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LTC 253-2009 Personnel Added to the City's Building Department in Fiscal Year (FY) 2009-2010 L~~: c; [,; , , 4~ ~4 m- MIAMIBEACH 1 CFFICE OF THE CI1Y MANAGER NO. LTC # zss-zoo9 LETTER TO COMMISSION TO Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and Members of the City Commission FRO,: Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager~~^--~ DnrE: September 22, 2009 ~//l SUBJECT: PERSONNEL ADDED TO THE CITY'S BUILDING DEPARTMENT IN FISCAL YEAR (FY) 2009-2010. This Letter to the Commission is in response to a request made by the Mayor and City Commission at the September 21, 2009 City Commission Workshop regarding questions pertaining to staffing in the Building Department. By way of background, on August 31, 2008, the City entered into a contractual agreement with TCBA Watson Rice to conduct a Building Department organizational and operational review. Watson Rice presented their final report and recommendations in to the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee at their May 5, 2009 meeting (Attached is an LTC sent on September 17, 2009 which provides a quarterly status update on the Building Development process recommendations and observations from the Watson Rice study). The Building Department hired the following two (2) full-time employees in the FY 2009- 2010 (one (1) as a temporary City employee and one (1) as a regular full-time City employee): 1. Carmen Olazabal, a City contract employee, is the Acting Assistant Director for Administration and performs the functions performed by the previous Assistant Director who now works in the City's CIP office. Ms. Olazabal was originally hired as a contract employee on February 2. 2009 to perform the duties of the Building Operations Manager. 2. Andrea Agha is the Administrative Services Manager and is tasked with the monitoring and control over the Building Department fiscal operations. Ms. Agha was originally hired as a contract employee on December 8, 2008 to perform the duties of a Financial Analyst. There are also currently three (3) temporary clerical employees (hired through a temporary staffing agency) that were hired during this period. These include: 1. Erica Beaubrun who is on a short term assignment to assist while an employee was out on family medical leave (FML). The employee has now returned to duty and Ms. Beaubrun's last day with the City will be September 25. 2009. 2. Gina Declet is on a short term assignment in the Elevator Section while another employee is also out on family medical leave (FML). The employee is expected to return to duty in October 2009 and the temporary assignment for Ms. Declet will be terminated at that point. 3. Cherieanne Tamayo is back-filling for a Permit Clerk position that is vacant. Ms. Tamayo is assisting customers with the courtesy research for ownership verification and as well as well as helping to develop a system of exception reporting and staff accountability and responsibility reporting as recommended by Watson Rice. Additionally, the Building Department conducted an internal recruitment for a vacant Office Associate V position that provides direct support to the Department Director. This position was advertised and an internal Building Department employee was selected. This resulted in a vacant Administrative Aide II position which was transferred to the City's Finance Department to handle fee assessments and receipt of fee payments (as recommended by Watson Rice). There is also an ongoing recruitment for a Financial Analyst position (vacancy created when Ms. Agha was promoted to Administrative Services Manager position). This position is expected to be filled with a current City employee whose position is being impacted due to the budget. Other than this recruitment. there are no other immediate recruitments expected to take place any time soon. unless for a position which may become vacant and is considered "mission" critical. The City will continue to ensure that all staffing changes in the Building Department are consistent with the Watson Rice recommendations and in the best interest of the organization. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need any additional informa~}ta~ioin. JMG/A1~/ls c: Alex Rey, Building Department Director Bernita Argos, Office Associate IV Facmgr•.$ALL'~LTC-09'~LTC Regartling 6uiltling Pcsitions Revtloc t;(w{~I.~ti;~ rl 1009 SFF ! 8 P~€ 2- I 0 m MIAM(BEACH ~;T~r :! ~ .i. ~ ,.. ,. OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER rw. LTC A 2_2009 LETTER TO COMMISSION TO: Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and Members of the City Commission FROM: Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager DATE September 17, 2009 SUBJKT: QUARTERLY STATUS OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH BUILDING DEVELOPMENT PROCESS RECOMMENDATIONS AND OBSERVATIONS FROM WATSON RICE STUDY AS REQUESTED BY THE FINANCE ANO CITYWIDE COMMITEE On August 13, 2008, the City entered into a contractual agreement with TCBA Watson Rice to conduct a Building Department Organizational and Operational Review. The consultants presented their final report and recommendations to the Finance and Citywide Committee on May 5"' 2009. The Finance and Citywide Committee accepted the consultant recommendations and asked the AdminisVation to provide a written quarterly update in the form of a Letter to Commission (LTC) and an annual presentation to the Finance and Citywide Committee. Attached is the first quarterly report. It outlines the progress made to date on all of the 24 initiatives recommended by the consultant. As you will see in the report, we have made a lot of progress over the last year. Please feel free to Contact me if you have any questions. JMG/Abr/ls Attachment CITY OF MIAMI BEACH BUILDING DEVELOPMENT PROCESS RECOMMENDATIONS AND OBSERVATIONS FROM WATSON RICE STUDY STATUS REPORT AS OF SEPTEMBER 2009 1. Ensure that the Building Department's formal (and Informal} organization and responsibility reporting structure is incompliance with the Florida Building Code. Status: Implemented The Building Department has undergone many changes in the past several years. These changes have included administrative items, changes in the organizational structure, and changes in systems and procedures. The latest organizational structure adopted on October 27, 2008 ensured that the organizational alignment was consistent with the requirements of the Florida Building Code by allocating all of the positions pertorming responsibilities under the Florida Building Code to the Building C~cial. Furthermore, the name of the Engineering Section was modified to the Governmental Compliance Section to eliminate any confusion as to the nature of their work. Additionally, Senior Management is ensuring that the informal organization follows strict adherence to the formal structure. 