3-25-26 EDC Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – MARCH 25, 2026 5 Commissioner Brausen said he watches the city budget pretty closely. It’s not terrible. He thinks we need more business here to help. Commissioner Bonine said there is turnover in every company. He said the way staff are treated is usually the reason people come and go. He isn’t sure how that dynamic plays out here. Council Liaison Rousseau said they have been trying to put a City Council Code of Conduct in place. There was a challenge a couple of years ago where a councilmember was berating a staff member at the dais. If we’re able to establish a Code of Conduct policy, we would have something to point to, if that behavior happened again. Commissioner Bonine said he witnessed former staff get berated. It’s unfortunate to see how some people are treated. He would like to see less turnover. Commissioner Brausen agreed. He said we need to keep good people. Council Liaison Rousseau said at a council level they did strategic planning where they talked about what the goals are. That hasn’t been done before. We set up a roadmap for the next year on how to implement some of those goals. Part of that conversation is asking if we have enough resources and staffing. Vice Chair Poelzer said she thinks this has been a good conversation. She thinks everyone is on the same page. Conversations like this will continue into future meetings. 4. UNFINISHED AND NEW BUSINESS A. 75th Anniversary Update (Item 4C on posted agenda) Senior Planner Fransen repeated that the 75th Anniversary Committee was looking for support from the EDC to promote sponsorship opportunities with local businesses. Volunteers were going to share materials with the businesses they visited. She was asked to hold off on that until the committee could complete some initial communications that they wanted to ensure they got out. She will be in communication with the volunteers within a week after she gets an update. Discussion ensued regarding the information on the website. Staff will email the link. B. EDC Work Plan (Item 4A on posted agenda) Senior Planner Fransen said the Work Plan was approved at the last meeting. She said some items have been identified that should be adjusted. There was conversation about adding social media to the work plan. The EDC has discussed that Instagram would be a good addition to our current social media platforms for the city. She added “anticipated timing”. That will help project how this plan will flow over two years. Other updates were made to make the plan clearer. She is bringing this back today so the EDC can see the amendments that were made in advance of this going to City Council on April 13. Commissioner Isik has some ideas for Instagram. He said he can mockup posts and have them reviewed by the EDC before they are posted. He wondered what the EDC thinks is a good topic to prepare a mock post for, to show to City Council.