Mayor Emery Doughtie believes Wednesday’s city council retreat may help members of the city’s governing panel reach some goals on issues concerning the body.

The retreat begins at 8 a.m. in the conference room of the Roanoke Valley Chamber of Commerce on Premier Boulevard.

“The retreats I’ve been associated with, when you’re meeting the whole day things tend to surface,” the mayor said today. “I’ve not had that opportunity since I’ve been on the council. I hope we can reach some consensus about things we’re concerned with.”

One of the mayor’s goals is to make sure the city’s finances are secure. While not a budget work session, Doughtie said he believes council must look at issues that could affect the city’s ability to provide services to taxpayers. “I would like for us to come to a consensus on how to be more cost effective.”

Doughtie said the last administration approved a 10 percent increase for police pay. “What do we do if we can’t do it next year?”

Referring to a pay study being done for the rest of the departments, the mayor said, “Instead of just the police department, is the fire department or public works up to where they need to be?”

Barring a serious downturn in the economy from where it currently stands, Doughtie said the city should be in good shape for the next fiscal year.

There are concerns, however, such as what happens if revenues from the state don’t come in as anticipated and what happens if revenues from the theater stop coming in.

Doughtie believes the retreat will be good for city council. “It lends itself to a broader discussion, discussions in more detail.”