1730 MADISON ROAD • CINCINNATI, OH 45206 • 513 861 5400 • FAX 513 861 3480 MANAGEMENTPARTNERS.COM 2107 NORTH FIRST STREET, SUITE 470 • SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA 95131 • 408 437 5400 • FAX 408 453 6191
July 19, 2022
Revised
Mr. Timothy Rood
Community Development Director
City of Hercules
111 Civic Drive
Hercules, CA 94547
Dear Mr. Rood:
We are pleased to provide this proposal to conduct an organization review and assessment for the City’s Community Development Department. The significant resources property owners devote to development require a particular sensitivity to the time and quality of the work in this department. The proposed scope of services is based on Carol Jacobs’ conversation with you. We are looking forward to assisting you with this project. Before we discuss our approach, we would like to share some brief information about our firm.
About Management Partners
As you may know from our previous work with the City, Management Partners was founded in 1994 with a specific mission to help local government leaders improve their service to the public. Since then, we have worked with cities, counties, towns, and special districts of all sizes across the United States to help them work more effectively and run more efficiently.
We offer a balance of perspectives with a practitioner’s bias and a proven track record of successful consulting engagements. This experience gives us a sensitivity that produces positive outcomes. We are proud to say that as a result of our quality work, many of our clients ask us to complete subsequent assignments.
We Know Local Government. Our associates have served in local governments, so we have a deep understanding of the operating and political environments in which you work. We Take a Collaborative Approach. We consider ourselves part of your team and strive to ensure our work supports your overall corporate strategy and goals. We Have Extensive Experience. Each of our more than 100 associates is an expert in one or more service areas, and our firm has assisted hundreds of jurisdictions in 44 states. We Have Developed Proven Methodologies. We understand the importance of a holistic approach to improving organizations, using field-tested methods for each aspect of the work. Our Work Plan is Tailored to Your Needs. Each of our projects is individually tailored to our client’s unique needs, starting with a careful learning process. We Take Pride in the Quality of Our Work. Our internal processes ensure first-rate, complete staff work and adherence to the highest of ethical standards in public service.
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We Are Focused on Implementation. As practitioners, our recommendations make practical sense and are able to be implemented.
We Provide a Full Suite of Services. Management Partners’ services include everything required to support local government leaders, including organization assessments, performance management, process improvement, strategic planning, and financial planning, budgeting and analysis.
Understanding of the Engagement
Hercules is a community of about 26,000 residents located in western Contra Costa County along the coast of San Pablo Bay. We understand there is interest in having an assessment of the City’s development review processes to identify opportunities to streamline them, improve clarity for property owners, and improve efficiency and effectiveness. The assessment will include a review of contracted positions to evaluate whether in would best to bring them inhouse.
Customers going through the review process want as much certainty as possible, early information so they know what they need to do to meet City requirements, and turnaround times that will enable them to complete their projects in a timely manner. Management Partners’ assessment will address these issues.
Outcome of the Assessment
The result of our work will be a memorandum that contains the following components:
Summary of what is currently working well in the City’s development review processes, Best practices applicable to Hercules’ environment,
Analysis of the contract work to determine whether it would be more efficient and effective to accomplish the work in house,
Analysis of data from peer cities, and
Recommendations for improving development processes.
This project will be conducted through Zoom video meetings or on the telephone. Management Partners has successfully used Zoom for many of our engagements.
Plan of Work
This project will involve the four activities described below. This is amenable to modification based on discussions with you.
Activity 1 – Start Project
We will begin with a kickoff meeting with you and other appropriate staff to discuss the objectives and scope of the assessment. During the meeting we will review the work plan and schedule, as well as communications about the project. We will also provide a document request that will allow us to begin data collection, as described in the next activity.
We understand that the work associated with this review is in addition to the normal work of the organization. Our goal is to integrate our activities in a manner that is thoughtful and minimizes disruption to the department.
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Activity 2 – Gather Information
During this activity, we will gather information using a variety of techniques. The focus of this activity will be to establish a factual understanding of the City’s development review processes. Review data and documents. We will review information about the number and value of permits issued, metrics used by the department for plan review, and, if data are available, actual turnaround times compared with targets. If process maps and customer satisfaction data are available, we will review them.
