I have been working on a paper on succession planning and a thought entered my head. So much has been said about a huge wave of public service professionals leaving the workforce and taking with them valuable knowledge and experience that cannot be replaced. The economic downturn appears to have slowed this down but it is still inevitable. But as I see progressive and well managed cities deal with their budgets I’m starting to wonder if there will be a need to fill position left vacant by baby boomers. Are we seeing how cities are management and with how many employees changing for the long run? Are we seeing new management systems being driven by the rise of technology, changing cultures, and out of the box thinking by a select few managers.
Do more with less seems to be becoming the norm. Local governments are having to evolve and adapt to changing conditions and all signs seem to show that this change will remain for many years if not decades to come. Local governments had to cut the fat out of their organization early on, and now are performing surgery to vital parts to ensure the organization can maintain levels of services and performance. When everything is all said and done I don’t see things returning to the beefed up organization many were accustomed to. Lean and mean may very well become the new norm.
Casa Grande was been successful in dealing with the down turn, better than many cities in Arizona, due to the fact that it didn’t fatten its organization during the good times. I’m not saying that we’re lean to the point that progress and efficiency are effects, but the reluctance of the city’s leaders to expand government has proven vital.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Casa Grande, small city but huge experience
One of the reasons I was drawn to Casa Grande and the opportunity to intern there is the ability to be involved in upper management issues and projects. I have yet to be disappointed and have been part of very unique projects. My experience began with working in the police department. Over the course of several months I would work on a wide variety of projects with many of the city’s departments. I have helped to developed performance measures for the city departments, I’ve developed new operation policies for the police department, I’ve performed a sales tax audit that identified business that perhaps should be paying sales taxes or lack a business licenses, and a variety of other projects.
However, I would have to say the experience can be captured in the last week or two. Last week the other two management analysts were in meeting with the City Manager and Deputy City Manager and discussed the upcoming council retreat for the budget. The meeting went for a little over an hour and there were various topics discussed. The other day I also sat in on a budget meeting with the City Manager, Deputy City Manager, Finance Director, Budget Analyst and my two management analysts colleagues.
The point I want to make is that I’m not sitting in on lower level meetings nor am I just sitting in on them to watch and observe. Rather I am part of the discussion of the meetings and providing my input and research I’ve collected. In a large organization this would be almost unheard of. Interns are not typically utilized to this degree but I have proven my abilities and gained the confidence and respect of my peers and the city’s management. As I near the end of my internship with Casa Grande I do so having gained a great deal of knowledge but also skills in interacting with people at different levels of management and in different departments. If you are not aware you can easily be enveloped by the internal politics found in every organization. Casa Grande is a small city compared to the large cities in Phoenix and Tucson, but working in a small city has providing a greater level of exposure to all facets of local government.
However, I would have to say the experience can be captured in the last week or two. Last week the other two management analysts were in meeting with the City Manager and Deputy City Manager and discussed the upcoming council retreat for the budget. The meeting went for a little over an hour and there were various topics discussed. The other day I also sat in on a budget meeting with the City Manager, Deputy City Manager, Finance Director, Budget Analyst and my two management analysts colleagues.
The point I want to make is that I’m not sitting in on lower level meetings nor am I just sitting in on them to watch and observe. Rather I am part of the discussion of the meetings and providing my input and research I’ve collected. In a large organization this would be almost unheard of. Interns are not typically utilized to this degree but I have proven my abilities and gained the confidence and respect of my peers and the city’s management. As I near the end of my internship with Casa Grande I do so having gained a great deal of knowledge but also skills in interacting with people at different levels of management and in different departments. If you are not aware you can easily be enveloped by the internal politics found in every organization. Casa Grande is a small city compared to the large cities in Phoenix and Tucson, but working in a small city has providing a greater level of exposure to all facets of local government.
Talking to Undergraduate Seniors
I few weeks ago I was asked to speak to an undergraduate capstone course taught by Professor Duke. Going into the class I was unsure what exactly the students were really interested in knowing. The class was set up as a panel format. The panelist were an alumni of the urban and metropolitan studies who now works in non-profit, a recruiter from Maricopa county, and myself (a graduate student who will work in local government). The class was small and there was a certain level of uncertainty in the room as to what many of them had planned for after graduation.
Overall it all went well and I believed we offered a broad perception of local government, non-profit, and executive management. One of the very first questions I fielded was “how did student loans affect my decision to pursue grad school?” In all honesty from the minute I decided to apply for grad school I didn’t even think of student loans only to the point that I knew I would be taking them out. My mindset was clear in thinking that the cost would payoff with a stable job that would lead to a successful career. One way or another, my student loans will be paid off. Despite having a fellowship that offsets some of my costs, I still took out students loans and in doing so created the flexibility for me to network and explore various options and interests of mine. I graduate with a good chunk of student loans but confident that I will manage.
