20 BUREAU INNOVATION PROJECT
MAJOR RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Develop a Citywide Strategic Plan in Collaboration with a Community Visioning Process by March 2006.
An extensive community process, beginning in July 2005, will identify the shared values of all Portland citizens. The results of this process will be used as a platform to develop a citywide strategic plan, with a vision, mission statement and goals for bureaus to link to and develop performance measures. The strategic plan framework will focus the work of the City and provide a basis for measuring progress and to make further organizational changes within the City bureau structure.
2. Establish a Joint City Council/Bureau Directors’ Implementation Team.
Establish a City Council/Bureau Directors’ Implementation Team, including all bureau directors, the City Council and the Auditor’s Office. This forum will encourage citywide collaboration and accountability among the Council and bureaus and serve as a vehicle to implement the directives of the Bureau Innovation Project. The Team will be responsible for developing and implementing the work program of the Innovation Project and will meet monthly to establishing citywide direction and accountability. Each Council member will be requested to appoint a staff person responsible for tracking the work within their portfolios, and the meetings will be open to the public.
3. Centralize Public Communications Functions into an Integrated Public Information System.
Integrate the City’s communications efforts, either through consolidation or improved coordination, to provide a more unified and consistent City message and develop a Citywide Communications Plan. Reorganization of these functions would help ensure that public messages are clear, consistent and provide a citywide perspective. All bureaus would be involved in this effort, ensuring consistent communications while providing individualized support to all bureaus. The Police and Fire Bureaus would continue to staff their own Public Information Offices, but would actively participate in the coordination and collaboration of communications on a citywide basis.
4. Implement Changes within the Office of Management and Finance to Ensure All Internal Service Bureaus are Providing Cost-Effective Services to Their Customer Bureaus.
Direct the Office of Management and Finance to implement customer service protocols within the bureaus which serve other City bureaus; evaluate the Interagency and Overhead rate models used by OMF to create greater cost efficiencies; appoint a Bureau of Technology Services (BTS) Citywide Advisory Council, involving all bureaus, to update the Strategic IT plan.
5. Design and Implement a Citywide Employee Development Program within the Bureau of Human Resources in Collaboration with All City Bureaus.
Provide greater performance development and recruitment within the city for all employees by expanding the City’s diversity outreach, cultural awareness and recruitment efforts, increasing internship opportunities, providing training for managers and supervisors, and labor-management relations and exploring opportunities for greater use of performance evaluations as a career advancement tool. Require annual performance evaluations for all bureau directors, including measurements to meet City goals in the areas of Managing for Results, diversity, public service, collaboration and sustainability.
6. Establish Labor Management Committees within Each Bureau and Improve Employee Relations.
Create a joint labor management work team to develop citywide standards and guidelines for Labor Management Committees (LMCs) throughout the City and require all bureaus create one and to review FY 06-07 budget submittals with their LMC prior to submittal next year. Work with labor to evaluate the effectiveness of the Labor Management Benefits Committee and make recommendations for improved labor/management collaboration.
7. Direct All City Bureaus to Work Collaboratively with Their Employees and with Each Other to Develop Improved Customer Service Polices and Procedures.
Identify Customer Service as the City’s top priority and work from the front lines up to develop improved customer service policies and procedures within each bureau and across bureau lines as appropriate for both internal (employee relations) and external customers (citizens). Develop citywide customer service standards and measurements.
8. Restructure Portland’s neighborhood system and the City’s Office of Neighborhood Involvement to better represent a diverse range of perspectives and needs in the community governance process.
Conduct a complete assessment of ONI’s mission, goals and organizational structure to reinvigorate citizen participation and involvement and supporting the City’s goals of diversity and inclusiveness to build community capacity.
9. Develop Improved Public Engagement Procedures.
Reconvene the Public Involvement Task Force and move forward many of its recommended actions to develop improved citywide public outreach goals and strategies. Work across bureaus to ensure a coordinated public outreach effort, for both project-specific and citywide work efforts; expand citizen involvement opportunities for appointment to City Boards and Commissions.
10. Identify Options to Better Coordinate the City’s Planning and Development Efforts.
Identify improvements for better planning and development coordination. Options should include review of consolidation, centralization, changes in inter-bureau protocols and/or changes in Council-level direction.
