As a follow-on engagement to the prior Strategic Planning and Facilitation Assistance project, Citygate provided implementation support to the City to assist with the establishment of a formal strategic plan implementation, monitoring, reporting, and updating process to ensure the strategic plan document is a relevant, effective work tool.

Scope of work: Citygate provided strategic planning and facilitation assistance for the City of Angels Camp, California, as a follow-up to Citygate’s previous two studies for the City: the 2018 organizational review and budget stabilization study, and the 2020 financial action plan in response to COVID-19. For this project, Citygate interviewed key staff, City Councilmembers, and community members to gauge current operational efficiency, identify goals and priorities, and identify general and operational issues/priorities to assist in the development of Council priorities. Citygate also reviewed the City’s current fiscal condition at a high level to identify present opportunities and challenges.

Scope of work: A strategic planning and facilitation session for the City of San Juan Bautista, including a high-level organizational review to identify current issues and develop recommendations for workload management. After conducting varied stakeholder interviews and community and employee surveys, Citygate assisted in a Citywide update to establish vision and mission statements and identified key strategic goals and core priorities alongside developing new processes to monitor progress and update the Strategic Plan.

Citygate performed an organizational review of Monterey County’s current Cannabis Program, including funding, organization, permitting, staffing, and workload. This review included recommendations for an efficient organizational structure, including formal and informal organizational alignment, management, and supervision of the Cannabis Program; job classifications, specifications, and compensation for employees in the Cannabis Program Office; efficient and effective staffing levels for the Cannabis Program; expectations related to positions being 100 percent funded by cannabis tax revenue; efficient and effective business processes and task assignments for cannabis licensing/permitting to alleviate the existing backlog, and to the extent possible, prevent new persistent backlogs; and best practice performance standards for cannabis licensing/permitting.

Citygate performed an organizational review and analysis of Monterey County’s current homeless programs, funding, and coordination services. For this review, Citygate identified, evaluated, and recommended funding sources and budgeting structure for the Homeless Services function; identified and recommended organizational best practices, including comparisons with similar cities and counties; evaluated and recommended best practices for collaboration and coordination with various County departments, the Continuum of Care, local cities, school districts, businesses, and homeless service providers; and evaluated and recommended formal and informal organizational alignment, structure, and staffing for the Homeless Services function.

Citygate performed a deployment analysis, with fiscal/governance options analysis, for the County of Solano Local Agency Formation Commission, which includes the Cordelia Fire Protection District, the Vacaville Fire Protection District, the Suisun Fire Protection District, and the Montezuma Fire Protection District. The deployment analysis utilized the Standards of Coverage systems approach to fire department deployment as published by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International. The fiscal governance options analysis utilized the deployment analysis to review the cost and governance complexity of providing the services as independent agencies, which were then compared to a best-fit form of merger, contract, Joint Powers Authority, or district reorganization.

Citygate assisted the Southern Marin Fire Protection District and the Mill Valley Fire Department with their fire services merger work. This included ad hoc coaching and meeting facilitation at the District Fire Chief’s direction, as well as additional work as needed.

Citygate performed an operational review and provided mentoring for the Western Riverside Council of Governments’ Finance Department. The operational review will include an examination of the Department’s organizational structure; a review of the financial policies, procedures, and practices; and a review of the Department’s operational functions, workflow processes, and documents to identify overall strengths and weaknesses and provide recommendations for streamlining procedures and processes. The mentoring will entail assisting the Finance Director in the development of long-range financial planning and forecasting models based on industry best practices and providing professional guidance and mentoring to key management staff as needed.

As a follow-up to Citygate’s assistance in preparing a comprehensive and neutral external After Action Review (AAR) of the Woolsey Fire Incident on behalf of the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management, Citygate was retained to assist with the development, implementation, and monitoring of an After Action Plan (AAP). The AAP addressed each recommendation from the AAR, determined the sub-deliverables and individual tasks necessary to implement each recommendation, identified the County departments responsible for each deliverable and task, and estimated macro costs and a feasible timeline for implementation as needed by recommendation.

Citygate assisted the City Council in the City of Coachella, California, in a workshop discussion to consider the methods of studying policing services. This entailed a presentation outlining how to develop a police master plan, along with a comparative analysis of separating from the Sheriff’s Department versus starting a City police department or some combination thereof. In the presentation, we assisted the Council in understanding and discussing the study options, costs, and time frames.