Marquette city government works on two-year strategic plan

Marquette’s new city charter has been in place for more than a year now, but it’s still generating small ripple effects in how the city’s government is planning for its own future.

The new document took effect in January 2013. It requires the City Commission to draw up a two-year strategic plan for the entire city, covering all government departments and every volunteer board and committee.

“And as part of that process, not only does each department of the city have to submit (its own strategic plan), but each board and commission has to as well,” City of Marquette chief financial officer Gary Simpson said. “We would just kind of like the (City) Commission to know that this is what we’re doing and things are going well.”

The Marquette Investment Advisory Board supervises investments that the city makes with the money in its various funds. At a special meeting this morning, the group approved its own draft plan.

“Probably the one issue we would like to have addressed is the ability to have a stable board,” Simpson said. “There have been issues related to that, but as far as how the board is functioning, everything is going very well.”

The Investment Advisory Board does not oversee the city’s employee pensions.