RPVCCA_CC_SR_2013_12_17_02_Matrix_Report_Status_UdateCITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES
MEMORANDUM
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
HONORABLE MAYOR & CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
CAROLYN LEHR, CITY MANAGER ClSl,
DECEMBER 17, 2013
MATRIX REPORT STATUS UPDATE
Project Manager: Kit Fox, AICP, Senior Administrative Analys~
RECOMMENDATION
Receive and file the update on the status of implementing the recommendations of the
Matrix Report; and provide direction to Staff for further action as appropriate.
BACKGROUND
On April 16, 2013, the City Council approved the final Matrix Report, which included a
number of recommendations to improve organizational efficiency, transparency and
customer service (see attached Minutes excerpt). The complete, final Matrix Report is
available for review on the City's website at
http://www.palosverdes.com/rpv/citycouncil/RPV-Matrix-Report-0321. pdf.
The Compensation Subcommittee of Mayor Duhovic and Councilwoman Brooks has
asked Staff for a status update on the implementation of the Matrix Report
recommendations. A table listing the status of each of these recommendations is
included with tonight's report. The Compensation Subcommittee reviewed this table
prior to tonight's meeting. While reviewing the Matrix Report recommendations, Staff
identified a few issues which require additional City Council review or input prior to full
implementation. These issues are discussed in the body of tonight's report below.
DISCUSSION
Matrix Report Recommendation Status Update
The Matrix Report identified fifty-three (53) department-specific recommendations, as
well as nine (9) organization-wide recommendations to enhance overall transparency.
As depicted in the table attached to tonight's report, eighteen (18) of these
recommendations have been completely implemented and twenty-three (23) are in
progress as of the date of tonight's report. In other words, Staff has already
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MEMORANDUM: Matrix Report Status Update
December 17, 2013
Page2
implemented or is in the process of implementing nearly two-thirds (%) of the Matrix
Report recommendations.
Where recommendations are expected to be "phased in" over an extended period of
time, the notation "(Multi-Year)" has been included in the "Status" column of the table.
For those recommendations that are not yet "Completed" or "In Progress" (i.e.,
"Pending") Staff has provided a brief explanation in the table. Finally, Staff has
identified some recommendations that require additional City Council review or input.
These recommendations are discussed in greater detail in the next part of tonight's
report.
Issues Requiring City Council Review or Input
In reviewing the recommendations of the Matrix Report, Staff believes that several
recommendations require City Council review or input before they are implemented.
These recommendations are discussed in more detail below.
• Recommendation CM/HR-3 states that "[the] City should summarize the results
of the currently performed exit interviews on all departing employees and provide
annually in a report to the City Council." Five (5) Staff members will have left the
City's employ by the end of this year. However, Staff requests direction form the
City Council as to what information it wants to see summarized, given that some
aspects of the City's personnel records are confidential.
• Recommendation CM/HR-15 states that "[the] City should rebid the City's legal
services contract [since this] contract has not been competitively bid since it was
originally established." If it is the desire of the City Council to do so, Staff seeks
formal authorization to re-bid the City's legal services contract.
• Recommendation CM/HR-16 states that "[the] City should consider establishing
a staff City Attorney position to handle routine legal matters of the City," based
upon the estimation that "this could save the City approximately $34,000 annually
plus improve access and responsiveness to legal advice for City staff." First,
Staff believes that this recommendation conflicts with Recommendation CM/HR-
15 above. Second, Staff believes that the cost savings from an in-house City
Attorney are overestimated in the Matrix Report. For example, do they assume
the cost of salary and benefits for both a City Attorney and support staff (, i.e.,
clerical, paralegal, etc.), on-site law library and/or contract for access to on-line
legal references, etc.? Would a single City Attorney have the breadth of
experience to deal with all of the varied legal issues facing the City (i.e.,
redevelopment dissolution, telecommunications, landslides, etc.)? If not, what
would be the additional costs of contracting for these additional services with
specialized law firms? Research conducted by Staff suggests that the $230,000
total annual cost for in-house legal services suggested in the report (p. 56) is
unrealistically low.
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MEMORANDUM: Matrix Report Status Update
December 17, 2013
Page3
• Recommendation CC-1 states that "[the] City should consider a change to
implement only action minutes for City Council meetings and the meetings of
other Council appointed boards and commissions." The City Council Minutes are
essentially action minutes with brief summaries of speakers' comments;
however, the City Clerk could further reduce the Minutes to purely action
minutes, if Council so directs, by listing only the names of the speakers without
providing a summary of their comments. The City Clerk agrees it would be
preferable for all Board and Commission Minutes to be action minutes, but the
decision previously has been left to each particular Committee or Commission
with general direction from the Council regarding the need to provide enough
detail so that the decision made and reasons for that decision are understood.
For example, previous City Councils have preferred the current, more detailed
Planning Commission minutes to understand the Commission's thought process
behind quasi-judicial and appealable decisions, and the City Attorney has opined
that summary minutes (as opposed to action minutes) for the Planning
Commission are important in establishing the public record for land use cases.
Therefore, Staff requests direction from the City Council regarding the
implementation of this recommendation.
• Recommendation PW-5 states that "[the] City should utilize cost of construction
standards for establishing the size and specialties of City engineering staff [to]
directly link staffing requirements to the number and size of projects under
management by City staff to ensure sufficient resources are allocated to oversee
capital projects." Another important factor that should be included as part of a
staffing needs analysis is responding to public comments and inquiries. There is
a recommendation further along in this study (p. 82) that references "the
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) cost of construction guidelines," as
recommended standards to follow in order to identify the resources needed to
effectively manage and oversee capital projects. Public Works staff, after
extensive research, could not find any such guidelines and were unable to get
them from the consultant. Staff respectfully requests that the consultant meet
with Public Works staff and provide the referenced ASCE materials before the
City Council directs this recommendation to be implemented.
