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Mayor wants to make future happen Berryman asks Medford leaders to devise a vision plan for the 21st century By JIM DAVIS Medford needs a vision for its future and the community needs to make it happen, new Medford Mayor Lindsay Berryman said Monday. Speaking at a luncheon at the Rogue Valley Country Club, Berryman urged the community to come together to create a vision for the 21st century. "My first goal is for all of you to roll up your sleeves and decide, right now, that you're not going to let the future happen," Berryman said. "You're going to join me, the City Council and the City Hall staff in making it happen." Berryman and Medford City Manager Michael Dyal were the keynote speakers for the monthly forum of the Chamber of Medford/Jackson County. Berryman used the opportunity to call for support from the "movers and shakers" of the community. "I want you to reach out to all sectors of the community," she said. "From business to neighborhoods, from religious groups to senior citizens, from white-collar to blue-collar workers and get your peers involved in expressing their goals and dreams." The vision will guide the city in dealing with problems from growth to transportation to economic development, Berryman said. The Medford City Council set in motion a vision-planning process last fall, which is designed to develop a vision for the city's future. As one of her first actions on Thursday, Berryman appointed a dozen people to be on the "steering committee" for the vision planning. The committee will oversee several smaller "technical advisory" committees in coming up with ideas and goals for the Medford City Council to pursue. The project is being overseen by a Portland consulting firm Cogan Owens Cogan. The contract requires that the cost not exceed $55,000. The city is asking for volunteers to be a part of the planning process and come to a "community kick-off" event on Feb. 3 at the Craterian Ginger Roger Theater in downtown Medford. Berryman said that other large cities such as Denver, Baltimore, Portland, San Diego and Dallas are involved in similar vision planning. And she said Medford has already had success with "visioning" on a smaller scale in downtown. She said that six years ago the Craterian was boarded up, Bear Creek was a stagnant swamp and downtown's Vogel Park was dead space. She said through vision planning the city's urban renewal agency was able to turn around downtown, and today the Craterian is a vibrant performing arts center, Bear Creek runs freely after the removal of a dam and Vogel Park is a place for children and families. "All of these changes are happening because we the community imagined a downtown much different than what previously existed," Berryman said. Now, the city needs to come together and imagine a Medford to leave as a legacy "for your children and your grandchildren." "When the odometer of time turns over to zero in 12 months," Berryman said, "let's have a vision plan in place to guide us as we begin the new millennium." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA