On November 13, 2007 the Horizon Team Leaders met at the home of Margaret Sunderlin and put together the following work plan.
Infrastructure
The purpose of the Elmore Horizons Team is to:
- communicate the vision to the broader community;
- coordinate and help get movement and momentum going for achieving the vision;
- make the most of the resources available, and;
- be accountable for stepping back and seeing if the actions being taken are achieving the vision.
There is not a set leadership structure to the Elmore Horizons Team. Instead it is an open and welcoming group, whose meetings are open to the public. It is a goal of the Elmore Horizons Team to involve community members that have not yet been involved through a variety of different means, including, but not limited to, a “welcome wagon” packet for new residents introducing them to Elmore, hosting community events, and going door-to-door in order to connect with Elmore residents. To plan for turnover on the Horizons Team, there will be a rotating schedule for current members to step down and new ones to join the Horizons Team. This schedule will be determined, but will asssure that there is not a complete turnover of the Horizons Team at any given point.
The Elmore Horizons Team will meet monthly on the third Tuesday of the month. Time and location will be determined as needed. At every meeting one person will be appointed as facilitator and another as note-taker. Meeting notes will be collected and kept in a central binder, which will be brought to every meeting. Meeting notes will also be posted on the Elmore Community Blog.
Decision-Making Process
Decisions will be made by consensus. If a decision cannot be reached by consensus, a simple majority vote can be used to settle the decision, but the vote should only be focused on the issue at hand. The ground rules for discussion are that all should have an equal chance to talk, with no one monopolizing the conversation. If needed, the group can decide to limit discussion on a topic.
In regards to decision-making criteria on how to allocate funds for projects, the decision will be informed by asking the members of the Future Squads for input. Initial ideas generated include:
- Develop a project application for requests of funds;
- Have two areas of funding: temporary/short-term funds and long-term, strategic investments;
- Determine if there is an opportunity for fundraising to happen at the event being funded, and;
- How does the request connect and forward the vision.
The community will be notified of key decisions through updates published in the quarterly town newsletter, financial statements developed by the Elmore Horizons Team, by Future Squads liaisons reporting back to their groups, and posts on the community blog.
Communication Systems
The Elmore Horizons Team will use all the main channels of communication in Elmore that are available. This includes the quarterly city newsletter, church bulletins, flyers at local grocery stores and gas stations, radio (KBEW 98.1 FM, KJLY 104.5 FM), and cable access (Charter Communications), and the community blog. Specifically the blog will be used for feedback from the community about posts, regular updates, a listing of community events, open invitations for community involvement, and volunteer opportunities.
On a broader scale, the Elmore Horizons Team will communicate events in Elmore (the above mentioned community calendar on the blog), group announcements, recaps of Future Squad and Horizons Team meetings, upcoming meetings announcements, and to share the successes and stories of the Horizons Team’s and Future Squads’ work.
Vision Affirmation/Sustainability
Overall, it is the responsibility of the Horizons Team to monitor and evaluate progress on achieving the vision. As such, at each monthly Horizons Team meeting the start will include revisiting the vision to refocus the goal at hand, as well as identifying and celebrating recent work that has moved the community closer to this vision.
In order to sustain the work of the Horizons Team for the long-term, a committee will be developed to seek out additional resources. A primary focus of this committee will be on cultivating local events that draw in the larger community and have a fundraising component.