06-23-14 Regular Meeting of La Porte City Council

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I. Introduction On September 24, 2012, the City of La Porte engaged Mueller Management, in association with Ron Cox Consulting, to perform an organizational review of the Planning Department. The desire for organizational reviews in various departments of the City was identified by the City Council during the FY 2013 budget planning process. The Planning Department was chosen as the initial candidate for review due to its high frequency of customer/citizen interaction points. The results of these interactions can have a government as a whole. Specifically, the purpose of this review was directed toward evaluating departmental policies, procedures, practices, and codes to identify improvements that may add value, shorten response times, and improve customer service. In particular, the processes involved with site planning and permit issuance were identified as areas of emphasis. The underlying strategy of the analysis by the consulting team was to identify participants (employees) align or differ from external participants (City Council, Planning Commission, customers) was analyzed to identify gaps in desired-versus-provided service levels. Internal perceptions were gathered from individual interviews with each member of the Planning Department and members of other City departments who are involved with the site plan and building permit processes. Further, the site plan review process and the permit intake and issuance processes were flowcharted to identify potential gaps or inefficiencies in those processes. External perceptions were obtained by individual interviews with each member of the City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission. To further validate the perceptions communicated during those interviews, three separate focus groups were convened one focused on code enforcement; one with contractors/designers; and one with business owners. An interim report, summarizing the internal and external observations, organized under 10 major themes, was presented to City Council on December 10, 2012. Subsequent to the interim report presentation, the consulting team conducted the following activities: The interim report and several specific customer concerns that were expressed in the focus groups were reviewed with the Planning Department division managers. This review provided an opportunity for the staff to better understand and accept the reality of the issues at hand and begin to be part of the recommended solutions. Management recommendations were developed to address the organizational culture, communication, and trust themes that were identified in the interim report. The flow-charted processes were analyzed for efficiency and communication improvement opportunities. Organizational, process, and communication improvements were developed. Suggestions offered by the elected and appointed officials, customers and employees were incorporated. Planning Department Review Mueller Management/Ron Cox Consulting 2