The Complete List
A Report Team of citizen volunteers spent weeks sifting through the hundreds of ideas submitted in each Envision category, then used an affinity analysis process to organize the ideas into related groupings - 44 in all. This is the complete list of Government ideas. For the Vision Guide, the Report Team combined and restated the groupings, and selected ideas that inspired interest and action (see also Current Problems and Other Issues).
Schools
- Establish Golden Valley school district [5]
Partnership
- Partner with other cities and other public/private groups [17]
- Expand reciprocity of services with other cities
- Encourage city and business cooperation in redevelopment
- Combine GV, Crystal, Robbinsdale, Brooklyn Center into one city [2]
- Regional cooperation [2]
- Merge services with surrounding cities
- Partner with volunteer organizations
Safety
- Non-volunteer fire department [2]
- City-wide home alarm service
- Cameras for crime prevention
- Use neighborhood watch groups to support police and fire
- Grow neighborhood watch groups
- Community Service officers alleviate load on sworn officers
- Low crime/safe community
Services
- Responsive [6]
- Customer-driven [4]
- City organized services to keep seniors living in their homes
- More one-stop shopping
- Community-driven setting of government services and service levels offered
- Drive-through services
- Water treatment plant
Other
- Decision making process that incorporates established vision
- Promote Golden Valley [2]
- Proactive
- Welcomes and recognizes diversity
- Create a unique Golden Valley
- Have regular town meetings [2]
- Participatory government
- Online polling [6]
- Virtual council meetings [2]
- High level of community participation/active recruiting [2]
- School involvement
- Council members poll constituents regularly - not just in election years
- Rotate city hall meeting locations
- Citizens serve 1 to 2 hours each month
- Better utilize volunteers
- Government that involves all of citizens in and out of G.V.
- Business community representation
- Opportunity to meet leaders and public service leaders
- Meeting with local business owners monthly
- Youth involvement
- Define neighborhoods and have an annual meeting w/ town council
- Decision makers accessible
- Large billboard near city hall announcing meetings
- Citizen education on city government and incentive to participate
High Tech
- Online voting [10]
- Consider resident tech needs in planning [2]
- Interactive cable
- Golden Valley is a leader in tech use
- Online services [4]
- Make decision makers more accessible via technology [3]
- Digital record keeping [2]
- Online billing [2]
- Use tech creatively and efficiently
- Customized email alerts
- Wireless network community
- Easy, convenient voting
Accountability & Effectiveness
- Visibility for where taxes are spent [2]
- Use zoning and building codes positively
- Require more accountability from commissions and appointed boards
- Creative revenue streams
- Government that is efficient, accountable, and fair
- Cost-effective, efficient and accountable
- Performance score card for city
- Determine good target for "price of government"
- Government run like a business
- Wind generators
Government Structure
- Elect city council to represent geographic districts [9]
- Flexibility and creativity in government structure
- Optimize city organization
- Create a youth city council
- Change term of mayor to 3 or 4 years [3]
- Term limits [2]
- Allow/permit referendum on local issues
- Increase size of city council
- City Council has no power to vote - voting by community on a monthly basis, including budget