Commentary: 10 reasons the mayor shouldn't write a 10-year plan

It's well known that Mayor John Dickert's 10-year plan is overdue. Dickert ran his winning campaign in 2009 on the tagline that he has a 10-year plan to make Racine a Top 10 city. Only problem? He didn't have a plan so much as a fuzzy idea of a plan he'd never actually written down.

Now, 14 months after he took office, the mayor is under pressure to release a plan to bolster his bid for re-election next April. This is a mistake. Here's 10 reasons the mayor shouldn't write a 10-year plan before the next election:

10. He won the last election without a plan. He can win this election without a plan.

9. He'll look stronger by resisting the calls for a plan than he will writing one. Releasing a plan now looks like he was strong-armed by the media and online comments.

8. It's a chance to get humble. The mayor can say it's a difficult job that's taken him a year just to begin to understand what it means to lead the city. Suggesting he can write a 10-year plan before he ever sat in the mayor's chair was an arrogant. Now that he's been in the job he understands the complexity of crafting a working document for the city, and he's begun the long process of formalizing his long-term thinking into a cohesive plan with the input of the Common Council, city residents and staff. This establishes him as the experienced candidate ready to build on two years in office, instead of Racine starting over again.

7. The election is long gone. Only the media is focusing on the 10-year plan. The rest of the city is just looking for relief from a down economy and long-standing problems.

6. Writing a plan is worse than not writing a plan. Putting one out now only reminds people it took you so long to do what you promised.

5. The mayor needs to focus on bringing jobs to Racine and reducing crime, not putting a couple ideas down on paper. He needs action not talk. Plans are for candidates. Acting is for mayors.

4. The mayor isn't a policy guy. He's a charismatic leader who risks getting backed into corners by putting specifics to his vision. Easier to work with the general idea of improvement, and trust that will win over voters.

3. No strong candidate has emerged to oppose the mayor. Creating a 10-year plan gives potential opponents an easy attack and the press a document to nitpick. 

2. Writing down a plan puts an enormous amount of pressure on a mayor to mobilize city staff and the Common Council to support the document. Until he can build consensus, which isn't easy to do in an election year, writing down a plan risks alienating too many people.

1. It's too late. Yeah, it was a political mistake to promise a 10-year plan and not deliver. But there's no sense on dwelling over the mistake. It's time to move on.


RacinePost readers submit their 10-year plans.