Citizens asked to participate in online survey on strategic priorities for future
The Jan. 30 Franklin Tomorrow Breakfast With the Mayors was one of the largest audiences at the quarterly event in recent yeas and served as the kickoff to engage citizens for the City of Franklin in updating the City’s Strategic Plan, Franklin Forward.
Attendees at the event heard from Franklin City Administrator Eric Stuckey and consultant Cory Plasch about the project, as well as using audience response technology to rank what topics were important to the city currently but also for the future, in their opinion.
The majority of those who attended Breakfast With the Mayors, and participated in the polling, had lived in Franklin for more than three years, although there was a strong showing from those who said they had lived here two years or less.
In a ranking of quality-of-life factors, the leading choice was public safety, followed by parks and recreation areas, neighborhood appearance and finally local stores and shopping.
As for attributes of a strong and healthy community, those attending were almost equal in their votes for employment opportunities or high quality city services. Rounding ou the priorities were a variety of housing types, followed by well-maintained resident and commercial properties.
The final question asked of the audience was what attributes were most important to Franklin’s future, coming in first was a good place to raise a family, followed by housing affordability in second, a commitment to environmental sustainability in third, and then a diverse set of shopping options. 
As the meeting ended, they were encouraged to be among the first citizens and residents to participate in a survey, now open to the general public, covering a variety of questions and topics about Franklin’s future. The results of the external survey will be collected, and data extracted to determine areas of focus for the community and the strategic plan moving forward.
According to the City, the results will be combined with results from meetings with citizen stakeholder groups, City Staff, and the Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BOMA) to produce a new strategic plan. This new strategic plan not only will capture the concerns of today while focusing on a new 10-year horizon but also will have focused 1- to 3-year action plans that will assist BOMA and City staff to address areas of priority for our citizens.
Citizens can find the survey at www.franklintn.gov or go directly to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Franklin24. For a look at the previous Strategic Plan for the last 10 years go to https://performance.franklintn.gov/
Breakfast With the Mayors is presented quarterly by Franklin Tomorrow. The remaining 2024 dates are April 30, July 30, and Oct. 29. The events are free thanks to the generous support of presenting partners, Pinnacle Financial Partners and Gresham Smith, as well as a host of other partner. Williamson Health and Atmos Energy Corp. are sustaining partners for Franklin Tomorrow.