Throughout our history, we’ve worked hard to make Southeast Michigan strong and vibrant, and 2020 will be no different. As we close out our Founder’s Week celebration of SEMCOG, we look forward to 2020. Here are just a few of the projects you’ll hear us talking about this year:
Promoting Census 2020 – Through our outreach efforts, we’ll encourage all the region’s residents to complete the census questionnaire. It’s important, it’s easy, and it’s confidential. Later this month, we’ll release our Southeast Michigan Counts video and other promotional materials.
Adopting Bicycle and Pedestrian Mobility Plan for Southeast Michigan – After 18 months of work, we will seek adoption in March. This plan has an increased focus on pedestrian travel and includes data on the region’s network of sidewalks.
Convening Economic Development Strategy Task Force – Over the past year, we’ve engaged local officials, stakeholders, and others on what we’ll need to do to ensure the region’s prosperity. We’ll use this information, along with research and data, as background for developing a new economic development strategy. A joint SEMCOG/MAC task force will begin work soon.
Coordinating infrastructure improvements – Last year, we created the system to collect data on underground infrastructure. This year, underground infrastructure owners will be submitting this data. To emphasize the importance of this work, I’ll continue to represent Southeast Michigan on the Michigan Infrastructure Commission.
Preparing the 2021-2022 Legislative Policy Platform – A task force of elected officials will develop the platform that will provide the foundation for our advocacy efforts with the state and federal government.
Implementing SEMCOG plans – We’ll use data, technical assistance, training, and public outreach to assist local governments and residents to understand and carry out activities necessary to improve our region.
Showcasing our region to the nation – We’ll host the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC) annual meeting in June. We’ll share with them what makes our region unique and how we are collaborating regionally.
We look forward to sharing more with you about our work in person at SEMCOG General Assemblies, task forces, at SEMCOG University training, through upcoming issues of our biweekly newsletter, Regional Update, and blog posts throughout the year.
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