At the direction of Mayor York, Our City Council and Director of Administration,. Michael Spurgeon a Strategic Planning Group (SPG) consisting of approximately 30 citizens and community/business leaders was formed to help facilitate a strategic planning process for the City of St. Charles.

The SPG held several community dialogue sessions during the Summer of 2009 soliciting comments on the City's top priorities and challenges. During this time, our Top Ten Issues surfaced, allowing us to form Issue Groups for each of those areas.

The SPG has also analyzed comments received and worked on developing vision and mission statements.  The results were then presented at a Town Hall Meeting that was held in late September 2009.  The meeting was used to ask citizens to participate in the Issue Groups that met in early 2010 to help develop goals and objectives for The Top Ten Issues.

We would like to point out that such important topics as Historic Preservation, Beautification, and Public Safety are inherent in our process and were looked at in each of the the Issue Groups.

Those Top Ten Issue Groups were:

•    Transportation
•    Housing
•    Education
•    Arts & Culture
•    Recreation & Leisure
•    City Services
•    Riverfront
•    Economic Development
•    Infrastructure
•    Environmental Sustainability

Once the plan was formally adopted by the Mayor and City Council, an Oversight Committee was formed that would oversee implementation. The group currently meets on the 3rd Thursday of each month at 5:30 pm priortizing and completing goals and objectives outlind in the Strategic Plan. It truly has become a living, breathing document for the City of St. Charles.