Another thing I noticed among this group of seniors was the lack of certainty towards what they wanted to do after graduation. In our MPA capstone we were asked to write a 5 year plan, an assessment of where we are now, where we want to be, and how we want to get there. Graduating undergrad I had a firm idea of what I wanted to do with my life and this was due to the fact that I took on various internships that helped shaped my mind. I know with budget cuts many organizations have cut back on internships but I believe that even unpaid internships are vital to providing substantial exposure to a variety of career options.
Overall it all went well and I believed we offered a broad perception of local government, non-profit, and executive management. One of the very first questions I fielded was “how did student loans affect my decision to pursue grad school?” In all honesty from the minute I decided to apply for grad school I didn’t even think of student loans only to the point that I knew I would be taking them out. My mindset was clear in thinking that the cost would payoff with a stable job that would lead to a successful career. One way or another, my student loans will be paid off. Despite having a fellowship that offsets some of my costs, I still took out students loans and in doing so created the flexibility for me to network and explore various options and interests of mine. I graduate with a good chunk of student loans but confident that I will manage.
Another thing I noticed among this group of seniors was the lack of certainty towards what they wanted to do after graduation. In our MPA capstone we were asked to write a 5 year plan, an assessment of where we are now, where we want to be, and how we want to get there. Graduating undergrad I had a firm idea of what I wanted to do with my life and this was due to the fact that I took on various internships that helped shaped my mind. I know with budget cuts many organizations have cut back on internships but I believe that even unpaid internships are vital to providing substantial exposure to a variety of career options.
Immigration Bill & Increases in Jail Fees
There has been a great deal of discussion regarding Arizona’s immigration bill. A variety of people have come out for or against this bill but I hope I can offer a different perspective to this bill. Many people have touched on the fiscal liability the bill leaves local governments open too. Undoubtedly the bill will provoke a variety of lawsuits that will ultimately cost tax payers a great deal of money. Yet another perspective is the cost it will take to process and jail people charged with violating this law. The bill makes it a misdemeanor to be in this country illegally. This will ultimately result in new arrests not previously made and as with many crimes, people will be charged and some sent to jail if only for a couple of days.
Nearly every local government in Arizona relies on their county sheriffs department to process and house inmates. Many sheriffs departments have increased their fees for housing inmates. Pinal County increased their fees 30%-45% and Maricopa reported increases in there fee schedules as well. Ultimately local governments have to pay this fee and many are having to adjust their budgets because of these increases. In some cases it’s understandable, a person may have to be jailed for many days if not weeks or months. In many cases individuals charged merely spend a 1-5 days in jail and usually just to wait to see a judge. All this adds up and ends up very costly.
So back to the immigration bill, all the new arrests will add to the number of inmates processed and jailed in county jails. So is it feasible to have this bill? Can we afford it?
Nearly every local government in Arizona relies on their county sheriffs department to process and house inmates. Many sheriffs departments have increased their fees for housing inmates. Pinal County increased their fees 30%-45% and Maricopa reported increases in there fee schedules as well. Ultimately local governments have to pay this fee and many are having to adjust their budgets because of these increases. In some cases it’s understandable, a person may have to be jailed for many days if not weeks or months. In many cases individuals charged merely spend a 1-5 days in jail and usually just to wait to see a judge. All this adds up and ends up very costly.
So back to the immigration bill, all the new arrests will add to the number of inmates processed and jailed in county jails. So is it feasible to have this bill? Can we afford it?
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Internet Policy
A few weeks ago I was tasked with looking at our city's email and internet policies. My City Manager and Deputy City Manager wanted me to look at two things. First, make sure our policy is current with actual practice and make revisions to strengthen it. Second, review public records requirements regarding electronic communication. Last month the City began following through on a provision of the policy that stated that employees have no right to privacy and their internet usage can be reviewed by management. The IT department was to start generating a monthly report of sites visited to be reviewed by department directors.
At first I became I little worried because throughout the course of a day I probably go to two or three dozen sites. But I am ok since its all in the scope of my work and research that I do. My city manager sits on the state personnel board and commented that a majority of the cases that are coming across the board are related to internet use violations. We're no different, many employees have abused their internet use privileges and visited websites not related to their position or business of the city.