Review customer-focused information materials. We will review the current entitlement and building permit applications and any other materials available to the public that assist prospective applicants with preparing application submittals. We will also review how the public counter operates and suggest improvements for direct customer service, if needed. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we may also suggest modifications to the counter to address the public service environment that may be the “new normal.” Conduct interviews. We propose to conduct up to 8 individual interviews via telephone or videoconference with Council members, Planning Commissioners, the city manager, you, and the other staff member to understand the City’s development review processes. The purpose of the interviews is to hear about the strengths and weaknesses of the development process as well as ideas for improvements.
Conduct interviews with customers. We will conduct interviews by telephone or videoconference with up to four individuals who have used the City’s review process for various types of projects. We will solicit input about communication, aspects of the processes that work well, and areas for improvement, including timeliness of plans review and permit issuance. The interviews will be confidential and only themes will be reported. Collect and analyze data from comparable cities’ community development processes. We will review the organizational structures and assigned functions of four municipalities in Contra Costa County: El Cerrito, Pinole, Moraga, and Orinda. We will determine data points for comparison such as organization structure, staffing, budgets, service delivery methods and technology. We will seek information from the peer cities’ websites and develop a questionnaire to collect additional information needed from each jurisdiction.
At the conclusion of this activity, we will summarize results, develop themes, and identify any additional information gathering work that will round out our understanding of the department’s operations.
Activity 3 – Conduct Analysis
During this activity we will conduct our analysis based on the information gathered, which will help us frame opportunities for improving the department’s processes. We will examine the following:
Effectiveness of contract planners,
Organizational structure and staffing configuration,
Explanatory materials about requirements and processes, Established turnaround times and actual results,
Customer perceptions,
Staff suggestions for improvements, and
Other efficiency improvements that will have been identified through the data gathering phase.
Activity 4 – Report Results
We will prepare a draft memorandum that will contain our analysis, observations, and preliminary recommendations. We take pains to ensure that our observations and subsequent recommendations are organized in an easy-to-understand format and presented in a positive manner.
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We will review our observations and preliminary recommendations with you and the city manager.
Based on the feedback we receive, we will finalize the draft memorandum and provide it to you for review and comment. We will then make revisions, as necessary, to address your comments and questions.
We undertake several discrete steps to ensure quality control. Management Partners retains responsibility for its professional recommendations, but we expect that vetting the draft memorandum with management improves its utility. In addition to vetting it for accuracy the draft review provides an opportunity to discuss the recommendations and to identify implementation issues.
We are committed to recommending actions that result in meaningful operational improvements and can be implemented in the “real world” environment. Once comments have been received, the final project memorandum will be prepared.
Project Team
Management Partners has a strong project team that is well-qualified to complete this work for Hercules. This project will be a top priority for Management Partners and our team members will be available in whatever capacity and with whatever availability will contribute to the success of the project. Carol Jacobs will provide project management, and will be assisted by Dan Marks and Elaine Costello. Both have extensive experience in planning and community development processes. Brief qualifications for each are provided below.
Carol Jacobs, Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer Serves as Management Partners’ executive vice president/chief operating officer, with operating responsibility for the entire firm. Jacobs has held a wide range of roles across local government and consulting, including multiple stints as a city manager, and served most recently as assistant city manager of the City of Newport Beach, California. In that role she had responsibility for functions as varied as fire, library, harbor, information technology, utilities and homelessness, with service as interim finance director and harbormaster. She also served as city manager for the Southern California cities of Eastvale and Stanton; as interim city manager for the City of Grand Terrace, California; and a series of roles with increasing responsibility for the City of Costa Mesa, California. Jacobs’ consulting experience includes managing a financial solutions practice area that served local governments, with responsibility for managing client needs, preparing financial studies, and conducting management and organizational reviews.
Dan Marks, Special Advisor, AICP
More than 23 years of experience as a local government planner, including 14 years as a community development director and planning director.
Brings a deep understanding of the complexities of the development review and approval process, the policy and political context for decision-making, and years of experience successfully managing departments through the ups and downs of the development cycle and fiscal constraints.
