News Flash

The City of DeLand is embarking on a year-long process to update its strategic plan. 

First adopted in 2000, the strategic plan outlines a vision for the city’s future and strategies that should be utilized to get there. It is also a guiding document for the commission and staff when setting the budget.

The plan was updated in 2005 and city has tried to update the plan every 10 years with 2015 being the last time it was updated. However, given the changes within our community and a city commission led by a new mayor for the first time in more than 20 years, the city is moving forward with an update this year. 

“As the city continues to grow, it is important to look at ways we can improve DeLand to ensure it continues to be a great place to live, work and play,” said Mayor Chris Cloudman. “I encourage our residents to be involved in charting out the future of our city as we revamp our strategic plan.”

The City Commission on January 30 held its first workshop to discuss priorities to be incorporated into the strategic plan. A steering committee comprised of DeLand residents will work with the City Commission to revise the strategic plan based on input from residents. The Steering Committee’s first meeting will be at 6 p.m. February 22 at the Chisholm Community Center.

The city will also hold in-person community forums beginning in March to receive input from residents. However, to increase the amount of input from residents, the city has launched an online engagement platform called Engage DeLand. This will allow people to stay up-to-date on upcoming meetings, important information and provide input to questions or surveys that are posted on the site.

We encourage residents to sign up for notifications on the platform and be involved in the process. Our engagement platform may be viewed here: http://deland-fl.civilspace.io/

We have also created a page on our website dedicated to the Strategic Plan Update: https://www.deland.org/651/Strategic-Plan-Update