• Recommendation PW-6 states that "Engineering staff should have established
informal "billability targets" so that work activities are charged directly to
managed and designed projects." Public Works staff requested that the
consultant provide us with some direction or suggestions on how best to
establish these targets, but no response was received. Other factors that should
be considered as part of "billability targets" in the public sector, which may not
apply in the private sector, are responding to public comments as well as
inquiries and compliance with Federal and State requirements (including grant
reporting), all of which impact the engineering work on a project from inception to
completion. Insufficient funding in CIP projects to cover administrative costs and
lack of a payroll/accounting system to record staff time on projects are other
challenges staff would face in implementing this recommendation.
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MEMORANDUM: Matrix Report Status Update
December 17, 2013
Page4
• Recommendation PW-8 states that, "[following] the development of detailed
capital program resource requirements and implementation of cost of
construction guidelines, the number of engineering staff should be reviewed and
the Assistant Engineer position filled as needed." Staff's concerns about this
recommendation are related to those expressed above regarding
Recommendation PW-5. However, it should be noted that the Assistant
Engineer position has been filled.
• Recommendation PW-9 assigns "Medium" priority to the recommendation to
"consider implementation of a maintenance tracking system to address identified
issues and provide real-time business intelligence regarding maintenance efforts,
costs, and assessment of condition." Staff notes that plans are underway to
implement this recommendation, but suggests that this item should be given a
"High" priority.
• Public Works also expresses a general concern with the Matrix Study in that is
stated several times in the final report that the consultant conducted interviews
with the managers in each City department. However, it was the Public Works
Department's experience that this is not accurate. The consultant did not
interview the Interim Director of Public Works Director or any of the Public Works
Department staff, aside from a brief, initial 20-minute meet-and-greet session
with the Interim Director. Meetings with Department Staff, if held, would probably
have allowed the consultant to provide more substantive and meaningful
information in the final report.
• Recommendation TE-6 suggests the "[identification] of any active lobbying
contracts or services that the City has entered into with summary information
regarding the firm hired, the purpose of the service, and annual costs of the
contract." The City currently has no active lobbying contract, but it is a member
of the League of California Cities, which lobbies on behalf of its members.
Therefore, Staff seeks direction from the City Council regarding the
implementation of this recommendation.
CONCLUSION
The Minutes of the April 16, 2013, City Council meeting note that the Compensation
Subcommittee was tasked to develop an implementation plan for the Matrix Report with
input from the City Manager. Some of the items requesting City Council direction above
may be dispensed with easily at tonight's meeting, while others will require further
research and review. Therefore, Staff recommends that the City Council receive and
file the update on the status of implementing the recommendations of the Matrix Report;
and Staff will continue to work with the Compensation Subcommittee of Mayor Duhovic
and Councilwoman Brooks to develop the implementation plan-including responses to
those items listed above requiring additional City Council review and consideration-
and bring the implementation plan back to the full City Council on a future agenda.
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MEMORANDUM: Matrix Report Status Update
December 17, 2013
Pages
ALTERNATIVES
Tonight's report identifies issues requiring additional City Council review or input. The
alternatives applicable to each of these issues are discussed in the body of tonight's
report above. Additional alternative actions may be identified as a result of City Council
discussion and/or public comments at tonight's meeting.
FISCAL IMPACT
The review of the status of the Matrix Report recommendations has no fiscal impact
upon the City.
Attachments:
• Matrix Report Recommendation Status Update (as of December 17, 2013)
• Matrix Report Executive Summary (dated March 21, 2013)
• City Council Minutes (excerpt) of April 16, 2013
M:\Policy lssues\Performance Audit\20131217 _MatrixReportStatusUpdate_StaffRpt.docx
2-5
Resp. # Matrix Report Recommendations of March 21, 2013 Priority Status Update as of December 17, 2013
HR has added more services not only to HR but to all employees. In Nov. 2013,
The Human Resources module in the ADP system should be carefully evaluated upon
In ~J"r:l9resS we updated the workforce module and all employees now enter their time through
CM/HR 1 completion of its implementation to ensure that it contains the features and functionality to provide a High (Mi.dti"Ye8J") ADP time and attendance module. Also, HR implemented the benefit module so
comprehensive Human Resource Information System (HRIS) for the City. that open enrollment for 2014 is now all done online. HR is looking to expand
·.·• services so employees can use the self-service module.
The City should develop a workforce planning effort that identifies key positions within the organization, HR is i:urrently recruiting for a permanent Director of Public Works. VI/hen the new develops cross-training programs to develop additional internal staff Director is hired, anticipated Jan 2014, the promotional recruitment for Deputy CM/HR 2 with competencies and abilities to fill the position (at least on a short-term basis), and develops forward looking Low In Progress Director of Public Works will have been completed and the new Director can hire contingency plans for filling these critical positions when they become vacant. The succession planning effort from the list. underway within the Public Works Department should be utilized as a model for other Departments.
3 The City should summarize the results of the currently performed exit interviews on all JnProg~ The City saw three individuals leave as of the above noted date and two more
CM/HR Medium ·· counci1 leaving in the latter part of December. Council direction needed as to what it wants departing employees and provide annually in a report to the City Council. c ......... to see in the recommended summarv.
CM/HR 4 The City should conduct an annual employee climate survey to better understand from the employee's Medium In Progress The City has started the development of an employee satisfaction survey for the
I perspective the emplovment climate. emolovees.
The City should implement the updated employee manual as soon as practical following
CM/HR 5 adoption of the MOU. Upon completion, it should be provided to all employees and training provided to all High lnPr'og~: The MOU for the City Employees Association (CEA) has been on hold.
emplovees on the manual.
