As the calendar year closes out, Eden Ratliff sits down with Brandon Ford and Dave Pribulka to talk about strategic planning in the real world: not as a glossy document, but as a working “rudder” for budget decisions, priorities, and day-to-day execution.
They dig into the tension between aspirational goals (the “why”) and cross-offable action steps (the “how”)—including how to avoid plans that sound inspiring but don’t translate into steps, owners, timelines, or resources.
Along the way, they compare planning approaches in large and small communities, debate when to use consultants vs. doing the work in-house, and talk honestly about what happens when boards turn over and want to toss the plan on the shelf.
MuniSquare is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Highlights:
I have a love/hate relationship with strategic planning. - Brandon
What comes first, the chicken or the egg? If you don’t make aspirational statements, how do you allocate resources? - Eden
What do you do when you have turnover on your boards and they say throw out the strategic plan or I don’t intend to follow it? - Eden
Sometimes things are just gonna change, and we need to give our boards the latitude to say, ‘Look, we’re just gonna blow this up and start over. - Dave
Action without vision is, is just passing time. Vision without action is just a dream. Action and vision can change the world. - Nelson Mandela, quoted by Dave)
What’s one priority your community needs to make “cross-offable” in 2026?
Generation on the Rise is produced by Nancy Hess and features Eden Ratliff (Middletown Township Manager, Bucks County PA), Brandon Ford (Lower Merion Assistant Township Manager, Montgomery County PA, and Dave Pribulka (Bellefonte Borough Manager, Centre County PA)
