Permit Processing on Mercer Island - Essay Example

Permit Processing on Mercer Island Permit Processing on Mercer Island Introduction The City of Mercer Island is located in Lake Washington; United States of America. The city experiences complex regulatory systems, customer service expectations, and management of the staffs doing the task in a challenging work environment. Due to rising cases of service delivery criticisms and low staff morale; the City’s management should use problem solving strategy which involves all stakeholders in increasing customer satisfaction when applying for buildings permit or land use permits within the city. This paper shows proper operations analysis, demonstrates work reengineering, continuous improvement, strategic development and effective decision making; which are geared towards realization of customer satisfaction (Evan, 2006). Effective Public Administration policies should be embraced by the city’s manager; and this entails implementing proper national and local government policies and programs (Judith, 2006). The concept also prepares the employees of the city to offer proper services in order to maximize customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction levels for a local government like The Mercer City involves five basic stages; organizational analysis level, business environment scanning, clear performance expectations, existence of an action plan for guiding performance improvement, and staff involvement if the planning process. Service delivery performance of a local government depends positively on good stakeholder attitude in the planning process. This paper aims at identifying the challenges experienced by all stakeholders in permit processing system involving contraction activities and building renovations. The paper also aims at finding the most appropriate methods of overcoming the challenges. This leads to a comfortable work environment for employees as permit processing has been made easier and direct to work on; and the remedies ensure increased customer service expectations. The theoretical knowledge applied in this research paper was extracted from the second chapter, Major Performance Challenges, of Performance and Productivity in Public and Nonprofit Organizations 2nd edition; this in addition to the case study on Permit Processing on Mercer Island. Organizations, including local authorities like Mercer Island City, face challenges in offering services to the clients or customers. Major Performance Challenges aims at identifying these challenges; and then deciding on the most effective and efficient method of overcoming them. The main aim of overcoming or solving the challenges is to ensure that the needs of all stakeholders are met, for example meeting needs of clients satisfactorily. The Mercer Island City Hall All the municipal authorities found in Mercer Island, have their headquarters at the hall complex of Mercer Island City. At the entrance of the city hall; there are city departments like; City Manager, City Clerk, Finance Department, Attorney’s Office, and the Municipal Court. Permits for constructions and home improvements are processed in the City Hall. There is also a Police Department at the south end of the city hall; this department is responsible for filing police reports and handling emergency situations. The City council conducts meetings in its special chambers once every month (Judith, 2006). The City Manager is the Chief Executive Officer of the city hall; he/she is responsible for advising the council on budgetary matters, city hall operations and implementation of local policies. The City Manager has a junior referred to as Assistant City Manager. The manager is also assisted by the City Attorney, various relevant city commissions and city boards. In this case study; the City Manger is called Paul Lanspery (Judith, 2006). The City Clerk is responsible for supporting the City Manager and the City Council in their functions. The holder of the office is also responsible for making and availing council meeting materials. The clerk’s office is a centre for valuable public information; hence records management is an important function of the City Clerk. The clerk ensures compliance with public meetings and public disclosures. The Clerk of the Mercer Island City ensures production of meeting resources before and during city council meetings takes meeting minutes, gives public notifications. Other performed activities include; oversee requests of public records, linking the King County and the City Council during voter registration or election practices, and finally assist in the recruitment process of the members of city boards and city commissions. Problem Identification in Permits Processing The inefficiencies of the Mercer City Hall were first highlighted publicly by the media. The inefficiencies revolved around alleged property ownership inconsistencies, and also arbitrary decisions involving permits. This media highlight adversely affected the national and international image of the Mercer Island City. The City Manager, Lanspery, however understood that it will take a lot of to develop superior permit processes, and in the implementation of customer focused services and programs. The employees of the city hall were also not impressed by the negative publicity their work was being given by the media; and hence they were unmotivated and ashamed (Judith, 2006). The function of the City Hall, under the leadership of Lanspery, in safeguarding the interest of the public; was not seen in the activities of the permit processing staffs. This bad media publicity on the work of city hall reduced the level of support Lanspery struggled to build with the staffs, community members and the City Council; since taking the City Manger position. Mercer Island’s growth management is complex and controversial, as is the norm for many Northwest communities. While being expected to follow state wide policies on land use and development, the city must factor the unique needs of its population and geography. These competing factors often results into conflicting expectations or needs. Current constructions on the Mercer Island show previous jurisdictional split in land planning; with some areas controlled by the King County before incorporation (Judith, 2006). City regulators and property owners are currently facing challenges with non conforming structures and even uses. The island has another problem of building challenges due to steep slopes, poor soil characteristics, and slide potential. These unfavorable building factors require expert staff in the Building Department; who will administer permit processing, redraft drawings and supervise constructions. There was also another problem involving a weak health and safety law; which lead to increase in the number of substandard constructions. Critical Analysis of Performance Problems When the efforts of improving land use systems