At first glance, Los Altos’ family-friendly mission statement seems wholesome and appropriate. But some council members find it exclusionary.
Councilwoman Neysa Fligor reflected on members of the public over the years who had issues with it not recognizing the breadth of residents living and working in town.
“I do believe it’s worth looking at those areas we all recognize over the years were missing,” she said at the council’s Feb. 13 meeting.
The city of Los Altos mission statement has read: “The mission of our city staff, council, commissions, committees, and volunteers is to foster and maintain the city of Los Altos as a great place to live and to raise a family.”
At the behest of council during its Jan. 9 retreat, city staff prepared a list of mission statements from four Southern California cities as possible inspiration for council members to craft a new one.
“I don’t understand why a city has a mission statement,” said Eric Steinle, chairman of the city’s planning commission. “We’re not competing with anybody, which is normally what I think a mission statement would be for.”
Council members seemed most drawn to mission statements from Claremont (“We are a vibrant, livable, and inclusive community dedicated to quality services, safety, financial strength, sustainability, preservation, and progress with equal representation for our community.”) and Downey (“Proudly committed to continuously improving the quality of life for the Downey community by providing excellent service in a professional, ethical, and responsible manner.”)
“I do think it is important to have a mission statement,” said Councilwoman Sally Meadows, who raised the issue. “(The current mission statement) excludes a whole lot of people. It excludes those who have already raised their family and are older, it excludes those who don’t want a family, they’re just living here by themselves. … What about our broader community, our teachers, our businesses? It’s not inclusive at all.”
“I think that an inclusive mission statement will help the city attract and keep quality staff members,” said Mayor Jonathan Weinberg. “When it comes to recruiting and employment, I think the mission statement should be one of the first things that’s out there. … An inclusive statement that says we as a city value the broad diversity of what we consider to be our community.”
Council members, however, did not have any specific mission statement wording of their own to offer. Weinberg suggested punting the job over to staff to come up with alternative statements based on council’s ideas.
Fligor suggested a city of Los Altos mission statement “in partnership with the community, to foster and maintain a safe, healthy and inclusive community in which to work, live, play and visit.”
She also suggested a mission statement contest that could be opened up to local high school students.
But ultimately, the council directed staff to look at Fligor’s language, along with statements from Claremont and Downey.
There was no timeline given for the issue to return to council.
