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

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The zoning and development codes were evaluated for potential recommendations to improve their functionality and address concerns raised by the customer groups. Implementation Recommendations: Implementation of the recommendations will present many opportunities for organizational and leadership development within the department and with customers. An effective method of implementation is the use of task forces organized around a specific set of the recommendations. Membership in the task forces should primarily consist of employees within the department, but should also consist of representatives of the customer groups identified earlier. Each task force should be managed by a team leader appointed by the Director. Each team leader will be responsible for completing and reporting on the final implementation. It is also important to reinforce the revised processes with underlying improvements in culture, trust, and cohesiveness. The process improvements will not be fully successful until the underlying organizational culture is redirected toward better cooperation internally and a customer focus externally. A variety of tools are available designed to enhance the organizational culture. A commitment by City Council and management toward this holistic approach will enhance the full implementation of the improved customer service attitude. Acknowledgements: The consulting team wishes to thank all members of the City Counci Planning Department, and the customer focus group participants. We received great cooperation from each person we spoke with and encountered no obstacles in obtaining the information we requested. All participants were very candid in their comments and believed their negative and positive comments would be used in the spirit of improvement for the department. Many positive suggestions were put forth by the individuals and groups we worked with that were incorporated into these recommendations. The consulting team appreciates this opportunity to be of service to the city of La Porte. It is our hope that these ively perform their jobs. This report concludes our engagement, however, we are available to provide additional assistance should you or the staff desire an additional engagement to assist with implementation. II. Findings and Recommendations The internal observations, external perceptions, and a preliminary assessment of the implications of these observations and perceptions were documented in the interim report. The topics presented in this report generally correspond to the themes that were covered in the interim report. A set of findings are presented for each topic along with a series of recommendations designed to address each finding. The topics are grouped into process, organizational culture, and code-related recommendations. Process Recommendations Planning Department Review Mueller Management/Ron Cox Consulting 3