The City should provide refresher training to all supervisory staff on the performance •· The City retained Barry Newton from Creative Solutions to redesign the
performance management tool for both the general employees as well as the evaluation process and the existing performance evaluation form to ensure consistent utilization and rankings . management employees, receiving input from both groups. The new performance CM/HR 6 across departments and supervisors. Additionally, to ensure that all forms are completed in a timely manner, Medium In Progress management tool includes an employee self evaluation that will be completed 60 each supervisor should be specifically evaluated by their manager on the timely, accurate and thoroughness of days prior to the end of the rating period. Manager/Supervisor training will be their evaluations of staff. This should be a specific evaluation factor on supervisor evaluation forms. . •• scheduled for midnate-January and full implementation expected in February 2014.
The City should develop a series of performance metrics to evaluate their worker's The City has been working closely with CJPIA on providing workers' comp training. CM/HR 7 compensation program. with ongoing consultation with CJPIA on additional training needs for City staff to Low . In Progress HR has scheduled a workers' comp training for January 29, 2014. minimize claims.
The City should centralize the handling of all accident, risk and worker's compensation HR has been the central point for all internal accident/workers' comp claims. The CM/HR 8 claims by transferring the responsibillty for claims review from the City Clerk's Office to the Human Resources Low Jn Progress City Clerk receives liabillty claims from external customers. position. . .
" The City Safety Committee, with assistance from CJPIA, had their first meeting on
CM/HR 9 The City should institute a safety committee covering all employees. Medium Nov 25, 2013. It is anticipated that the Committee will meet monthly until
" established.
The City Council should periodically review its adopted compensation policy for the City The City currently has a compensation policy in place as defined in the Personnel
CM/HR 10 High Pending Rules, Rule V. HR, in accordance with the MOU, is waiting for the MOU to be of Rancho Palos Verdes and update as appropriate to maintain a competitive compensation system. established to see if modifications need to be made.
CM/HR 11 The City should review the current approach to position classification to determine if a Low Pending This will be part of the City-wide classification/compensation study. more formalized system is needed to ensure both internal and external equity of positions.
CM/HR 12 The City should implement a program for reviewing position descriptions and duties Medium Pending This will be part of the City-wide classification/compensation study. oerforrned for each position at least once everv five vears.
CM/HR 13 Staffing as currently allocated to this Department should remain and the vacant Human High The HR Manager was filled on May 17, 2013 Resources Manaaer oosition should be filled and the duties expanded.
The current contract Administrative Analyst II position responsible for emergency preparedness should be The Administrative Analyst II was reclassified to a Senior Administrative Analyst
CM/HR 14 made permanent. Organizationally, it can either remain in Parks & Recreation or relocated to the City High ~~.~ and has moved to the City Manager's Department with expanded duties beyond
Mana!ler's Office. ~ emeraencv oreoaredness namelv chairina the newlv formed Safetv Committee.
The City should rebid the City's legal services contract. This contract has not been competitively bid since it was Pending/
CM/HR 15 High Council Pending City Council action to authorize re-bidding contract. originally established. Review
The City should consider establishing a staff City Attorney position to handle routine Pending/ Staff believes that this conflicts with CM/HR-15 above, and that the cost savings CM/HR 16 legal matters of the City. It is estimated this could save the City approximately $34,000 annually plus improve High Council suggested in the Matrix Report are overestimated. access and resoonsiveness to leaal advice for Citv staff. Review
During the 2013 budget process, minor improvements were made to performance
1 A review of the performance measures utilized and tracked should occur to ensure alignment with Council In Progress measures included in the budget document. Once new software systems are
F&IT Medium implemented for Finance, Community Development, Public Works and Recreation priorities. (Multi-Year) are fully implemented, additional opportunities to track performance statistics will
likelv become available.
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Resp. # Matrix Report Recommendations of March 21, 2013 Priority Status Update as of December 17, 2013
F&IT 2 The five-year CIP document that is currently developed should be included within the budget document High -The FY13-14 budget document includes the 2013 Five-Year Capital Improvement
Plan.
The City will pursue electronic payments after transitioning to a new banking
F&IT 3 The City should continue to expand the use of electronic payments with vendors. High Pending services provider, followed by acquisition and implementation of a new financial
software svstem.
The last review of cost-based fees was completed in 201 o. With acquisition and
F&IT 4 All cost recovery goals should be reviewed at least every three years by the City Council and updated as Medium Pending implementation of new software systems for Community Development, Public
necessary. Works, and Finance, some business processes will likely change, which will
subseciuentlv necessitate a review of cost-based fees.
F&IT 5 The City should further automate existing financial practices and enhance online functionallty during the High Pending Improved functionallty will be addressed during implementation of new software
imolementation of the new financial svstem. svstems.
F&IT 6 The City should expand the availabillty of online payments via credit card for public convenience, in conjunction High Pending Expansion of online payments will be addressed during implementation of new
with the imolementation of the reolacement ERP svstem. software svstems.
F&IT 7 The Citv's IT Technoloav Pian should be uodated in liaht of the recentlv completed IT review. Hiah .•. · The 5-Year IT clan was uodated with the FY13-14 budaet .
The City should conduct an RFP process for IT services. Prior to conducting this effort, the desired service A meeting was recently conducted with Nexlevel, the City's IT advisor, to establish
F&IT 8 levels in each functional area of IT, especially related to GIS program services should be developed to ensure it High Pending the scope of services for the competitive process for IT services. Staff anticipates
is in alignment with City needs. beginning the process in January 2014 leading to a competitive bid process as a
hi!lh-orioritv.
9 Training should be provided to designated department representatives so that they can load documents directly Self management of web site documents by staff will be included in the
F&IT Low Pending specifications as a part of the competitive bid process for IT services, including the to their website without IT support. Citv'swebsite.
F&IT 10 The duties currently performed by the Finance Director related to the handling of Air, Space and Noise issues High lnPros~s Staff will be transferring these duties to Community Development in early 2014
related to Air Traffic should be transitioned to the Plannina Division of Communitv Develooment. <see CD-7 belowl.
The current staffing allocations should remain as budgeted with the exception of the IT position, which should ,.
