Capital Spending Plan Concerns

This discussion topic was requested by Council Member Kyonzté Toombs regarding Council Member input on the Capital Spending Plan.

From CM Toombs:

Colleagues, are there any concerns that the proposed CSP doesn't line up (much) with the Council's priority list? I have reviewed the CSP, and departmental needs were prioritized.  Most of those needs are mandatory and need to be financed.  The Council Priority List largely addresses, obviously, community needs.  Those needs also need to be financed because we hear the complaints from our constituents on a daily basis. I know that fulfilling departments' needs leads to better services for residents.  

I see 2-3 top 10 priority items in the CSP, and perhaps, some other items can be wrapped into the department needs, such as NDOT's State of Good Repair, Paving, and Traffic Calming budget.  There are many requests on the Council list around traffic calming and road repair.  I also see lots of requests regarding parks and libraries.  My guess is that unless the department is advocating as hard as you are, you won't see that item in the CSP. 

Any ideas on how to better align our priority list with the administration's (i.e., departments') priorities, so that the resulting CSP represents a coordinated capital improvement plan for the city? Or are council members satisfied with the process as is? Should we require that the CSP include a certain percentage of "community needs?"