The initial catalyst was a major urban renewal of the city’s downtown business district, has seen the opening of a new manufacturing factory adding approximately 800 medium-skilled technical jobs and 22 different specialty stores to the area. Additionally, two large 50+ acre family-friendly planned communities have been constructed with a third under development. All of these rapid changes have led to double-digit population growth as Sunrise lurched from a largely older population of 14,000 residents to just over 20,000 residents (43 percent growth), fueled mostly by more technically-savvy younger families with school-age children. Many public utilities and services–ranging from schools to roads to infrastructure to utilities to communications capabilities–have struggled mightily to keep up with the demands being placed upon it by the growing pains of its increasing population. The state legislature recently awarded Sunrise a three-year $15M financial block grant to assist with some of its overwhelmed public services. While there is a fair amount of flexibility involved with the block grant, the legislature mandated the appropriated funds be specifically allocated/tracked by the city council to serve the public good in the general areas of education, public health and safety, infrastructure/utility investment, jobs creation, and environmental conservation. Anticipating a significant amount of public and media attention/interest (along with a corresponding swell in requests for new public policies/program initiatives from residents and local/regional interest groups alike), the mayor and city council have asked you to provide a list of the most likely public policy initiatives you anticipate being requested. Furthermore, the mayor is looking for a ‘what’s next’ recommendation on how to best involve the community into the public policy decision-making process on what projects will be funded in an orderly, transparent, and open manner. Individual city council members are also asking you, as the city manager, for recommendations on what types of subject matter experts they can enlist to collaborate with during all of these planning discussions, funding decisions, and ultimately, implement the most optimal choices/options. Based on the town’s background, the assigned readings, and some professional creativity, what formal recommendations do you provide to the mayor and city council?
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