Borough Family Values

It is not uncommon for a new company or a new administration to try to re-boot their operations by sitting down and asking themselves "what is our mission?" or "what are our core values?"

Well, you can add the Borough of Pottstown to the list of those organizations.

And even though the borough's mission statement and core values were updated as recently as Oct. 11, 2011, Borough Manager Mark Flanders has presented borough council with drafts of a new mission statement and new core values for the borough.

He wants to know what they think before they become official.

So before they become official, I figured, why not ask you what you think. Feel free to post your thoughts in the comment section below. (If you can't "sign-in," just choose the "anonymous" option and you can sign your name if you like.)

I thought perhaps the best way to do this comparison is to look at them side by side.

As posted on the borough web site (thanks Ginny Takach for helping me find it), this is the borough's current Mission Statement, adopted in 2011, are:

Our mission is to provide and maintain superior municipal services in a safe and controlled community setting, keeping within the designated financial constraints as set forth in our annual budget, in order to attract and retain responsible property owners, businesses and community leaders that will continue to assist in our improvement and growth for the future, while remembering our P.R.I.D.E.

Flanders has proposed replacing the above with the following:

The mission of the borough of Pottstown is to provide equitably responsive, innovative and cost-effective services. 

As for the "core values," notice that the current Mission ends with "P.R.I.D.E."

Mark Flanders

Well apparently it stands for something, the borough's core values, at least for the moment are as follows:

P.R.I.D.E. Core Values
P - Plan - We will accept that change is inevitable, and PLAN accordingly for the future.
R – Responsible - We will manage our financial and human resources in a RESPONSIBLE manner.
I – Interests - We will consider the INTERESTS of the entire community in decision making
D – Deliver - We will strive to DELIVER superior services to the tax and rate payers.
E – Equity - We will treat everyone and every situation with EQUITY and fairness.

And Flanders has proposed the following new core values statement to replace the one above:

ACCOUNTABILITY:
We will obligate ourselves to account for all of our actions, accept responsibility for them, and disclose the outcomes in a transparent manner.

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT:
We provide the highest quality service with the resources available by promoting innovation and flexibility to meet the changing needs of the borough.

ENVIRONMENT:
We are aware of the importance of our natural, historic and economic resources and strive to enrich their sustainability for future generations.

ETHICS:
Setting high standards in our personal, professional and organizational conduct, we will strive to uphold the public trust by conducting ourselves with integrity in furtherance of the borough's mission.

RESPECT:
We will demonstrate respect by how we treat each other, by the contributions that come from our diversity, by the productivity of our relationships, and by a job well done no matter what the job.

SAFETY:
We are dedicated to educate, promote and encourage the practice of safety while reducing unsafe and hazardous conditions for all who live, work and play in our community. Thus improving the quality of life within the Borough of Pottstown.

TEAMWORK:
We operate collaboratively with an intense focus on the common goal, betting the community we serve, and we recognize that we can always achieve more by working together.

TRUST:
Trust is the condition and resulting obligation of having confidence placed in oneself. Therefore, we accept the challenge to display integrity and character in every aspect of our functions.

 So there you have it folks.

The Mission Statement got shorter and the Core Values statement got longer.

What do you think?

Are the new ones better than the old ones?

Do you have any suggested changes?

Pass them along and we will pass them along to Flanders and Council.