F&IT 11 be reclassified as an IT Project Manager and filled as recently recommended by Nexlevel during their IT High lnPmgress HR has developed the new job description, job bulletin and will be recruiting for
review. ' '' ' this position during December 2013 and January 2014.
The Council last considered this issue on June 18, 2009, decided it was no longer
necessary to have detailed City Council meeting minutes and directed staff to
1 The City should consider a change to implement only action minutes for City Council meetings and the Pendingl prepare action minutes, as the on line videos of the Council meetings were
cc Medium Council available and retained permanently. However, the City Council meeting minutes meetings of other Council appointed boards and commissions. Review currently provide more information than ·~rue" action minutes would, and the City's
advisory boards take a variety of approaches to minute-taking that may or may not
be consistent with this recommendation.
The Clerk's Office embraces this idea and has discussed the possibillty of making
As the City furlhers the database build of its Electronic Document Management System, it should provide online the documents in our EDMS accessible to the public with the Director of
cc 2 access to commonly requested information or documents to enhance public transparency without requiring Medium Pending Finance/IT, PV on the Net staff, and ECS (our Laserfiche vendor). Once the
public records requests. (Multi-Year) database has grown in substantial numbers and types of documents, the City
Clerk will work with the Director of FinancellT to make those documents in the
EDMS available for the oublic.
cc 3 No changes in current staffing allocations are recommended. All currently budgeted positions, including High ' ~ · • · The only allocated vacancy in the City Clerk's Office was the Staff Assistant II
vacancies should be filled. . -• which was recruited for and filled in Aoril 2013.
CD 1 The City should include plan review I processing times on applications, and more-prominently display these High Processing times were included on the development applications which were all
I performance standards on the website. . x then costed on the Citv's website.
The City should pursue expansion of additional online services for Community Development permitting '
functions including online submittal of applications, online permitting for over the counter permits, online review The Community Development Department is currently working with the Finance
CD 2 of plan review comments, and online view of application status. This effort should be performed in conjunction High . In Progress and IT Department on a replacement for the Community Development
Department's permitting software. Said replacement software will include the ability with the replacement of the existing permitting software. This should occur after the completion of the IT for online permitting services. services comoetitive bid orocess. '
Any decision regarding changing the City's enterprise wide software system should take into considerations the
CD 3 ability of the new system to maintain or enhance functionallty currently in place within Community Development High In Progre~s · This is one of the goals being pursued in acquiring the new permitting software.
with their existina svstem. '
CD 4 The City should consider addition of some funds to assist full-time staff in completing the update of the City's Medium In f>r:qqress As part of the next budget process, Staff intends to request funds for a graphic
General Plan in a timely manner. consultant to suonart staff in completina the General Plan Update in 2014.
5 The City should implement online permitting for over the counter permits that do not require plan reviews to '', ,• The Community Development Department is currently working with the Finance CD enhance service to the oublic. High .In Progress and IT Deoartment on an online oermittina solution for over-the-counter oermits.
The Community Development Department is currently working with the Finance
CD 6 Staff should pursue implementation of either an interactive voice response or online inspection requests to Medium In Progress and IT Department on a replacement for the Community Development
expand service to the public and automate the inspection request process. Department's permitting software. Said replacement software will include the ability
for interactive voice response.
2-7
Resp. I# Matrix Report Recommendations of March 21, 2013
CD
CD
CD
PW
PW
PW
PW
PW
PW
PW
PW
PW
7 1 Existing planners should be allocated the duties related to Airspace and Aircraft Noise related to air traffic
issues currentlv performed bv the Finance & IT Department staff.
8 1 One permit technician position should be reclassified to a building inspector position to provide greater ability to
handle varvina workloads.
No other changes in staffing or organizational structure are recommended at this time. Existing vacancies that
9 I are authorized in the budget were considered as a part of the staffing complement when evaluating workload
and should be filled.
The Public Works Department should adopt the same processing time standards as are utilized by the
Community Development Department.
The City should review and update, as necessary, the ongoing preventive maintenance guidelines for
2 I infrastructure under control. This will provide the ability to more accurately define annual expenditures
necessary for maintenance of existing infrastructure for inclusion in the annual budget.
3 I The City should rebid the fleet maintenance contract at least every fwe years.
4 I The City should begin the planning process to conduct a comprehensive long-term facility needs study to
develop a plan for upgrading or replacing municipal facilities.
'The City should utilize cost of construction standards for establishing the size and specialties of City engineering
5 lstaff. This will directly link staffing requirements to the number and size of projects under management by City
staff to ensure sufficient resources are allocated to oversee capital projects.
6 IEngineering staff should have established informal "billability targets" so that work activities are charged directly
to managed and designed projects.
7 !The position of Deputy Director should be held vacant until the City fills the PW Director position.
Following the development of detailed capital program resource requirements and implementation of cost of
8 lconstruction guidelines, the number of engineering staff should be reviewed and the Assistant Engineer position
filled as needed.
9 I The City should consider implementation of a maintenance tracking system to address identified issues and
provide real-time business intelligence regarding maintenance efforts, costs, and assessment of condition.
Priority
High
Medium
Medium
High
Medium
Medium
High
High
High
High
High
Medium
Status Update as of December 17, 2013
Reporting on Airspace and Aircraft Noise issues will be transferred to the
Communitv Development Department in 2014 (see F&IT-10 above).
The permit technician was reclassified and filled as a building inspector July 1,
2013
Existin.g vacancies in the Department's budget have been filled.
Public Works follows the same permitting processing time standards as
Community Development. Public Works will add these processing times to its web
page. Public works will replace the current forms on its web page with fillable
forms for applicants. In the longer term, on-line applications will be available to the
public with the new maintenance management/work order software system the City
is currentlv pursuina.
