The North Platte City Council and Administration spent the first night of their two-part budget planning retreat working on team building and self-evaluation.

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The second night, they set priorities for the future.

Dr. Bill Podraza facilitated the retreat. Podraza has decades of experience as a consultant, and also spent 13 years as Lexington’s city manager.

The first night, Monday Aug. 24, Podraza advised the council on “okay people” and “not-okay people.”

Podraza maintained that “okay people” are comfortable with themselves psychologically. He warned that “not-okay people” try to “bring okay people down to their level.”

Podraza then had the attendees engage in a team-building exercise. He paired them off and instructed them to tell each other, “What I appreciate about you as a council member/mayor is…” and follow it up with, “I could appreciate you as a council member/mayor even more if you…”

Once the members of the council, as well as Mayor Marc Kaschke and City Administrator Jim Hawks, had spent a few minutes speaking to each other, Podaraza distributed work sheets and asked the attendees to rate their performance in what he identified as, “Ten habits of highly effective governing bodies.”

The scores were tallied and averaged out, with the results serving as the basis of discussion for the second night of the retreat.

The council and administration identified strategic planning, clearly defined roles, small group decision making, working as a team, and evaluating impact of policies as their weakest areas.

Conversely, they cited clear rules and procedures and meetings, concern about constituents, and personal learning and development as comparative strengths.

The second night began with Podraza offering advice in conflict resolution. With that out of the way, the attendees discussed the areas they had identified as weak the night before. One interesting development from that conversation was Jerry Stoll, of the First Ward, suggested that the council and administration simply agree to be at city hall every Tuesday night. Stoll believed that such an arrangement would lead to greater communication between the members.

While a majority of the council thought that to be better than reviving committee meetings, Mayor Kaschke expressed skepticism that enough issues would arise to warrant weekly meetings.

The attendees then agreed to add a “round-table” discussion at the end of each city council meetings. This would allow council members to inform each other and the administration of constituent concerns and other issues that may not have made it onto the meeting agenda.

It was agreed that these round-table discussions would serve to informally set the agenda for the council’s monthly work sessions, where talks are held but no votes are taken.

Dan McGuire of the Third Ward suggested that the work-study sessions be scheduled to take place at different municipal buildings. That comment was well received by the rest of the attendees.

Don Kurre of the Third Ward expressed that he was pleased with the new developments and was excited about implementing them.

The attendees turned their attention to setting goals and priorities for the future. Podraza asked each one to identify five goals.

Once a list had been compiled, the city government began to whittle the list down. Ultimately, the council decided that the five most important things for North Platte going forward were:

• Reduce the property tax levy.

• Revitalize and redevelop downtown.

• Shrink city government.

• Continued development of the retail sector.

• Work better with various stakeholders, such as county government and other organizations.

It was decided that reducing the tax levy would be the highest priority for Hawks and city administration.

The council also adopted the vision statement, “To be an economic and cultural center for west central Nebraska providing excellent opportunities to its residents and visitors.”

Before the retreat adjourned, the council and administration agreed to schedule another course from Podraza in four or five months, to monitor the city’s progress.

First night of council budget retreats focus on team building, self evaluation

By Ben Schwartz

With an eye toward next year’s budget and beyond, the North Platte City Council met with Mayor Marc Kaschke and City Adminstrator Jim Hawks at the public safety building.

Dr. Bill Podraza facilitated the retreat. Podraza is a consultant who has worked with several Nebraska municipalities emphasizing the “10 habits of highly effective governing bodies.”

He said that he had worked as an efficiency consultant with various organizations for more than 40 years, but has worked with more city governments in the last decade. He listed Wahoo, Waverly, Stromsburg, David City, Grand Island, and Yankton, So. Dak. as towns that he has held planning sessions with.

Beyond his experience as a consultant, Podraza said he served as the Lexington city manager for 13 years. Prior to that he was the assistant city manager in Alliance for five years.

Podraza spent the first half of the three-hour session advising the council and administration on their responsibilities to each other and the public.

He also offered suggestions on how to avoid ugly confrontations with upset members of the public, and how to defuse tense situations at council meetings.

After a short break, Podraza asked each of the city representatives to rate on a scale of one to 10 their performance in ten areas he identified as critical to effective government.

The five areas that the council and administration identified as their weakest (beginning with the worst) were:

• Strategic planning.

• Lack of clearly defined roles.

• Small group decision-making.

• Working well as a team.

• Evaluating impact of decisions.

Podraza told the Bulletin that the North Platte attendees rated themselves slightly below average on their weakest areas, compared to what he has seen in other cities.

He did not find that discouraging, however. “The fact that they asked me to be here indicates they want to be a more effective council,” he said.

The council and administration rated themselves stronger in the areas of rules and procedures during meetings and thinking about their constituents needs.

Podraza said that at the second session the mayor, city administrator, and council will focus on the areas they identified as their weakest, and set goals for the next year. He said he asked each attendee to identify five things they believe will make North Platte the best it can be.

He indicated that the list would be prioritized and would serve as a set of goals going forward.