Dakota County Strategic Planning Underway

Editor's Note: Dakota County Commissioner Tom Egan represents Mendota Heights, Lilydale, Mendota and a portion of Eagan. He was elected to office in 2004 and is now serving his second four-year term. Egan will write regularly to Patch readers about county government. In this report, Egan explains how and why the board is setting goals and strategies for the future.

The Dakota County Board of Commissioners is undertaking a vitally important endeavor to help determine the course of the county well into the 21st century. To support that end, we held two workshops in March and April in preparation for a long awaited strategic planning retreat.

The County Board and staff have scheduled this strategic planning retreat for the entire afternoon of April 26 at the Schars Bluff Gathering Center. We take pride in proactively setting goals and objectives, priorities, and policies for ourselves and county staff by developing tools such as our "balanced scorecard," which was designed to help the board determine their success in meeting dozens of priorities and goals. However, the County Board has not met in strategic planning retreat for well over a decade, going back to the mid 1990s. 

At the first workshop, the County Board heard from Tom Stinson of the Minnesota Department of Finance and Craig Helmstetter of the Minnesota Compass Mr. Stinson, with his soft spoken style, brought a wealth of information pertaining to the financial condition of the state of Minnesota.  During a very candid interactive dialogue, we discussed with Mr. Stinson the future outlook for the Dakota County economy and implications for us as a county government in light of the new normal economy in Minnesota.  

We also discussed with him effective county strategies to support our local economy.  Stinson made it clear that he does not believe we will return any time soon to the status quo that existed prior to the latest recession.  

Craig Helmstetter of Minnesota Compass added  greatly to our  discussion with information on Twin Cities metro regional trends and emerging issues. Mr. Helmstetter brought valuable information on Dakota County such as demographic trends, economic and workforce participation, per capita income, education, health, housing, transportation and other important factors.

During our second workshop, we worked exclusively with county staff in preparation for the April 26th retreat. After a brief discussion with our staff on strategic planning and performance measurements, we focused on what we learned from the first workshop. This included the depth of the Great Recession; the persistence of suburban growth; Dakota County's aging population; Dakota County's increasing diversity; and the impact of the Information Age on Dakota County.  

We reviewed Census information, which has just been received.  The county will continue to grow, but slower. Most of this growth will occur in the third tier suburbs. At 398,522 residents, Dakota County is Minnesota's third largest county and is projected to grow to a population of 525,475 by the year 2030.  The look of the growth will be different than in the past:  

• The County will be older. Where will this increasing population of seniors live?  How will they get around?  Will they have places to live without the need for a car if they chose to?  Undoubtedly, to assist us in this area, the County Board and staff will draw upon information developed through the County's Aging Initiative.  
• The growth in population will be more diverse.  75 percent of the Dakota County population growth in the last decade was among Asians, African Americans and Hispanics.  One fourth of Dakota County students in 2010 are in minority groups.   This has many implications not the least of which are impacts on classroom curriculum.  
• The Information Age is here! For that reason, what work is done and will be done in Dakota County is very different than in the past. Work locations are more dispersed.  Many people don't drive to work at all: will we drive more or less in the Information Age?  Cell phones are giving way to smart phones and mobile databases.  However, people will still need schools, religious institutions, shopping and other amenities.

The Dakota County Board of Commissioners has its work cut out for it in anticipating the needs and priorities it faces in the years ahead. In these difficult financial times, it is obvious that Dakota County must adjust for many changes in very challenging areas. We look forward to a great deal of productive discussion during our highly anticipated retreat this month.