Preventive maintenance standards would first need to be developed for all of the
facilities and infrastructure maintained by the City. Once these standards have
p d"
1
been established, the Department would then be able to utilize the new automated
M elt~ ~ng maintenance management/work order tracking software system that the City is
( u 1-ear) currently pursuing to automatically notify staff when certain maintenance tasks are
due to be performed, thus allowing the Department to proactlvely manage its
,reventive maintenance proaram.
This recommendation is a good best business practice idea and staff will
implement this startina in the next budaet cvcle.
The Public Works Department is currently working with consultants to develop an
II) Progress J Infrastructure Report Card to be followed by an Integrated Infrastructure
(MliW:.Year) Management Plan (llMP) that together will identify the long-term infrastructure
· needs of the Citv as well as a financina plan to address them.
!Another important factor that should be included as part of a staffing needs
analysis is: responding to public comments and inquiries. There is a
P d" / 'recommendation further along in this study (Page 82) that references "the
;n in~ American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) cost of construction guidelines," as
R ou~ci recommended standards to follow in order to identify the resources needed to
eview :effectively manage and oversee capital projects. Public Works staff, after
Pending/
Council
Review
In Progress/
Council
Review
extensive research, could not find any such guidelines and were unable to get
em from the consultant.
Public Works staff requested that the consultant provide us with some direction or
suggestions on how best to establish these targets. No response was received.
Other factors that should be considered as part of "billability targets" in the public
sector, which may not apply in the private sector, are: responding to public
comments as well as inquiries and compliance with federal and State requirements
(including grant reporting), all of which impact the engineering work on a project
from inception to completion. Insufficient funding in CIP projects to cover
administrative costs and lack of a payroll/accounting system to record staff time on
projects are other challenges staff would face in implementing this
recommendation.
The Department continues to recognize the pressing need for a permanent Public
Works Director as well as the need to fill the vacant Deputy Public Works Director
position. The City is currently interviewing candidates to fill the permanent Public
Works Director position. Once this position has been filled, it is anticipated that the
new Director will move quickly to fill the Deputy Public Works Director vacancy.
See comments on Recommendation PW-5 above. Also, please note that the
'Assistant Engineer position has been filled.
The Department supports this idea and is actively working with the Finance & IT
Department to evaluate and acquire an automated maintenance
management/work order tracking software system that will meet the Department's
needs and improve Public Works' efficiency and effectiveness in managing the
Department's maintenance responsibilities. The priority for this recommendation
,should be chanaed from "Medium" to "Hiah."
2-8
Resp. I# Matrix Report Recommendations of March 21, 2013
R&P
R&P
R&P
R&P
R&P
TE
TE
TE
TE
TE
TE
TE
TE
TE
The City Council should conduct a review of recreational programs, in conjunction with staff, to determine
whether they wish to remain with the current approach of primarily providing recreational classes through
contracted private instructors.
2 1 The City should focus implementation of the selected software system on automation and on-line access to
recreation programs and space rentals.
3 1No changes are recommended in authorized staffing levels unless the Council determines through policy
decision to increase the level of recreational proi:irams provided bv Citv staff resources.
4 1 The currently authorized and vacant Recreation and Parks Director position should be filled as soon as
ractical.
5 1 The interim contract position handling emergency preparedness should be authorized as a full-time position in
the Citv (either continuini:i in Recreation and Parks or relocated to the Citv Manai:ier's Office).
Direct email addresses for top administrative officials (such as is provided for the elected officials) should be
available on the website.
2 1A community calendar should be available on the website that shows all meetings of public bodies,
commissions. and boards with the meetini:i date and time noted.
3 1A sample Public Records Act request form that is downloadable or able to be completed online should be
provided for ease of the public.
Historical budgets (at least covering last 5 years) should be available on the City's website, in addition to the
4 I current budget that is available. For the City, this would require adding the last three two-year budgets to the
website.
A listing of all contracts entered into by the City should be provided that includes basic information regarding the
5 I contract such as effective and termination dates, services covered or to be provided by the contract, and the
annual and total price of the contracted services.
6 11dentification of any active lobbying contracts or services that the City has entered into with summary
information regarding the firm hired, the purpose of the service, and annual costs of the contract.
The City should expand upon the current listing of fees and charges that are contained on the City's Finance
7 I Department page of the website to ensure that it includes all City fees and charges. A prominent link on the
homepaae should be added to enable residents and the public to easilv locate this information.
The City should continue to convert all forms and applications utilized by the public to fillable pdf forms that can
8 lbe completed online and printed rather than simply providing a download link to the form. This will increase the
usability of the forms for the public.
9 1 in the longer-term. the City should provide online access to check the status of applications submitted. For
some forms I applications, this will not be feasible until the City changes vendors for major software systems.
Priority
High
High
High
High
Medium
Medium
Medium
Medium
Medium
Medium
Status
Pending
Pending/
Council
Review
Update as of December 17, 2013
DRP will evaluate current recreational programming and events to ensure
alignment with community values and needs. DRP will evaluate its current balance
of privatized/contract recreation/programming and staff-run
recreation/programming to best and most efficiently meet the needs of the
community. Staff will research and implement recreational offering and facility
rental cost recoverv auidelines.
The City has chosen and is currently implementing automation and on-line access
to programs and rentals through the software system: Active.Net. Key staff has
been trained with facility staff currently training on operation of the system.
Tentative ao-live date will be Januarv. 2014.
The status of this recommendation is pending due to its connection with the
analvsis ofthe recommendation above (see R&P-1 above).
HR recruited and filled the Director of Parks and Recreation in August 2013.
The City re-classed and moved the position to the City Manager's Office (see
CM/HR-14 abovel.
Management staff email address have been added to the "Contacts" page.
An icon has been added to the sliding menu on the home page, which links to a
monthly calendar listina current public meetinas. times and locations.
The City Clerk's Office created a Public Records Act request form (downloadable
and able to be completed online) and added it to the website. In addition, staff
added information regarding the Procedure for Requesting Duplication of Building
Plans, which the Community Development Department created with the assistance
of the City Attorney's Office. And finally, Clerk staff added the City's Claim for
Damages Form (downloadable and able to be completed online) to the City
website.
