PARADISE – A country mile from the bustle of Dallas, City Council members retreated to a secluded Wise County ranch. At hand: a dual mission, quietly initiated by newly minted Mayor Tom Leppert, to build camaraderie among elected colleagues and craft an agenda for their two-year council session.

Council members accomplished both. They affirmed crime reduction, economic development, neighborhood improvement and education among top council priorities. And they also waged bruising pingpong battles or otherwise cut up at the Garrett Creek Ranch Conference Center.

And as council members departed Tuesday for Dallas after two days of marathon meetings, they exuded optimism that the infighting of councils past is past. They insist their unity in addressing universal city issues is no fragile aspiration of a fledgling council with a rookie mayor and seven freshman members.

"There is no reason to believe we are not going to get to the goal line," Mr. Leppert said.

They spent much of their time defining what and where that line should be. They ultimately instituted six focus areas that members say will occupy the balance of this council's two years together. Not incidentally, they reflect many of the promises Mr. Leppert articulated during the Dallas mayoral campaign.

The council set the following as priorities:

• Public safety improvements and crime reduction. Council members vowed to remove Dallas from its perennial perch atop the nation's list of highest crime rates among large cities and increase public confidence in police officers. To accomplish these goals, officials say, they'll hire more police, increase the number of officers living within Dallas city limits, improve response times and communication and improve police visibility and accessibility throughout the community.

• Economic vibrancy. By targeting key city sectors, such as downtown and certain southern-sector neighborhoods, Dallas will realize faster and more robust development, council members say. Improved government responsiveness to business opportunities, particularly corporate relocations, is another key element. Specific short-term goals include expanding city marketing efforts, accelerating job growth, forging a deal to build a Dallas Convention Center hotel and encouraging the redevelopment of deteriorating apartment complexes.

• A cleaner, healthier city environment. Dallas must pay better attention to basic but important quality-of-life issues, such as improving street lighting and painting unsightly light poles, council members agree. Loose dogs, tall weeds and bulky trash that plague some neighborhoods must also be addressed with haste. More broadly, Dallas should improve air quality by expanding its green building regulations, recycling programs and fleet of alternative-fuel vehicles.

• Better cultural, arts and recreational amenities. Implement the Trinity River Corridor project. Create a "world class" downtown filled with arts and performance facilities, retail and a retooled Farmers Market. Invest in Fair Park, the Dallas Zoo, Latino Cultural Center and city libraries. Redevelop city-owned and little-used Reunion Arena, which is scheduled to be closed next year.

• Education enhancements. Perhaps the least-specific endeavor, council members are supporting continued efforts to build a University of North Texas law school in downtown Dallas while supporting development of higher-education facilities within the city limits. The council also backed supporting "overall K-12 quality" and will seek to help school officials reduce dropout rates and promote early-education programs.

• Make government services more efficient, effective and economical. A key goal is to make city services more equitable, with no particular part of Dallas receiving markedly better services than another.

City Manager Mary Suhm, who attended the retreat with several other top city staff members, is scheduled to present her 2007-08 budget proposal to the council in early August. Mr. Leppert, along with several other council members, vowed to align budget funding with the priorities council members set forth Tuesday.

But the retreat wasn't all business, with retreat coordinator Robert Galford injecting levity by asking council members to complete a survey that tested their leadership priorities among excellence, harmony, action and reason. Mr. Galford then lined the council members up along a conference room wall based on their scored responses.

Mr. Leppert and council members Dave Neumann and Carolyn Davis, for example, prioritized "excellence" relative to the other factors and stood at one side of the wall. Council member Mitchell Rasansky, meanwhile, stood at the opposite end next to Mayor Pro Tem Elba Garcia – the end reserved for people who supposedly aren't so concerned about excellence at most any cost as they are with other leadership factors.

"I knew I was different!" Mr. Rasansky, who frequently finds himself on the short end of 14-1 votes, proudly proclaimed.

"I'm starting to really worry that I'm so close to Mitch," Dr. Garcia said with feigned disbelief as the rest of the council broke into laughter.

Previous councils have been notorious for discord, with some members all but refusing to speak with one another and public shouting sessions among members in the council chambers. Is this new council predestined to devolve into snipes, spats and pratfalls of recent years?

"Time will obviously tell, but my heart tells me that this council will really work together – absolutely," said Jerry Allen, in his first term representing District 10. "The spirit that this council has will springboard the spirit of Dallas."

Said Dr. Garcia: "What we accomplished today makes a clear statement that we are focused on what Dallas really needs and what citizens told us they want."