An effort to “get everyone on the same page” was the basis of a four-hour Jan. 23 joint meeting between the Kyle City Council and the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission.
Kyle Mayor Travis Mitchell said one of the reasons behind the meeting was to discuss with newly appointed or elected officials the roles of their positions and “establish a good working relationship.”
Discussion extended to duties and responsibilities of the P&Z, a lesson in the variety of development agreements and a discussion of the core values of Kyle, which was expressed as the acronym K.Y.L.E.
Sellers focused on knowledge, which centers on city staff or elected officials knowing their jobs well.
“We want to make sure that everyone is aptly prepared to do the job at hand,” Sellers said, asking people to master their craft and to seek out the appropriate training.
Sellers said applying a “yes attitude” is also a focus as well. Sellers said having a “yes attitude” doesn’t mean “we say yes to everything. It means we try to find a way to say yes.”
“There is most always a way to say yes and when there isn’t, at least we can say we tried, and that’s the yes attitude,” Sellers said at the Jan. 23 meeting.
In a later interview, Mitchell said oftentimes developers feel locked out by the requirements of cities to develop. The “Yes Attitude” will help P&Z and council work with developers to get to a plan they can say yes to.
“I’m not looking for a reason to say no. I’m looking for a way to say yes,” Mitchell said.
Innovation, brainstorming and thinking outside of the box are what Sellers described as the “Leading Edge” for the city.
Sellers said for Kyle to be on the leading edge, they need to encourage developers to develop needed spaces in the city like office space or other developments.
Employee accountability is also something on which Sellers plans to focus.
“No one is outside the realm of accountability,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said the joint meeting is the first step in the process of open communication with other city boards and commissions in the coming year.
“My goal is to make sure that communication is happening,” Mitchell said.