5 years of historical budgets were added to the website soon after the Matrix report
was delivered.
Recreation and Parks staff will provide contracts for which the department is
responsible. Other City departments will follow suit.
!The City has no active lobbying contracts at this time. Staff seeks directions
regarding the implementation of this recommendation.
Medium f Jn progress 1::i:~~~st~~d;~~= ~::n"!I g~;~:r::~~';=~~~~ fees charged that are not
Recreation and Parks staff is working with PV on the Net to convert applications
Med" 1 1 p · · · · •1and forms to the fillable pdf format, and will continue to do so. The Community
ium n .rogre~ . Development Department has converted its main applications to fillable forms and
is workina on convertini:i all of its applications to fillable forms.
Recreation and Parks Department is working to implement this with new Active.Net
software. The Community Development Department intends to provide this service
M d" 1 1 p · ·· ·. ·. · · iwith the implementation of the replacement permitting system, expected in 2014-
e ium n rogresa 15. The specifications for the competitive process for IT services, including the
City's website, will include improvements to access of information via there
website ..
2-9
Resp. I# Matrix Report Recommendations of March 21, 2013
Responsibility Key:
CM/HR = City Manager/Human Resources
F&IT = Finance & lnfonnation Technology
CC = City Clerk
CD = Community Development
PW = Public Works
R&P = Recreation & Parks
TE= Transparency Enhancements (organization-wide)
Priority Status Update as of December 17, 2013
Status Key:
---~-i~ I if Progress =dmp!llmentation iri Pr'<l!ifl!I!$. · · · ·
Pending = Implementation anticipated but not yet begun
Council Review = lmplementatioll requires City Councif input/review
(Multi-Year) =Implementation expected over more than 1 year
2-10
CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CALIFORNIA
DRAFT Final Report of the Organizational Assessment
1. INTRODUCTION AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Matrix Consulting Group was retained by the Rancho Palos Verdes City
Council to conduct a Citywide Needs and Efficiency Assessment Study. The report,
which follows, presents the results of the study. This study was designed to provide an
assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of City operations, identifying strengths
and improvement opportunities relating to organization, staffing and management. In
this concluding point of the study, the project team has assembled this final report,
which summarizes our findings, conclusions and recommendations.
1. STUDY SCOPE AND METHODOLOGIES
The Rancho Palos Verdes City Council sought to conduct this Organizational
Assessment in its continued efforts to streamline operations while maintaining
appropriate service levels in an increasingly challenging economic environment. The
objective of this study was to identify opportunities for improvement in operational and
economic efficiency.
In this Study, the Matrix Consulting Group project team utilized a wide variety of
data collection and analytical techniques. The project team conducted the following
data collection and analytical activities:
• Developed an understanding of the key issues impacting the City. To
evaluate the City, Matrix Consulting Group conducted interviews with members
of the City Council, and managers in each City department. Interviews focused
on goals and objectives, management systems, the use of technology, the levels
of service provided by the City, the resources available to provide those services,
etc.
• Developed a descriptive profile of the City. The Matrix Consulting Group
collected data for each department to document current organization of services,
Matrix Consulting Group Page1
2-11
CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CALIFORNIA
Final Report of the Organizational Assessment
the structure and functions of the various departments, budgets, workload data,
management systems, inventory of the infrastructure, etc.
• Provided an opportunity for employee and committee member input. In
addition to selected interviews, the Matrix Consulting Group administered an
employee survey and a survey of board and commission members. These
surveys asked individuals to evaluate a variety of statements regarding the
overall operations of the City, the individual departments and to identify strengths
and opportunities for improvement.
• Identified key strengths and opportunities for improvement in each
department. The 'best management practices' assessment included
comparisons to industry standards developed by professional organizations,
such as the American Planning Association, American Public Works Association,
Government Finance Officer's Association, etc. Additionally, the project team
also utilized the Matrix Consulting Group's library of best practices developed by
the firm while conducting hundreds of management studies throughout the
Country.
• Conducted further analysis of issues identified for this final report. Based
on initial findings developed, the project team evaluated additional data, analyzed
issues and alternatives, resulting in recommendations regarding staffing levels
and management practices that would streamline operations and maintain
existing service levels.
This report consists of a comprehensive review of the operations, management,
and staffing of the City's departments.
2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS
This section presents a summary of the recommendations contained within the
report. The following table provides a complete summary of each recommendation
within the report, and includes a relative priority of the recommendation.
Recommendations Priority
1. City Manager I Human Resources
The Human Resources module in the ADP system should be carefully evaluated upon
completion of its implementation to ensure that it contains the features and functionality High
to provide a comprehensive Human Resource Information System (HRIS) for the City.
Matrix Consulting Group Page2
2-12
CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CALIFORNIA
Final Report of the Organizational Assessment
Recommendations
The City should develop a workforce planning effort that identifies key positions within
the organization, develops cross-training programs to develop additional internal staff
with competencies and abilities to fill the position (at least on a short-term basis), and
develops forward looking contingency plans for filling these critical positions when they
become vacant. The succession planning effort underway within the Public Works
Department should be utilized as a model for other Departments.
The City should summarize the results of the currently performed exit interviews on all
departina emplovees and provide annually in a report to the Citv Council.
The City should conduct an annual employee climate survey to better understand from
the employee's perspective the employment climate.
The City should implement the updated employee manual as soon as practical following
adoption of the MOU. Upon completion, it should be provided to all employees and
training provided to all employees on the manual.
The City should provide refresher training to all supervisory staff on the performance
evaluation process and the existing performance evaluation form to ensure consistent
utilization and rankings across departments and supervisors.
Additionally, to ensure that all forms are completed in a timely manner, each supervisor
should be specifically evaluated by their manager on the timely, accurate and
thoroughness of their evaluations of staff. This should be a specific evaluation factor on
supervisor evaluation forms.