was undergoing testing, the City Council still received appeals to decisions involving construction decisions or land use. The appeals mostly explained that there was inadequate coordination among the departments. Inadequate coordination was because the City Council gave many change instructions, with other examples being ordered as late as during the inspection stage. Construction managers and developers usually complained that the City Manager’s team communicated poorly during project initiating and implementation stages. Another performance problem entailed inadequate inspections or complete failure of completing inspections. Inspectors not involved in plans review experienced the challenge of studying the plans while working onsite; but if inspectors are not adequately available, then critical building tests will not be factored in the construction. The City Council of Mercer Island experienced problems concerning different application standards; consistency must be maintained in all the stages of the construction process. Analysis of Most Critical Problems Land use policies and guidelines in the Mercer Island were guided by the Mayor and the City Council. The work of the City manger involved overseeing the implementation of the stated policies or guidelines. In recent years, land use policy formulation and subsequent implementation has been a subject of controversy (Judith, 2006). Rapid island growth and development, squeezes space loving citizens, shows the differing opinions by citizens and developers, against the City Hall; this is due to the different interpretations on the land use legislations. The City Council faces the challenge of restrictions in maximum land acreage and building heights; this is because the citizens fear the loss of characteristics that attracted them to the island initially. Property owners many times experience bureaucracy during the application of land use or renovation permits. Securing permission for even small renovations like installing water meter requires visit to three different departments. Department of Community Development is responsible for stating the meter size and legal descriptions; Engineering and Finance Department is where necessary fees are paid and it is also the permit collection point; and the Maintenance department is responsible for meter installation arrangements. This bureaucracy is a contraction bottleneck; hence many citizens implement or complete small projects without acquiring the permits. Big projects like building constructions entailed even more bureaucracy; permit applicants were also not pleased with conflicting information provided by the three city departments. However, many developers tried to adhere to the rules (Judith, 2006). Frustration of permit applicants was also increased through phone enquiries; building secretaries had inadequate knowledge on permit processing and projects due to poor formal training and weak authority, leading to inconsistent responses to applicants. Decision on Course of Action In order to effectively address technical questions; the Permit Coordinator position was created. The coordinator is answerable to the director of Department of Community Development. Applicants are allowed to make enquiries on permit processing in the Office of the Permit Coordinator, which is located in the City Hall. Development secretaries directed callers, making enquiries on permit processing, to the Permit Coordinator; who will then explain to them the initial technical requirements and related issues. The Permit Coordinator’s other mandates involved monitoring permit applications, as they are transferred from one department to another; and serving as the contact person for customers when construction or renovation plans are in the review process. For major complex projects; the Permit Coordinator arranged a conference with developers and representatives of each department; so as to discuss project details, plans review and permit processing. When applicants had complex problems that the Permit Coordinator cannot handle; the experts staffs are contacted to provide their technical opinion. Proposed Plan of Action Paul Lanspery, the Manager of the Mercer City, believed in two main philosophies; continuous improvement and proper customer service. He went ahead and introduced theses two policies during a Head of Department meeting; which led to a two day official retreat by the directors; this management retreat, by the directors of city hall, was the first in the history of Mercer City. During the directors’ meeting, Lanspery encouraged revision of departmental vision, mission and goals; he stressed those new strategic goals and objectives should be formulated, with a clear simple guideline on how to effectively and efficiently achieve them. The strategic goals and objectives must take budgetary provisions into considerations; and concentrate mostly on continuous improvement matters which effectively lead to continued customer satisfaction. Lanspery, the City Manager, immediately thereafter organized another official retreat for departmental heads. During the retreat, he stressed and explained continuous improvement strategies, relevant to the local government of Mercer Island City. After being convinced on the best way of realizing customer satisfaction; the City Council started a test on the continuous improvement strategy. The City Council released funds to cater for an independent outside evaluation of corrective measures required at the Department of Community Development. The Community Development department was chosen to spearhead the change improvement exercise, following recommendation by the Assistant City Manager Rich Conrad. The Assistant Manager reasoned that the Community Development department had the highest rates of customer complaints or non-satisfaction; this is due to the major regulatory roles it plays in the City Hall, and also the high financial stakes involved (Judith, 2006). If positive change is achieved in the Community Development department; then it will automatically translate or influence positive performance and customer satisfaction if the other city departments. Lanspery realized that for long-term change to be realized; employees must participate in the process and believe in the philosophy. He encouraged the employees to first of all evaluate their performance at the workplace; and its effect on realizing customer satisfaction. Thereafter, with approval of the City Council, the City Manager hired the services of a private independent consultant, to perform a management and performance audit of the Department of Community Development. Glaser and Associates, a consultancy firm well known for working with local authorities, was selected for the audit activities. They worked with stakeholders (City Hall staffs, developers, financiers and community members) to identify development and performance challenges; and come up with appropriate