11. Evaluate and Implement Cost-Savings from Combining the Accounting, Budget and Finance Functions within the Bureaus of Water and Environmental Services.
Seek potential cost savings by reducing management and overhead expenditures in the Bureaus of Water and BES by reviewing consolidation or shared use of the bureaus’ financial operations.
12. Reorganize and Centralize Maintenance Functions within the Bureaus of Water, Environmental Services, Transportation, Parks and General Services, Eliminating the Need for the Bureau Of General Services; Consider Options to Share Maintenance Responsibilities with Portland Public Schools and Other Jurisdictions.
Consolidate the management of the City’s utility and facility maintenance functions, including the Bureaus of Water, Environmental Services, Transportation, Parks, Fire and General Services. The framework for this effort is contained in the March 12, 2004 Draft Report, “Priority for Maintenance Efficiencies”. Work with Portland Public Schools and other jurisdictions to consider shared maintenance options.
13. Undertake a Complete Review of the City’s Contracting Procedures.
Expand the Bureau of Purchases’ mission to include a more open and transparent contracting process and involve external community partners to conduct a critical analysis of city procurement and contracting practices to identify barriers to fostering interest in contracting with the city. Identify procedures to ensure City’s M/W/ESB goals and policies are met.
14. Develop a Comprehensive Policy for City-paid Travel.
Revise current out-of-town travel policy to elaborate on criteria and conditions and to maximize cost-benefit by requiring that all conference attendees have a plan to share information with colleagues on their return.
15. Appoint an East Side Big Pipe Project Oversight Committee of Community Stakeholders to Report Directly to the City Council.
Establish an Oversight Committee for the East Side CSO/Big Pipe Project to report to the City Council on a quarterly basis to ensure the project is well managed, maximizes cost efficiencies and encourages contracting opportunities with local and minority-owned businesses.
16. Implement and Incorporate Procedures and Policies of Managing for Results in All Aspects of City Governance.
Continue to develop Managing for Results by updating the City’s mission and goal statements through a community visioning process, aligning bureau goals and performance measurements to the new vision, and using bureau performance information to make citywide decisions. In addition to developing this system to track results-oriented performance measurements, Managing for Results will be used to track process outcomes related to diversity and cultural awareness, sustainable practices, inter-bureau collaboration, and internal customer service (e.g., employee satisfaction, employee involvement, labor-management relations).
17. Collaborate with the Portland Development Commission to Determine Common Goals, Clarify Roles and Responsibilities and Improve Public Involvement.
Appoint a work team to determine common goals and priorities among the Commission and the City Council, provide for greater City Council direction and oversight of Commission activities while maintaining their independent authority, clearly define roles and responsibilities and identify improvements to PDC’s citizen involvement process.
18. Develop a Comprehensive Sustainable City Government Partnership and Set Specific Resource Efficiency and Sustainable Practice Goals, Objectives and Performance Measurements to be Used by All Bureaus in Budgeting and Decision-Making.
This recommendation will mark the beginning of a Sustainable Government Partnership for the City of Portland. It will put in place a coordinated system for improving resource efficiency and implementing best practices in all city operations and facilities to generate both financial and environmental benefits. With the help of staff from the Office of Sustainable Development, bureaus will develop comprehensive sustainability assessments and plans with corresponding metrics. Bureaus will also assign a sustainability coordinator to represent each bureau, and bureau directors will be partially evaluated on the implementation of their sustainability plan.
19. Identify a Process to Expedite Decision-Making for All City Permitting Functions, Identifying Inter-Bureau Problem Solving Teams at All Levels Of Operation.
Provide better service to citizens and a host of industries by continuing the ongoing efforts to facilitate cross-bureau permitting within the bureaus of Water, BES, Transportation, Development Services, Parks, Planning and Fire. Particular emphasis should be in identifying a mechanism to expedite and facilitate decision making across bureau lines.
20. Appoint a City Charter Review Commission by October 1, 2005.
Assess the City’s charter to consider alternative governing structures and changes which will improve customer service, streamline government operations, offer more flexible hiring practices for bureaus, encourage better collaboration with PDC and update, simplify and clarify rules which no longer apply, are unclear, or could be accomplished more efficiently.