Former Mayor Oscar Goodman

The city of Las Vegas is going through extraordinary and challenging times as is nearly every other city, county and state government.  The city of Las Vegas has done a great deal to ensure the budget is balanced while critical city services are maintained. 

The future of the organization is dependent upon the choices this City Council makes today.  Fewer resources and greater demands mean that this City Council will have to make some very difficult decisions.  Your feedback, through the Your City Your Way Initiative, will be used as a tool to help the Las Vegas City Council make the decisions that are right for this community at this time, as well as, prepare the organization for the needs of future generations. 

Your participation and engagement in the City Council’s decision making process is critical.  I truly appreciate your time and energy in making this city the greatest city in the world.  In the end, each of us is responsible to make this city enduring and special.  Your actions today through participation in the survey, focus groups and/or town hall meetings will help us fill our end of the agreement by telling us what you expect.  Please take the time to complete the survey.  I also encourage you to participate in the town hall meetings closest to your home.

Fundamental Service Review

Update - City Manager Betsy Fretwell recently presented to the City Council an expedited action plan to address a $400 million deficit over 5 years. Watch the presentation.

In March 2009, the City Council directed the city manager to conduct a fundamental review of all city programs and services to ensure they were consistent with the expectations of the City Council. Since that time period, the management team has been reviewing every department and making adjustments through organizational efficiencies, organizational restructuring and strategic service changes. Since October, when the council accepted the recommendations of the city manager, the city has saved or deferred nearly $5 million and eliminated over 300 positions.

The review of programs and services is an ongoing effort and we are now working on the second phase of the review. It is projected that the city will have a more than $400 million budget shortfall over the next five years and we are working hard to make sure that critical city services are maintained in a manner that is acceptable to the citizens we serve. The city manager has provided three guiding principles for the review that are considered in every action taken. Those guiding principles include:

• Maintain Critical Services: To ensure residents and visitors have essential services
• Ensure fiscal integrity: To avoid budget shortfalls and, at worst case, bankruptcy
• Preserve city jobs: To ensure there is staff available to provide critical services and not to add to an already high unemployment rate