As a follow-on engagement from our study for the Solano County Local Agency Formation Commission, Citygate is currently providing assistance as necessary to the Cordelia/Suisun/Vacaville fire task force with their fire services merger work. Much of this will entail coaching and meeting facilitation, as directed by the County.
Citygate conducted a review of the Resource Management Agency (RMA) of Monterey County, California. The objective of the study was to review current conditions, analyze opportunities for organizational changes and process improvements that can further enhance customer service, evaluate future service demands, and develop a Strategic Action Plan with a prioritized implementation schedule. Included in this objective was an emphasis on assessing the adequacy and currency of underlying land use and related policies, the allocation and assignment of long-range planners versus current planners, and how the current situation and practices may compound difficulties in the backlog of application and permit processing, consistency, reliability, timeliness, and overall customer and stakeholder service delivery and satisfaction. Also included was an analysis of the functions included under the structure of the RMA to determine if there are too many or too few functions. Ultimately, this review resulted in Citygate’s recommendation to reorganize the RMA into separate Community Development and Public Works departments, in which Citygate provided strategies and detailed recommendations regarding organizational alignment, staffing, classifications, and business processes. Monterey County completed the reorganization within six months of Citygate’s Final Report delivery.
Subsequent to the completion of the review, at the County’s request, Citygate reviewed and evaluated the RMA’s efforts implementing the recommendations from the final report. Additionally, Citygate assisted in onboarding new leadership and management staff.
Citygate performed an assessment of the capabilities of the City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department to perform all-risk maritime response to the Port of San Diego. This assessment included a review of the capabilities of partnering agencies within and adjacent to the Port and a gap and risk/benefit analysis, among other operational and training assessments.
Citygate assisted the Menlo Park Fire Protection District elected official leadership establish an effective process to adopt strategies for multi-year service delivery. As part of this process, Citygate compared the current state of decision-making to best practices and identified gaps to assist the Board of Directors in developing draft strategic business and interaction policies.
Citygate completed a high-level assessment of the state of fire services in the City of Paso Robles, California, followed by a City Council workshop to discuss current fire services delivery and compare the City’s risk to be protected to service cost trends.
Bay Area Urban Area Security initiative (UASI), CA
Project:
Citygate is currently on Alameda County’s list of approved vendors to provide training courses for a three-year training program across four disciplines for the 12 counties in the Bay Area UASI. The disciplines include law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services, emergency management, and public health. Citygate has successfully completed 16 courses under this contract.
Citygate refreshed and briefed stakeholders on the Port of Long Beach multi-hazard firefighting study conducted in 2010.
Citygate completed a high-level review of existing firefighting and multi-hazard risk analysis data, response capabilities, and future needs in the Port of Long Beach operational area for Port assets managed by the City of Long Beach Fire Department, including locations of ground-based fire stations and waterborne fireboats. The Port Commission received the study, complimented it, and asked staff for an implementation plan. The Port has adopted the fireboat and fire station replacement recommendations from the study.
Citygate developed and facilitated a tabletop exercise to test the understanding of roles and responsibilities of first responders, government executives, jurisdictional authorities, and private industry in the event of a maritime hazardous materials spill into the Elkhorn Slough National Reserve. Additional objectives included strengthening core capabilities by examining the recovery and rehabilitation process on environmental impacts and testing operational coordination and response procedures for a maritime hazardous materials spill.
Citygate assisted the San Mateo Fire Chiefs Association and the fire departments in San Mateo County with implementing a fire department deployment analysis system to provide near real-time operational data to each fire department. Citygate provided project management and assistance in tailoring the end-user display screens and briefing materials to meet the needs of the collective agencies, as well as each individual agency. Citygate leveraged its current knowledge of the geography and County fire agencies’ needs for this effort, while also ensuring the system was configured properly for any ongoing analysis the agencies might request.