Fort Smith Board adopts new mission and vision statements

The City of Fort Smith has a new mission statement, vision statement and value statements following the Board of Directors first regular meeting of 2024 held Tuesday night (Jan. 2).

The board unanimously approved repealing two resolutions – R-40-07 and R-83-07 – approved in 2007 and approving two new resolutions that set new statements defining the city.

The Board of Directors held its annual strategic workshop on Sept. 29 at the Bonneville House, to determine its 2023-2024 Strategic Goals, which were formally adopted at the Dec. 5 regular meeting. At that meeting the board also discussed updating/amending the city’s mission statement, vision statement and value statements.

The old mission statement, approved April 3, 2007, states that the city is “a unified team committed to consistently providing citizen-focused services for the advancement of a thriving community.”

The newly approved mission statement is “The City of Fort Smith is committed to providing high quality, resident-focused services for the advancement of a thriving community.”

The old vision statement, approved along with the value statements on June 5, 2007, states the city’s vision is to provide: “World Class Services by valuing the the contributions of every citizen and employee, being agile, being values-based and being continuous learners.
The new vision statement condenses and changes the vision statement to read: Fort Smith strives to be a dynamic, business, family, and military friendly destination that welcomes people from all over the world.”

While the vision statement is streamlined the value statements for the city were spelled out in more detail. The old value statement said that the city’s shared values are integrity always, absolute professional, accessibility for all.

“The new value statements are a little more lengthy, but they provide direction for the city,” City Administrator Carl Geffken said.

The new value statements are:
“Safety – We seek to continuously improve the safety of all areas of the city. We value a safe environment for all residents, employees, and visitors.

Growth – We strive for accelerated growth to make our city attractive for residents, visitors, business, and industry. This includes promotion of the city’s water supply, healthcare, military, technology, education, and manufacturing along with world class quality of place.

World Class Quality of Place – The city of Fort Smith strives for excellence in all that we do; with a particular focus on maintaining a high quality of life for our residents and providing amenities and infrastructure designed to attract visitors and investment in our community.

Quality Core Services – We work to deliver the highest quality services to our residents, customers, and visitors. We endeavor to understand the needs of residents/visitors and treat everyone consistently, fairly, and responsively.

Environment – We value a safe, clean environment for all residents, employees, and visitors. We strongly encourage the utilization of available federal and state programs to diversify our energy usage.

Trust/Integrity – Integrity is ethical behavior, honesty, and working in the best interest of the residents. We demonstrate trust with all residents by operating with a transparent and efficient government and by enforcing accountability. We also recognize that open and honest communication is a primary component in maintaining trust with the community.”

Fort Smith Citizen Rick Murphy addressed the board during the meeting to say that the new statements make him proud to be a citizen of Fort Smith.

“I think this will attract new residents and industry to the city,” Murphy said.