2. Separate the duties of fee assessment and receipt of fee payments. Status:ln progress The Building Department has transferced one position to the Finance Department to handle these responsibilities and work is ongoing to document all the payment points and quantitiesllevels of work. The Finance Department is coordinating with the Human Resources Department to recruit for the position. We expect that the transfer of responsibilities will be completed in Fall of 2009. 3. Implement customer service improvements. Status: Ongoing Customer service improvements are a continuous effort in any service organization. Some of the efforts that we are working on include: The organizations'approach towards the customer begins at the top. Special emphasis is placed on senior personnel in the Building Department to have superior customer service skills. • We discuss positive customer service experiences at our staff meetings and recognize those employees who have achieved positive experiences. • We emphasize the City's Excellence Model standards for greetings, messages and call management to our employees. • The Department has identified customer service courses that will be offered to our employees in FY 2009-10 and will schedule the appropriate training sessions for personnel. 4. Develop and implement a simplified permit fee structure and calculation methodology. Status:ln progress The City selected Maximus Consulting Services in February 2009 to conduct a fee study. The study will analyze the city's direct and indirect costs, and develop a fee structure based pm the level of effort dedicated to each permit. Phase I -Develop Cost Findings During this phase, the Consultant interviewed City's Staff to determine the level of effort involved with each of the processes. Based on these results, They presented to the Finance and Citywide Committee a recommendation to re-distribute the fees to ensure that all of the Departments involved in the Building Development Process recover the same ratio. The City is now working on corcoborating the data provided by the Consultant and will verify the following: 1) Fee Categories 2) Permit Quantities 3) Time Estimate 4) Re-validate estimates against available time. Phase III -Develop Fee Pricing The Consultant will assist in creating a fee structure that is simple and closely related to the level of effort performed by the City. We will benchmark these fees against other municipalities to make sure that they are in Tine with what they charge. In addition, the fee structure will have a sell correcting mechanism that will allow for re-adjusting if necessary. We expect this fee study to be completed by October 2009. 5. Develop policies and procedures to implement the Private Provider process Status: Implemented. The City of Miami Beach has completed the policies and procedures to manage the Private Provider Process and a program coordinator has been assigned. 6. Develop a system of exception reporting and staff accountablllty and responsibility reporting. Status: Ongoing The development of a performance measuring system is an on-going effort. To date, the Department has implemented monthly, weekly and daily performance measures. The monthly measures include: Revenues by permit type • Expenses • Plan review turn-around time • Number of expired permks The weekly measures include: • Average and Maximum Waiting Time to see a Permit Clerk • Percent of customer waiting over an hour to see a Permit Clerk • Number of Customer Served per Week • Number of permit process thru 24 hour walk-thru process • Number of Records Request Completed • Records Management Average Turn-around Time • Percentage of Records process within five day target • Percent of buildings complying with 40 year recertification process • Number of buildings that should have been notified of 40 year recertification and have not been • Number of buildings that should have received a violation for failure to comply with 40 year recert~cation that have not received a violation • Number of calls received per week by the call center • Average duration of call (handle time) • Percent of abandoned calls • Average speed of answer The daily measures include: • Number of inspections with "no access" and daily audit control • Daily audit by supervisor of 10°k of building fee payments Number of plan reviews that are over the p{an review target times • Number of inspections carry-over to the following day Other measures continue to be developed and documented to ensure that the information is reliable and replicable. 7. Require inspectors and reviewers to document and support plan or construction modiflcatlons that are in excess of established thresholds or requirements. Status: Implemented and ongoing The Building Department has implemented a procedure that requires inspectors to get pre-approval from their section chiefs prior to requiring a mod cation to the plans approved by the plans examiner. To the extent possible, the Chief consults with the plans examiner to ensure that he understands both points of view prior to making a final determination. 