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Areas of expertise include management and budgeting, permitting procedures, community engagement and facilitation, zoning, historic preservation, policy development, sustainable development practices and the California Environmental Quality Act. Currently one of the lead consultants on a specific plan project for the City of San Bruno pertaining to YouTube.
Elaine Costello, Special Advisor, AICP
More than 25 years of experience at the executive level in local government, having served as director of community development in Mountain View, South San Francisco and Belmont.
Currently managing the specific plan process for the City of San Bruno pertaining to a major YouTube project.
Eight years’ experience as a consultant helping communities create innovative and effective solutions to challenging community development issues.
Areas of experience as a consultant include process improvement and reengineering of local government development review processes, economic development, organizational development and negotiation expertise, Elaine’s areas of experience include facilitation, leadership development, training and community outreach. In Mountain View, streamlined the development review process, focusing on making development decisions timely, predictable and fair, while also producing built projects of award- winning design and planning quality. This approach facilitated a major business expansion, including the planning and design for the Google, Microsoft, Alza, Verisign and Symantec campuses.
Experience and References
We have provided several references for projects that involved review of land development processes.
In addition to the references below, our website, managementpartners.com, has information about our past clients, which includes hundreds of jurisdictions in 42 states. You are welcome to contact any of them about our performance.
City of Fernley, Nevada Development Review Organization Assessment Management Partners was retained by the City of Fernley to streamline development review functions and analyze operations by staff in the departments of Planning, Building, and Public Works, Utilities, and the North Lyon Fire District. We conducted customer interviews, interviewed members of the City Council and Planning Commission, and reviewed staffs’ use of the SmartGov permitting system. After providing our analysis to the City’s Management Team, we facilitated a workshop based on the GE Work-Out™ technique. The Work-Out included employees responsible for intake and customer service, plans review, permitting, and inspections. Project recommendations addressed organizational culture, customer information and resources, workflow management, the development review business system, and performance tracking and reporting.
Contact: Ms. Daphne Hooper, (Former Fernley City Manager) Director of Community Indigenous Relations, University of Nevada, Reno 1664 North Virginia Street, Room 409, Reno, NV 89557
(775) 784-4912
City of Pleasant Hill, California Pleasant Hill Building Permit Intake Process Review
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The City of Pleasant Hill engaged Management Partners to assess the City’s building permit intake and review process. We provided practical recommendations for improving the process so allows customers to be most successful and enables the City’s employees to provide a relatively seamless service as a coordinated, professional team with a common set of objectives. Our areas of focus included leadership and management of the departments involved in the review, the permit tracking system as an important tool, and the need for agreed upon processing standards and schedules.
Contact: Ms. June W. Catalano, City Manager 100 Gregory Lane, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
(925) 671-5270
[email protected]
City of Pacifica, California Building Division Assessment Management Partners was retained to assess Pacifica’s Building Division and workflows for plan review, permitting and inspection services. The City's goal was to improve the process and optimize services delivered to customers, and to assess whether using contractors instead of City staff resulted in better outcomes. We conducted interviews, analyzed performance data, and compared service delivery methods with comparable cities. While service levels were good, we concluded that hiring a building official would balance the reliance on external contractors and improve communication. A building official would also help improve the management of the division, enhance performance measurement, and bolster services to the public. Our work led to the City establishing a single point of contact for applicants and improving information materials (hardcopy and online) to enhance the customer experience. It also led to a reevaluation of the City's land management system to promote data-driven decision making.
Contact: Ms. Tina Wehrmeister, Planning Director/Assistant City Manager City of Pacifica
1800 Francisco Blvd.
Pacifica, CA 94044
(650) 738-7409
[email protected]
Hours and Cost Proposal
Management Partners will spend a total of 130 hours to achieve the outcomes you are seeking for a fixed fee of $24,950, which includes all expenses. The ultimate test of a quality project is that the client is pleased with the results, and we are committed to achieving that goal.
Conclusion
We look forward to working with you on this important project. Please let me know if we can provide any additional information.
Sincerely,
Jerry Newfarmer
President and CEO
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Accepted for the City of Hercules by:
Name: _________________________________
Title: _________________________________
Date: _________________________________