EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Over the past few months, staff has been working with City Council to develop and implement a list of priority projects related to the Council’s Strategic Initiatives. This report is intended to provide a brief synopsis Council direction to date, an update on recruitment efforts to build back capacity, and a status of the priority projects assigned by Council.
RECENT BACKGROUND:
On October 12th, 2021, the City Council held a public workshop at Sunset Center to discuss roughly 60 different projects associated with the Council’s adopted Strategic Initiatives. Recognizing that staffing resources are finite, the purpose of this meeting was to provide direction for prioritizing efforts to complete these projects. Staff presented Council with recommended priority levels for each project (1 through 4), and evaluation criteria related to the Strategic Initiatives to help facilitate the dialogue. Following a hearty and productive discussion, the Council reduced the list of priority projects to a total of 30. This was done in part by removing fifteen (15) Capital Improvement Program (CIP) items, and a handful of other projects from the list that Council felt were “day-to-day tasks” like contracts and RFPs. Council did elevate a small handful of projects which had initially been recommended as priority levels three or four, to be a top priority and remain on the list.
Although the list was reduced from 60 to 30 items, Council wisely recognized that many of these day-to-day items still require staffing resources. With that in mind, the City Administrator and Department Heads were asked to return to Council at a public meeting with a request to add additional positions. These new positions would allow for day-to-day activities to stay on track, while enabling the City to make meaningful progress on the selected priority projects. At the December 6th City Council Special Meeting, staff presented a plan to increase the number of positions across the enterprise by approximately twelve (12) full time equivalents (FTEs). This increase represented a mix of reinstating positions lost due to Covid related layoffs, and supplemental positions that were not previously in the organizational chart. These supplemental positions included qualified analyst support to help with completion of the Strategic Initiative projects. Ultimately, Council approved the twelve (12) positions presented in December for immediate recruitment and hiring. Those recruitments have been prioritized, and are currently underway. The City’s HR department has brought on a contract staff member to assist with completing recruitments as quickly as possible.
It should be noted that since the December hearing, staff has identified the need for one (1) additional analyst position to support the Administrative Office in City Hall, for a total of thirteen (13) new positions. This additional request is expected to be presented to City Council for consideration in February, 2022.
STRATEGIC INITIATIVE PROJECT TRACKER:
To aid in managing the Council’s 30 priority projects, staff created a workbook called the “Council Priorities Tracker” (Attachment 1), which includes information about project completeness and month-by-month updates/forecasting. This worksheet is a tool for department heads to plan and manage priority projects, and for the City Administrator to inform Councilmembers during weekly updates. It will also be presented on a periodic basis to the full City Council. Also, included for reference, is a worksheet that shows all of the approximately 60 original projects that were discussed with Council in October (Attachment 2).
As noted on the tracker, the majority of these projects are underway (approx. 70%), at various levels of completeness. Several of the projects which have not yet been started are planned to get underway after some of the recently approved analyst positions are filled. This can be noted in the tracker under the monthly status/forecast columns, and is generally targeted to take place in the Spring of 2022. These not yet started projects include things like:
- Street addresses
- Redevelopment of Sunset Center North Lot
- Exploring opportunities for Flanders Mansion and Scout House
- Developing and implementing a social media plan
Also notable on the tracker, are a handful of strategic initiative projects which have recently been completed, even with reduced staffing levels:
- Address pension liability
- Restructure Peninsula Messenger Service
- Adopt organics/recycling ordinance
- Adopt revised sign ordinance (95% complete – pending Coastal Commission)
Although not on the tracker, it is also worth recognition that the City’s Special Event Policy was recently updated and adopted by City Council.
NEXT STEPS:
As recruitments proceed, and resources are bolstered, progress will continue to be made on the City Council’s Strategic Initiative projects. Unless Council would like a more regular update, staff will plan to return in April, 2022 with a status report on the 30 projects included in the Council Priorities Tracker worksheet.