Citygate facilitated two one-day workshops with the Salt Lake City Planning staff and Council staff on character-based leadership principles.

Citygate completed an organizational and functional analysis of the Department of Planning and Land Use (DPLU) and associated land development services to ensure the most efficient use of staff time and resources, improve customer service, improve the quality and completeness of work, and ensure that the land development process promotes safe and livable communities. To accomplish these objectives, Citygate analyzed the policies, procedures, management, and operations of the programs and designed improvements for the future. Permitting processes included the provision of all utilities and also involved the engineering functions within the Public Works Department and the Land Development Division. As part of Citygate’s review, an employee survey was conducted, as well as a customer survey, and recommendations were made for improving the Department’s existing customer satisfaction survey forms. Many challenges affected the DPLU, including a need to streamline internal processes and provide seamless processing as permits moved between departments and agencies, create more reliable and predictable regulatory outcomes, improve staff productivity and accountability, and enhance relationships within the development community, with local residents, and with special interest stakeholders. Citygate provided nearly 80 recommendations to improve organizational capacity and clarify strategic direction; provide appropriate performance measurements to monitor productivity of customer service delivery, the organization as a whole, and individual staff; reorganize the structure to better align reporting relationships and decision making and to streamline processes; and identify opportunities to generate more revenue to offset operating costs. Citygate’s recommendations enhanced organizational productivity and prepared the Department for significant downsizing.

Citygate completed a performance audit of Sacramento County’s Planning and Environmental Review and Assessment departments. This study provided an independent, objective, rigorously analytical analysis of the policies, procedures, management, and operations of the programs and designed a constructive, forward-looking, and creative strategy for improvement. This project involved a standard performance audit, including how to support the Municipal Services Agency’s goal to decentralize planning functions and empower neighborhood involvement through the expanded use of Community Planning Councils and other methods. Extensive stakeholder, resident, applicant, and employee contact was achieved through interviews, focus groups, and internet-based surveys. Citygate also identified best practices in other communities, reviewed performance indicators, and developed recommendations for improvement. In addition to enhancing applicant and residential services, the streamlining, improved leveraging of available technology, and staff productivity enhancements prepared the Department for improved staff accountability and performance metrics, as well as reliably/predictably enhancing the quality of customer service goals.

Citygate was asked to conduct a performance audit of the City of Vista’s development review process. The scope of the study included the program areas of building, planning, engineering, inspection services, and other municipal functions that relate to the development review process. As part of Citygate’s review, a customer survey was conducted, as well as an employee survey.

Citygate provided an Interim Planning Director for the City and prepared an organizational assessment report of the Planning Division and the development review permitting process. The initial scope of this study was designed to have Citygate provide an organizational assessment of City’s Planning Division and a multi-year plan to rebuild the Division into a “best practices” organization. Early on in the assessment, it became apparent that many of the problems perceived as “Planning Department” problems were, in fact, interdepartmental in nature. As a result, the assessment was broadened to take in the overall development review permitting process. Citygate proceeded with the study with the following objectives: provide an independent, third party analysis of the policies, procedures, management and operations of the Planning Division, and design a creative strategy to improve organizational efficiency and effectiveness; discuss alternative operating models and make recommendations for changes in the Planning Division; examine the development review permitting process model and make recommendations for changes. The City Council enthusiastically embraced the findings and recommendations in Citygate’s report. The City formed a dynamic Development Review Team. This resulted in increased interdepartmental cooperation and coordination. Duties were re-assigned so that planners could focus on planning rather than administrative tasks. The City fully implemented their electronic permit tracking system (Accela) in both the Building Division and Planning Division. In a follow-on engagement, Citygate was asked to assist the City in improving its permit processing-related customer service. Citygate took the various departmental and functional leaders and participants through a character-building training set of exercises to establish common values, norms, vocabulary, and behaviors for positive customer outcomes.

Provide guidance to the Lee County Community Development Director in the area of state-of-the-art technology support for community development functions, including but not limited to document management, electronic permitting, and review of best practices in other comparable jurisdictions with similar levels of activity.

Citygate completed a Citywide management audit for the City of Pinole, California. The project was conducted at the initiative of the City Council and emphasized the establishment of performance measures for each Department and division of the City, including Public Works, Community Development, Planning, Building, Redevelopment, Administration, Finance, Personnel, Police, Fire, and Sewer Treatment. Citygate also formulated recommendations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the City. Included in the project was the evaluation of the City’s financial stability and measures to improve the health and vigor of the City’s finances. As part of this analysis, Citygate also reviewed the adequacy of the City’s cost-recovery methodology.

Citygate assessed critical land development processes, including Environmental Review, Improvement Plan Check, Building Plan Check, and Final Map Approval Plan Check for Placer County’s Land Development Departments. This assessment involved working with department heads, senior managers, staff, and key stakeholders to review operation, organization, and staffing issues that affect the effectiveness, efficiency, and timeliness of the permitting process. This assessment resulted in approximately 50 recommendations and an Action Plan for their implementation.

Citygate conducted a comprehensive performance review of the Community Development Department for Modesto. Citygate assessed the efficiency and effectiveness of the Department’s activities, particularly those in the Building and Development Services and Planning Divisions that relate to the review and approval of land use development and building permits. We evaluated the use of performance measures in the Department, and examined the methodology used to determine the cost of services provided by the Department. In key functional areas, we also surveyed and compared the Department to comparable agencies where benchmarking and the identification of best practices were helpful. As part of its review, Citygate conducted separate surveys of Building customers and Planning Department customers. Citygate focused on the dynamics of rapid growth that can cause the workload of a community development department to increase dramatically, thereby challenging the existing departmental resources, management systems, and service levels.