Workshop brainstorms Yuba City ideas

They held a storyboard session, selected symbolic photographs and heard how employee furloughs affect public safety staffing in Yuba City.

The five-hour goals workshop Tuesday — attended by City Council, staff and members of the Economic Development Commission — was intended to spur ideas and did so, said Mayor John Buckland.

"The fruits of this will come forward," he said at the conclusion. "It'll give us some good, clear direction."

City Manager Steve Jepsen said more industrial-zoned land is needed in Yuba City. Finance Director Robin Bertagna said that with the end of redevelopment agencies, a new method is needed to spur such development.

The storyboard session, involving topics pinned to a board, included a reference to Roseville starting a public-private corporation as an alternative to redevelopment.

Fire Chief Pete Daley said employee furloughs cause rolling brownouts of stations and that each of the city's fire stations is closed three days a month.

Photographs selected by people attending the workshop included one of a contented worker in a demanding agricultural position. Assistant City Manager Steve Kroeger suggested she symbolized Yuba City.

"The people who come here and stay here soon find out what a rich community we are," he said.

Police Chief Rob Landon said state realignment, shifting nonviolent criminals to county jails rather than state prison, means the repercussions for committing such crimes are not as serious now. "You don't have the same punishment," Landon said.

Willow Island, the $1.6 million park project near Market Street and the 10th Street Bridge, was among municipal projects mentioned at the workshop.

Terri Bianco of TBEnterprises in Sacramento was paid $2,500 to facilitate the workshop.

"It's not just coming here and moving my hands around," she said of her work.

Jepsen said three days of preparation are involved in the workshop. The city probably gets 40 hours or more of Bianco's time.

"It's a wise investment of time and resources," he said.

The annual workshop has been held in Yuba City for at least a decade. Buckland said past sessions attracted more residents.

Councilman Tej Maan said after the event, held in a meeting room at the city water reclamation plant on Burns Drive, that goals and vision for the city essentially remain the same.

"It's really difficult to come up with something new," he said.

CONTACT Ryan McCarthy at rmccarthy@appealdemocrat.com or 749-4780. Find him on Facebook at /ADrmccarthy or on Twitter at @ADrmccarthy.

How to improve thinking

Storyboards can bring out a a group's best thinking and energy on an issue, workshop facilitator Terri Bianco noted.

Ideas are printed on cards, pinned to a storyboard and moved around.

The Walt Disney Co. used storyboards to come up with ideas that included Mickey Mouse having a girlfriend. That was first seen as ruining the cartoon character's image but the idea was saved and several years later Minnie Mouse followed.

"We'll capture everything," Bianco said of the Yuba City goals workshop and storyboards.

— Ryan McCarthy