The City should develop a series of performance metrics to evaluate their worker's
compensation program, with ongoing consultation with CJPIA on additional training
needs for City staff to minimize claims.
The City should centralize the handling of all accident, risk and worker's compensation
claims by transferring the responsibility for claims review from the City Clerk's Office to
the Human Resources position.
The Citv should institute a safety committee covering all employees.
The City Council should periodically review its adopted compensation policy for the City
of Rancho Palos Verdes and update as appropriate to maintain a competitive
compensation system.
The City should review the current approach to position classification to determine if a
more formalized system is needed to ensure both internal and external equity of
positions.
The City should implement a program for reviewing position descriptions and duties
performed for each position at least once every five years.
Staffing as currently allocated to this Department should remain and the vacant Human
Resources Manaaer position should be filled and the duties expanded.
The current contract Administrative Analyst II position responsible for emergency
preparedness should be made permanent. Organizationally, it can either remain in
Parks & Recreation or relocated to the City Manager's Office.
The City should rebid the City's legal services contract. This contract has not been
competitively bid since it was originally established.
The City should consider establishing a staff City Attorney position to handle routine
legal matters of the City. It is estimated this could save the City approximately $34,000
annuallv plus improve access and responsiveness to legal advice for City staff.
Finance and Information Technology
A review of the performance measures utilized and tracked should occur to ensure
alianment with Council priorities.
Matrix Consulting Group
Priority
Low
Medium
Medium
High
Medium
Low
Low
Medium
High
Low
Medium
High
High
High
High
Medium
Page3
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CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CALIFORNIA
Final Report of the Organizational Assessment
Recommendations
The five-year CIP document that is currently developed should be included within the
budget document.
The City should continue to expand the use of electronic payments with vendors.
All cost recov~ry goals should be reviewed at least every three years by the City
Council and uodated as necessarv.
The City should further automate existing financial practices and enhance online
functionality during the implementation of the new financial system.
The City should expand the availability of online payments via credit card for public
convenience, in coniunction with the implementation of the replacement ERP system.
The City's IT Technology Plan should be updated in light of the recently completed IT
review.
The City should conduct an RFP process for IT services. Prior to conducting this effort,
the desired service levels in each functional area of IT, especially related to GIS
proaram services should be developed to ensure it is in alignment with City needs.
Training' should be provided to designated department representatives so that they can
load documents directly to their website without IT suooort.
The duties currently performed by the Finance Director related to the handling of Air,
Space and Noise issues related to Air Traffic should be transitioned to the Planning
Division of Community Development.
The current staffing allocations should remain as budgeted with the exception of the IT
position, which should be reclassified as an IT Project Manager and filled as recently
recommended by NextLevel during their IT review.
City Clerk
The City should consider a change to implement only action minutes for City Council
meetings and the meetings of other Council appointed boards and commissions.
As the City furthers the database build of its Electronic Document Management System,
it should provide online access to commonly requested information or documents to
enhance public transparency without requiring public records requests.
No changes in current staffing allocations are recommended. All currently budgeted
positions, including vacancies, should be filled.
Community Development
The City should include plan review I processing times on applications, and more-
prominently display these performance standards on the website.
The City should pursue expansion of additional onine services for Community
Development permitting functions including online submittal of applications, online
permitting for over the counter permits, online review of plan review comments, and
online view of application status. This effort should be performed in conjunction with the
replacement of the existing permitting software. This should occur after the completion
of the IT services competitive bid process.
Any decision regarding changing the City's enterprise wide software system should take
into considerations the ability of the new system to maintain or enhance functionality
currently in place within Community Development with their existing system.
The City should consider addition of some funds to assist full-time staff in completing
the update of the Citv's General Plan in a timely manner.
The City should implement online permitting for over the counter permits that do not
require plan reviews to enhance service to the public.
Staff should pursue implementation of either an interactive voice response or online
inspection requests to expand service to the public and automate the inspection request
process.
Matrix Consulting Group
Priority
High
High
Medium
High
High
High
High
Low
High
High
Medium
Medium
High
High
High
High
Medium
High
Medium
Page4
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CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CALIFORNIA
Final Report of the Organizational Assessment
Recommendations
Existing planners should be allocated the duties related to Airspace and Aircraft Noise
related to air traffic issues currently performed by the Finance & IT Department staff.
One permit technician position should be reclassified to a Building Inspector position to
provide greater ability to handle varying workloads.
No other changes in staffing or organizational structure are recommended at this time.
Existing vacancies that are authorized in the budget were considered as a part of the
staffina complement when evaluating workload and should be filled.
Public Works
The Public Works Department should adopt the same processing time standards as are
utilized bv the Communitv Development Deoartment.
The City should review and update, as necessary, the ongoing preventive maintenance
guidelines for infrastructure under control. This will provide the ability to more
accurately define annual expenditures necessary for maintenance of existing
infrastru'cture for inclusion in the annual budget.
The City should rebid the fleet maintenance contract at least every five years.
The City should begin the planning process to conduct a comprehensive long-term
facility needs studv to develop a plan for uoaradina or replacing municipal facilities.
The City should utilize cost of construction standards for establishing the size and
specialities of City engineering staff. This will directly link staffing requirements to the
number and size of projects under management by City staff to ensure sufficient
resources are alloacted to oversee capital projects.
Engineering staff should have established informal "billability targets" so that work
activities are charged directly to managed and designed projects.
The position of Deputy Director should be held vacant until the City fills the PW Director
position.
Following the development of detailed capital program resource requirements and
implementation of cost of construction guidelines, the number of engineering staff
should be reviewed and the Assistant Enaineer position filled as needed.
The City should consider implementation of a maintenance tracking system to address
identified issues and provide real-time business intelligence regarding maintenance
efforts, costs, and assessment of condition.