8. Provide adequate and timely training for stmt. Status: Implemented and ongoing The Department has developed a Multi-year Department-wide Training Plan that identifies all of the requirements for each functional group of the organization. This Plan has been fully funded beginning in FY 2009-10, and will be implemented over the next three years. Training needs will continue to be assessed and the Plan will be modified accordingly. 9. Enhance monitoring and control over Building Department fiscal operations. Status: Implemented and ongoing Beginning in FY 2008-09, the Department filled a position that has amongst its major responsibilities, the fiscal operations of the Department. The responsibilities of this individual include the preparation of the budget and the monthly monitoring of revenues and expenses for the Department. These capabilities did not exist prior to this fiscal year. In past years, the Chief of the Elevator Section was responsible for the preparation of the department's budget. 10. Conduct a comprehensive review of the methodology used to calculate all fees and ensure that all documents containing fee information are consistent. Status: Implemented The Department performed a detailed quality control of all fee related publications to ensure that they were consistent with the Fee Ordinance and modified them accordingly. Additionally, a quality control program was installed that requires the Permit Clerk Supervisor to randomly audit approximately 10°~ of the permit fees charged on a daily basis. 11. Provide adequate physical space for Building Department operations. Status:ln Progress The Building Department was allocated additional space on the third floor of City Hall in order to be able to provide the space for the electronic plan review work stations. Additional customer service space will also be added to the second floor lobby to improve the functionality of the Department's processes. To date, the inspectors have been relocated to the third floor, and the offices in the third floor have been refurbished. The second floor improvements are still under design and are expected to be completed by the early part of 2010. 12. Create and staff a high-level customer advocate (ombudsman) position responsive to customers interacting with buildingldevelopment process departments. Status: Implemented The position of Inspection Services Coordinator was established and serves as the Department's ombudsman and quality control inspector. This responsibility has been assigned to Mr. James Legget. 13. Require inspectors and reviewers to internally resolve inter-disciplinary, inter- departmental, andlor infra-departmental conflicts before they are communicated to the customer. Status: Ongoing This area continues to be one of the most critical areas to address, and a source of complaints from the customers. The Building Development Task Force has dedicated several meetings to identify the most common areas of inter-departmental conflicts and establish procedures to address them. Additionally, procedures have been put in place that require inspectors and plan reviewers to discuss potential conflicts with their Chiefs prior to being communicated to the public. Furthermore, the Directors of Planning, Fire and Building have agreed to hold inter- departmental staff meetings with all inspectors and plan reviewers to encourage inter- departmental communication and conflict resolution. 14. Use issues or conflicts as material for training of inspectors and plans reviewers. Status: Implemented and ongoing The department uses conflicts as a source of material during the Chiefs staff meetings and the monthly general employee staff meetings. These are used to reinforce posftive and eradicate negative behavior. 15. Consider outsourcing the Cali Center operation. Status: Implemented Pursuant to RFP No. OS-08/09, dated January 28, 2009, the City of Miami Beach outsourced the Building Department's Call Center. Prior to April 22, 2009, customers experienced extremely long hold times, high abandonment rates and often never reached a live person to answer questions or provide customer support. After the Call Center's April implementation, callers can speak to a friendly, knowledgeable representative within seconds. Approximately 50,000 calls are handled annually and the Department maintains at least an 80°k customer satisfaction level. The initiative sign~cantly increased the community's satisfaction with government, by striving for first call resolution and promoting excellent customer service. Under the new system, the average response time is approximately five seconds and the abandonment call rate is about 4%. 16. Consider outsourcing the Permit Counter and Records Management Service areas. A) Permit Counter. Status: Fn Progress The recommendation to outsource the permit counter is being included in the FY 2009- 10 Budget. If this recommendation is adopted with the Budget, the Department will prepare an RFP to solicit providers for this service and a recommendation to the Commission can be presented in early 2070. B) Records Management Service Status: Implemented The Department has moved expeditiously to digitize most of the City's Building records thus reducing departmental personnel to a minimum level, and thereby pre-empting the need to privatize the service. 