Task 1 | Existing Conditions Analysis a. Collect job descriptions and documents detailing current and historical organizational structure. b. Identify staff and program functions. Document routing and major tasks, activities, and processes. c. Workload and Service Demand: Review volume of plan reviews, issued permits, and the vast range project of complexity. Review the increasing requirements for complex legal, real estate and financial documents as part of the development process. d. Identify the technology used by and/or available to staff. e. Survey staff for technical competencies, certifications, and training. f. Identify risks, patterns, and trends of processes/procedures, and staffing levels/skills. g. Document observations about current operations to provide suggestions for improvement and identify areas of strength. Consultant may use various strategies to gather feedback, including, but not limited to, reviewing flow charts and written documents, and conducting interviews, surveys, and focus groups. h. Assess the integration of the Accela Permitting System including paperless Dropbox plan check process. i. Assess coordination and workflow processes with other City Departments involved in the permitting and inspection processes including Utilities, Public Works, Police Department, Fire Department and City Manager’s Office. Task 2 | Organizational and Operational Assessment and Comparative Analysis a. Comparatively analyze department tasks, activities, processes, and organizational structure to other jurisdictions. The analysis shall include, but not be limited to, output statistics, specific steps, and staff characteristics. b. Perform SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis, or similar, for the department. c. Analyze the Department’s ability to retain high-performing staff. d. Evaluate the staff resources needed to conduct core functions of the department, given the current and anticipated level of development and construction activity in the City of Paso Robles. This will include analyzing the department’s reliance on outside contractors and permanent, contractual, and temporary staff. Task 3 | Recommendations a. Formulate recommendations for each program/function. b. Recommend innovations or opportunities for improvement (gaps) between current practices and best or evidence-based practices for effective and efficient provision of Community Development Department services. c. Evaluate whether the existing workforce is sufficient and whether the department’s reliance on contractors is reasonable. d. Evaluate the Department’s Retention and Compensation. Is the Department competitive with other jurisdictions, are there adequate opportunities for career growth e. Determine whether alternative service delivery models may address some or all identified staffing or operational issues. f. Provide training and resource recommendations to improve operations and support succession planning. g. Provide recommendations on operational improvements, metric dashboards, technology improvements, Accela optimizations and technology improvements (recommended software)