Recreation and Parks
The City Council should conduct a review of recreational programs, in conjunction with
staff, to determine whether they wish to remain with the current approach of primarily
providina recreational classes throuah contracted orivate instructors.
The City should focus implementation of the selected software system on automation
and on-line access to recreation programs and space rentals.
No changes are recommended in authorized staffing levels unless the Council
determines through policy decision to increase the level of recreational programs
provided by City staff resources.
The currently authorized and vacant Recreation & Parks Director position should be
filled as soon as practical.
The Interim contract position handling emergency preparedness should be authorized
as a full-time position in the City (either continuing in Recreation & Parks or relocated to
the City Manager's Office),
Transparency Enhancements
Direct email addresses for top administrative officials (such as is provided for the
elected officials) should be available on the website.
Matrix Consulting Group
Priority
High
Medium
Medium
High
Medium
Medium
High
High
High
High
High
Medium
Medium
High
High
High
High
Medium
Page5
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CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CALIFORNIA
Final Report of the Organizational Assessment
Recommendations
A community calendar should be available on the website that shows all meetings of
public bodies, commissions, and boards with the meetinq date and time noted.
A sample Public Records Act request form that is downloadable or able to be completed
online should be provided for ease of the public.
Historical budgets (at least covering last 5 years) should be available on the City's
website, in addit:~m to the current budget that is available. For the City, this would
require addinq the last three two-year budqets to the website.
A listing of all contracts entered into by the City should be provided that includes basic
information regarding the contract such as effective and termination dates, services
covered or to be provided by the contract, and the annual and total price of the
contracted services.
Identification of any active lobbying contracts or services that the City has entered into
with summary information regarding the firm hired, the purpose of the service, and
annual costs of the contract.
The CitY should expand upon the current listing of fees and charges that are contained
on the City's Finance Department page of the website to ensure that it includes all City
fees and charges. A prominent link on the homepage should be added to enable
residents and the public to easily locate this information.
The City should continue to convert all forms and applications utilized by the public to
fillable pdf forms that can be completed online and printed rather than simply providing
a download link to the form. This will increase the usability of the forms for the public.
In the longer-term, the City should provide online access to check the status of
applications submitted. For some forms I applications, this will not be feasible until the
Citv changes vendors for maior software svstems.
Priority
Medium
Medium
Medium
Medium
Medium
Medium
Medium
Medium
Each of these recommendations is addressed in more detail in Chapter 5.
Matrix Consulting Group Page6
2-16
Marymount California University -Award of Contract for Consultant Services to
Prepare an Environmental Document for the City that Assesses the
Environmental Impacts of the University's Request to Reconfigure the 2010
Council Approved Athletic Field
Mayor Brooks suggested continuing this item to the May 7, 2013 Council meeting so
that it could be considered at the same meeting as the Marymount California University
Time Extension.
City Clerk Morreale reported that late correspondence was distributed prior to the
meeting regarding this item.
Mayor Brooks moved, seconded by Councilman Misetich, to continue this item to the
May 7; 2013 Council meeting.
The motion passed on the following roll call vote:
AYES:
NOES:
Campbell, Duhovic, Knight, Misetich, and Mayor Brooks
None
ABSENT: None
RECESS AND RECONVENE:
Mayor Brooks called a brief recess from 8:15 P.M. to 8:28 P.M.
Matrix Citywide Organizational Assessment ("The Matrix Report")
Mayor Brooks provided introductory remarks regarding the Matrix Citywide
Organizational Assessment.
Mayor Pro Tern Duhovic provided a brief report regarding the retention of the Matrix
Consulting Group to provide a Citywide Organizational Assessment which was
designed to provide an assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of City
operations, specifically identifying strengths and opportunities for improvement relating
to the organization, staffing, and management.
Richard Brady, President, Matrix Consulting Group, provided a detailed report regarding
the scope of the project as defined by the Council; project methodologies used in the
study, including best management practices and performance metrics utilized; positive
findings and key themes identified from the study; and an overview of the suggested
recommendations that the City Council and City Manager can use to meet the service
needs in a sustainable way in the City at the present time and in the future.
Discussion ensued among Council Members, Mr. Brady, and staff.
City Council Minutes
April 16, 2013
Page 8of10
2-17
Ken Dyda, Rancho Palos Verdes, provided comments regarding several
recommendations and topics addressed in the Matrix Report, including the following:
succession development; compensation review; City Attorney services; separation of
the Finance Department from the Information Technology Department; Action Minutes
vs. the current style of Minute preparation; Emergency Preparedness should be
coordinated under the City Manager's Department; expansion of transparency regarding
Employee Compensation beyond the required State Controller's Report; application of
full costing of services for charges for individual services, but not basic services
included under payments of taxes; and, outreach to the community regarding the Matrix
Report.
Discussion continued among Council Members, Mr. Brady, and staff.
Mayor' Pro Tern Duhovic moved, seconded by Mayor Brooks, to receive and file the
report and direct the Compensation Subcommittee to consider, with input from the City
Manager, the creation of an overall plan and an implementation plan, to address the
proposed study recommendations over time, and return to the Council with the
suggested plan at a future meeting within 90 days.
The motion passed on the following roll call vote:
AYES:
NOES:
Campbell, Duhovic, Knight, Misetich, and Mayor Brooks
None
ABSENT: None
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS:
None.
CITY COUNCIL ORAL REPORTS:
Councilman Campbell stated that he would submit his City Council Oral Report in
writing. Councilman Campbell left the dais at 10:13 P.M. and returned to the meeting at
10:16 P.M. during the City Council Oral Reports.
Each of the remaining Council Members reported on his/her attendance at various
organization and association meetings since the last City Council Oral Reports were
provided on April 2, 2013.
CLOSED SESSION REPORT:
City Attorney Lynch reported on the following Closed Session items: 1) With respect to
the existing litigation in the case of City of Agoura Hills et. al. v. County of Los Angeles
City Council Minutes
April 16, 2013
Page 9of10
2-18