LAUNCH OF 2011-2016 CAMA STRATEGIC PLAN (JANUARY 2012)
Happy New Year everyone! 2012 is going to be a great year -- one with challenges, no doubt, but with opportunities as well. Municipal managers across Canada will be watching the ongoing economic uncertainty closely to match their strategic plans and responses to the best advantage of their community. For years we have talked about the need to be innovative, nimble in our decision making and clearly customer-focused. I am sure that we will have many opportunities to demonstrate our skills in all three areas as we continue to meet the needs of our communities.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Board members Don MacLellan, Robert Hughes, Ron Shaw and Marie-Hélène Lajoie for taking the lead on developing a new Strategic Plan for our organization for 2011-2016. I will be making a detailed presentation at the upcoming 2012 Annual General Meeting being held at our Conference in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, however I would like to provide you with a brief overview at this time.
As part of the strategic planning process, 78 CAMA members responded to a Needs and Preferences Survey in October 2011. The primary objective of this survey was to assess your needs and preferences in a broad range of questions in order to improve the services provided by CAMA, and to ensure that the action plan for this five year Strategic Plan was in line with the desires of the membership. Thank you to those who completed the survey and provided us with some excellent feedback and ideas that were added to our plan.
Our new Strategic Plan focuses on four strategic themes: Professional Development, Networking, Advocacy and Governance. I am satisfied that our activities in all of the strategic areas move us toward our vision of being “recognized nationally and internationally as the premiere Canadian organization representing municipal administrators”.
Professional Development. Ensuring that the Annual Conference will remain the premiere national professional development opportunity; best practices will be identified and promoted through discussion papers and other resources; our profession will be promoted to external organizations (i.e. schools, municipal intern programs, the media); and webinars and other educational opportunities will be provided.
Networking. Establishing and promoting the benefits of more formal relationships with international, national and provincial associations continues to be a high priority for the Board. Also, the launch of our Social Media Tools in December 2011 is a great step towards providing our members with another way to communicate through our Blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Advocacy. Ongoing efforts to advocate with the federal government on local government issues will continue. CAMA will also review legislative provisions governing municipal administration across the country. As well, we will continue to work closely with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to increase the knowledge of Councils on the role of the Chief Administrative Officer.
Governance. CAMA is in a very strong financial position, however a five year Financial Plan is being developed based on the activities of the new Strategic Plan to ensure that we maintain our success.
Our upcoming conference in Saskatoon will provide us with time for information-sharing and networking, but that isn't our only opportunity. We will continue to do satisfaction surveys and report back to you on a regular basis. Stay in touch with your fellow municipal administrators, provincial and territorial organizations and CAMA board representatives; let them know about local challenges and solutions.
This will be an exciting year, and I am looking forward to hearing your stories in the months to come. On behalf of the Board and staff at CAMA, I wish you all the best in 2012.
Jim Toye
President, CAMA
CAMA Link