Matters Memo

City of Boulder City Council Agenda Item Meeting Date: December 4, 2025 Agenda Title City Council 2026 Retreat Touchpoint

Staff Contact • • •

Megan Valliere, City Council Program Manager, City Manager's Office Pam Davis, Assistant City Manager, City Manager’s Office Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde, City Manager, City Manager’s Office

Executive Summary The purpose of this item is for council to discuss the upcoming 2026 Council Retreat and provide direction on key questions related to the retreat.

Questions for Council 1. Does city council have any questions about the 2026 retreat plans or expectations for preparation? 2. Does city council have any final feedback for the retreat committee and staff as they finalize arrangements for the retreat?

City Council History Council members discussed 2026 retreat planning at the October 16th Study Session, and the memo for this item is available at this link: October 16th Matters Item Memo for 2026 Retreat Planning During its October 16th discussion on this topic, council members requested ongoing discussion and/or future clarification about the following items:

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The length of the retreat and whether shortening from two days to one day or two shorter days will be viable given the agenda and any council personnel changes. Council’s team building exercise and whether it is necessary, how to structure it, and how to ensure it will add value based on any council personnel changes. The timeline for submitting council priority project proposals.

Analysis After further Retreat Committee meetings in late October and November, the Committee continues to recommend the following agenda items for the 2026 retreat: 1. Team Building and Optimizing Council Dynamics 2. Workplan Priority Setting 3. Process Improvement Discussion

Team Building and Optimizing Council Dynamics The Retreat Committee is recommending a conversational exercise wherein every council member will speak briefly with every other council member individually. While the Retreat Committee asked the facilitator for suggestions for this exercise, the thought was to focus on communications styles, and how to best meet each other’s communication needs and preferences.

Workplan Priority Setting City staff collaborated with the Retreat Committee to finalize the below timeline for council priority project submission in anticipation of the January 2026 retreat. December 10th December 19th December 21st

December 24th

January 2nd

Council will be provided final information about 2026 staff workplan (Draft was distributed November 22). Deadline for council members to connect with the City Manager’s Office to scope priority ideas. Deadline for council members to submit individual priority proposals to CMO staff. Please send these directly to Nuria and copy Meggs. Council members will receive a full list of priority proposals submitted by all nine members of council. The list will be sent in a survey. Council members will individually rank all proposal submissions from highest to lowest priority using this survey. The resulting survey data will provide a weighted ranking of all proposals that incorporates prioritization preferences from all survey respondents. Deadline for council members to complete survey with initial forced ranking.

January 5th

January 12th and 13th

City staff share survey results with council members and department directors. At this point, we anticipate being able to identify a “cutoff point” in the full list, below which there is not enough council interest to discuss each idea as part of the priority-setting exercise during the retreat. City Council Retreat

Process Improvement Discussion While this term’s council priority related to process improvements has supported a larger number of more intensive process improvements, the Retreat still presents an opportunity for council discussion about potential improvements for the upcoming term. Given CMO and CAO’s workplans for 2026, staff have indicated a preference for a smaller-scale and more limited-scope discussion about council process improvements at the upcoming retreat. The Retreat Committee is recommending this topic for inclusion in the 2026 Retreat agenda, recognizing limited staff capacity for extensive process improvements. Staff will facilitate a similar process for forced ranking of process improvement proposals (which Meggs will solicit from council members in the coming weeks via email) to ensure a streamlined discussion of only those suggestions that show a high level of council interest.

Anticipated Fiscal and Workplan Impacts In deciding upon workplan priority proposals, the Retreat Committee and city staff request that council members consider: •

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The timeframe in which projects could realistically be completed, with a preference for those items that can be completed within a 3–6-month period, and no more than one year; The department(s) that would be responsible for each project to support a balanced approach for the finalized council workplan; Whether the scope of a project is reasonable alongside other planned work in each department; and Whether projects align with existing goals in the Citywide Strategic Plan.

Community Engagement The deadline for boards and commissions to submit pre-retreat letters to council is December 19th. Council will receive any letters that boards and commissions submit on December 22nd.

Next Steps for City Council The Retreat Committee will use guidance provided at the December 4th study session to collaborate with our outside facilitator and staff on remaining planning efforts for the 2026 retreat. Council members will be expected to follow the timeline described in this memo when completing pre-retreat tasks related to 2026 workplan priority setting. Any additional pre-retreat preparation items will be shared with council members via email in the coming weeks.

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