17. Analyze the effectiveness of the Department's technology solutions to providing customer support and; 18. Increase operating etflclency through the effective use of technology. Status: Implemented and ongoing The objectives of the Building Department's technology initiatives are to increase operating efficiencies and improve the customer experience through innovative and user friendly technology based solutions. The initiatives include: electronic plan review, central record automation, a new website, online forms, online permitting, handheld computers for inspectors, vehicle tracking systems, QMB walk-thru plan review queuing system, a new interactive voice response inbound call Clow and the most ambitious initiative, the permitting replacement system. The electronic plan review system offers design professionals an expedited, environmentally friendly, standardized method of review while adding consistency and accountability of the plan reviewers. The pilot implementation began in September, 2009 and full implementation is scheduled for March, 2010. The City is breaking new ground by collaborating with external agencies, like WASD and DERM, to participate in the electronic plan review system lead by the City. The central record automation implementation began in early 2009. The digitization initiative has sign~cantly reduced the turnaround time for records' requests from days to hours. The reduction in paper will save the City valuable resources and promote a 'green' environment. The initiative makes valuable information more accessible to the community. The target completion date for full record automation is December, 2010. The Building Department launched an intuitively designed and highly functional website in January, 2009. Web-enabled features include online payments, the ability for contractors to pull sub-permits to approved master permits, and the capacity for home owners to pull 'remove and replace' type permits over the Internet; these functions are being finalized. The Department is in the testing phase of accepting permit application forms online to continue to reduce over crowdedness in the lobby and expedite the permitting process. Building inspectors are equipped with handheld computers that are used to enter real time inspection results; these resuts are displayed on the Department's wet>site. The implementation eliminates the need for redundant entries, provides the ability to monitor inspection routes and increases accountability. Vehicle tracking systems will be installed in the City inspectors' cars to improve daily efficiency and serve as an internal control tool. Two providers are currently being tested in anticipation of an early 2010 implementation. The Department successfully launched QMB-the plan review walk- thru queuing system, in August, 2009. The application enables complete transparency for customers walking plans through the review process. This system is utilized by the City of Miami and was highly recommended by our customers as the best system around; QMB increases the community's satisfaction with the Department by expediting the review process and making the experience completely transparent to the customers. A revised Interactive voice response (IVR) call flow was designed and implemented in August, 2009. The new call flow provides for clear options to our customers addressing their most common questions. It also allows for a live response within approximately four seconds of selecting the option to speak with a representative. The permitting system replacement, RFP 37-08/09, will include permitting: inspections, code enforcement and the business tax receipt. Approximately one half of City departments utilize the current permitting system. The new system will significantly increase operating efficiencies, provide extensive auditing and security capabilities, contain internal and external automated notification mechanisms to streamline operations and enrich the customers' overall experience with the Building Department. The Building technology initiatives are increasing the community's satisfaction with City Government, making the City more user friendly. 19. Review and analyze staffing levels. Status: Implemented and ongoing As part of the FY10 Budget process, performance levels and standards were developed for all major staffing groups, and a mechanism was established to account for and monitor staffing levels based on fluctuations in demand. 20. Appoint an individual to coordinate the efforts of the building/development process departments. Status: Implemented In December 8, 2008 the Building Director was appointed to Chair the Building Development Task Force's Interdepartmental Team. As part of his role, Mr. Rey will facilitate communication and guide the process improvement initiatives among the Building Development Task Force team members. In addition, he coordinates responses and directs staff and resources to facilitate building development projects. 21. Develop a formal policies and procedures manual for all buildingldevelopment process disciplines. Status:ln Progress This is a recommendation that requires a large amount of staff resources to implement. We expect to document all the Department's processes during the implementation of the new permitting system. The manual will be completed concurrent wdh the implementation of the new system in late 2011. 22. Complete the process of developing plans review and inspection checklists. Status: In Progress The implementation of the plan review checklist is being performed concurrently with the implementation of the electronic plan review system, as this is one of the system requirements to ensure uniform review and standards. The implementation of the inspection checklist will be completed with the implementation of the new permitting system, as the current system does not support the ability to have checklists that are targeted to a specific inspection type. 23. Enhance staff knowledge and use of Department technology. Status: In progress In general, the staff's knowledge of technology is very limited and it significantly diminishes their productivity. We intend to address this as part of the Department's training requirements. 24. Perform a comprehensive review and analysis of the Permits Plus system. Status: In progress The City's goal is to replace the Permit Plus system as soon as practical. The permitting system replacement, RFP 37-08/09, includes permitting, inspections, code enforcement and the business tax receipt. Approximately one hall of City departments utilize the curent permitting system. The City received ten proposals in August 2009, and ft is currently in the evaluation/selection phase. We expect to bring a recommendation for award to the City Commission in December 2009.