solutions or resolutions mechanisms and procedures. Glacier and Associates embarked on work immediately; through conducting stakeholders’ interview in regard to land use regulations and also development regulations. After the evaluation process the consultants came up with ‘the Glaser Report’ which indicated the necessary recommendations on effectively improving the land use and development activities and regulations. The Glaser report showed that; land use regulators faced challenges in accessing documentation. This problem can be solved through the creation of land use and permit processing registry in the Office of the City Clerk; with highly competent registry staffs. Another issue addressed in the audit is that there is poor interdepartmental corporation; this challenge can be addressed if the city manger encourages and implements continuous cross cutting meetings which involves representatives from each department in policy formulation. Interdepartmental teamwork must also be practiced. Rules and regulations governing permit processing and land development should be reviewed; this is because a lot of these guidelines continuously build up bureaucracy which hinders fast service delivery (Evan, 2006). The report indicates that unclear or unwritten standards create confusion and unfairness. The city authority can solve this through coming up with clear and brief guidelines, written in simple English, explaining the process involved in land developments. Many staff members experience low morale at the work place. This leads to poor work performance hence low customer satisfaction levels. The employees should be motivated through training and career development at the workplace; training and development programs equips the staffs with the necessary expertise and experience required in effective and efficient service delivery, and in handling technical customer enquiries. Logic Model of Mercer Island All programs and projects must have inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes and impact. Mercer City aims at reaching the desired impact through various service delivery processes. The continuous improvement philosophy of Mercer Island involves continuous improvement; and staff training is an important improvement strategy (Judith, 2006). Resources required for staff training include; instruction materials, money, training facilitator and facilities. Activities involve organizing all resource to work towards intended output; therefore implementation of the training program. After the training activity; the output will be competent and effective staff members. The outcome involves proper service delivery which will make permit processing a very simple and enjoyable process for both staffs and customers. Proper service delivery leads to efficiency and effectiveness in land use management; leading to overall satisfaction and well being of the citizens of Mercer City; and this is the intended impact. Mercer Island also requires an improved Management Information System. This assists in effective management of land use and management records. It also ensures efficiency in permit processing system through ensuring automation. Customer or client communication services and feedback is also effectively handled through the Information System. The main inputs required for installing Management Information System include financial resources for purchasing information infrastructure, technical staffs, and staff training. Activities involve the technical staffs putting up and implementing the information system, output of the information system involves access to land use information, the outcome involves increased customer satisfaction in the services offered by the local authority; and finally the impact realized is increased community wellbeing through faster processing of permits and organized land use systems. Table Illustrating Logic Model INPUTS ACTIVITIES OUTPUTS OUTCOME Short Term OUTCOME Intermediate OUTCOME Long Term IMPACT Staff training inputs: instruction materials, money, training facilitator and facilities. Implementing training program through Learning job instructions competent and effective staff member Understanding good job instructions Applying the training instructions at the workplace Effective an efficient service delivery Greater community Wellbeing Management Information System inputs: financial resources, technical staffs and proper staff training. Setting up information system infrastructure Land information data base Development of electronic land content Access to land use information Increased customer satisfaction Greater community wellbeing SWOT Analysis of Mercer City Mercer City authority has several Strengths and Opportunities; as well as Weaknesses and Threats. The strengths of the city authority lies in its well developed organization structure; which describes the duties and responsibilities of all managers and staffs of the city. Effective organization structure ensures efficiency in service delivery (Evan, 2006). The City has for example the City Manager who is the Chief Executive Officer and directly responsible for ensuring proper service delivery. The Main Opportunity of Mercer Island lies in its continuous improvement philosophy; where staffs can be continuously trained so as to be effective and exceed customer expectations. The major Weakness in the Mercer Island lies in the poor permit processing system; and the main Threat involves bad media publicity. The main recommendation of overcoming bad publicity involves; informing the mass media about changes taking place which will enhance efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery. Poor permit processing system can be solved through simplification of the process to enable both staffs and customers properly understand it. The simplified permit processing version should be given adequate publicity in the media. Conclusion Despite the negative media publicity on City Hall concerning the Meadows campaign, the City Manager continuously informed the city Council on audit process. The City Council showed support; this encouraged Lanspery to effectively implement his plan. Lanspery worked properly in ensuring the support of the city council; this is because his regular work reports were factual and clearly depicted future land use and development challenges. The interaction of the Council members with the City Manger was properly encouraged at the directors’ retreats, and they saw him as a partner whose major goal is improving the city government. Lanspery also supported their making of an organized and simple land use regulation. References Evan, M. Berman (2006). Major Performance Challenges. In Performance and Productivity in Public and Nonprofit Organizations 2nd edition (pp. 29-44). New York: M.E. Sharpe Publishers. Judith Noble (2006), Permit Processing on Mercer Island, Washington: University of Washington, The Electronic Hallway. Read More