Retention of emails is also interesting. This is in part because despite that there are state laws that govern this many cities do not have similar policies. There is confusion among many people as to where electronic communication fit in with the state laws the govern public records. I remember last year a city in CA a police chief pulled text messages from officer's assigned cell phones. He found questionable texts messages and disciplined the officers. The officer's sued claiming they had a right to privacy. The Circuit court sided with the city and chief but an appeals court overturned the ruling. The matter will likely go to the Supreme Court but until then it raises several questions to consider along with complying with public records laws.
At first I became I little worried because throughout the course of a day I probably go to two or three dozen sites. But I am ok since its all in the scope of my work and research that I do. My city manager sits on the state personnel board and commented that a majority of the cases that are coming across the board are related to internet use violations. We're no different, many employees have abused their internet use privileges and visited websites not related to their position or business of the city.
Retention of emails is also interesting. This is in part because despite that there are state laws that govern this many cities do not have similar policies. There is confusion among many people as to where electronic communication fit in with the state laws the govern public records. I remember last year a city in CA a police chief pulled text messages from officer's assigned cell phones. He found questionable texts messages and disciplined the officers. The officer's sued claiming they had a right to privacy. The Circuit court sided with the city and chief but an appeals court overturned the ruling. The matter will likely go to the Supreme Court but until then it raises several questions to consider along with complying with public records laws.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Understanding Fire Department Staffing
Recently I was tasked with conducting some research on minimum staffing levels per apparatus for the fire department. Many people are used to seeing fire trucks responding to calls with 4 guys on board. You typically wouldn't question it as I never did thinking there must be some logic behind this. Firefighters will tell you its an NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) standard and required by federal regulation. In actuality, that federal regulations (CFR 1910.134 paragragh g) and clarification by the regulating agency behind it, OSHA, states the opposite.
OSHA established what is known as the 2-in,2-out rule in 1998. In summary, it requires that there be at minimum two firefighters outside of a burning structure when conducting interior structure firefighting. That is to say if two guys are inside a house with fire hoses putting out a fire from the inside, two guys need to be outside ready to go in case the inside guys need rescue. Makes sense. The rule makes exceptions when conducting search and rescue operations when people are trapped and lives are endanger inside a building. This also doesn't prevent firefighters from fighting a fire from the outside until additional aid arrives.
So where am I going with all this, firefighters make the case that they need 4-four man crews on a truck to fight fires and respond to medical calls. This gets expensive real quickly. They will also say that failure to have 4-man crews will affect insurance ratings. No where in the the rating schedule used by ISO which provides such insurance ratings does it say that the number firefighters affects the rating. It specifically states that the number of engine companies affects the ratings. This is because the more engine you have at fire the more water pumps are available and the more water you can put on a fire more quickly. Many cities across the country and in the valley send two fire engines to a structure fire already. Additionally mutual aid agreements can provide additional fire companies from other cities.
I can go on and on about this as I found this research very interesting. I'll leave you with this note, many of the cities that operate 4-man crews do so because of union agreements yet cities that operate 3-person crews have the same if not better ISO ratings. Additionally 70-90% of calls firefighters respond to are medical calls where only the on-board paramedic and another firefighter are realy only ones doing anything until an ambulance arrives.
OSHA established what is known as the 2-in,2-out rule in 1998. In summary, it requires that there be at minimum two firefighters outside of a burning structure when conducting interior structure firefighting. That is to say if two guys are inside a house with fire hoses putting out a fire from the inside, two guys need to be outside ready to go in case the inside guys need rescue. Makes sense. The rule makes exceptions when conducting search and rescue operations when people are trapped and lives are endanger inside a building. This also doesn't prevent firefighters from fighting a fire from the outside until additional aid arrives.
So where am I going with all this, firefighters make the case that they need 4-four man crews on a truck to fight fires and respond to medical calls. This gets expensive real quickly. They will also say that failure to have 4-man crews will affect insurance ratings. No where in the the rating schedule used by ISO which provides such insurance ratings does it say that the number firefighters affects the rating. It specifically states that the number of engine companies affects the ratings. This is because the more engine you have at fire the more water pumps are available and the more water you can put on a fire more quickly. Many cities across the country and in the valley send two fire engines to a structure fire already. Additionally mutual aid agreements can provide additional fire companies from other cities.
I can go on and on about this as I found this research very interesting. I'll leave you with this note, many of the cities that operate 4-man crews do so because of union agreements yet cities that operate 3-person crews have the same if not better ISO ratings. Additionally 70-90% of calls firefighters respond to are medical calls where only the on-board paramedic and another firefighter are realy only ones doing anything until an ambulance arrives.
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