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1st Quarter Work Plan, CIPP and Financial Update
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Summary and Background Information:
Commerce City’s 2013 Administration Work Plan is based on council’s established goals and council-approved 2013-2014 budget. At the last retreat, council set five goals with several objectives to achieve the city’s vision during 2012 - 2014, including:
Develop a balanced and vibrant city economy.
• Cultivate economic development through business retention, expansion and job creation.
• Advance initiatives that expand the city’s “business-friendly” environment.
• Lead revitalization and redevelopment opportunities within the city.
Ensure a financially-sound city government.
• Deliver innovative and cost-efficient municipal services.
• Maintain a sustainable financial plan that strengthens reserves and reduces existing debt.
• Research and pursue alternative revenue sources.
Develop and maintain the public infrastructure.
• Provide and maintain a first-class infrastructure system that addresses the needs of residents, visitors and businesses.
• Implement infrastructure improvements to increase mobility.
• Identify opportunities to improve transit, bicycle and pedestrian facilities.
• Expand recreational offerings and trail/park networks to improve access.
• Identify additional amenities desired by residents and how best to financially deliver needs.
Preserve and nurture a quality community.
• Craft consistent customer service experience for constituents across all city departments.
• Encourage continuous improvement in service delivery.
• Seek compliance with stated codes and implementation of citywide planning documents.
• Promote activities that enhance public health, wellness and quality of life.
• Maintain declining crime statistics through community policing initiatives.
Encourage community involvement, communication and trust.
• Provide the highest level of service with unwavering integrity and ethics.
• Advance proposals that reform council practices and policies.
• Engage and communicate with entire community, including minority populations.
• Develop strong partnerships with school districts to enhance educational opportunities.
• Improve coordinated and consistent flow of information about Commerce City through a variety of internal and external channels.
• Develop and implement a youth-in-government initiative and citywide senior commission.
Why Have a Work Plan?
• Helps the organization be strategic. Our goal is to provide the programs and services needed by residents and businesses to achieve a quality community for a lifetime. The work plan helps focus on why we do what we do and how we are performing.
• Clear communication. A work plan articulates staff activities on a project-specific and operational level to achieve our city’s vision and mission.
• Best management practice. The city manager can easily use the work plan to assess progress against council’s goals, understand positive or negative operational trends, determine workload, assess budget/organizational needs and correct behavior.
• Accountability. A work plan increases accountability of employees and management to the public, the city council and the city manager.
• Efficient use of resources. The work plan helps make sure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely by tracking and reporting city activities.
• Balancing priorities. A work plan allows city manager to reassess priorities when issues or new activities arise and have conversations with council and staff to determine how best to move forward.
• Measurement. Believe the city is a high-performing organization. The work plan helps measure that performance and demonstrates how we move the organization forward.
How is it Organized?
• The Summary sheets are an “At a Glance” look at key departments and divisions, including highlights over the past quarter
• The projects dashboard provides a snapshot of all projects in the pipeline, including alignment with council goals, cost, department lead, approvals and a 90-day look ahead of key milestones.
• The operations dashboard provides a snapshot of ongoing operations metrics used to track performance throughout the organization.
• Both have detailed sheets that provide more information for key staff on the specific tasks.
Our Next Steps
• Verify goals and objectives are still correct at the retreat.
• Review work plan prior to the retreat. As part of the agenda, will want to know if there are any items inconsistent with City Council goals/budget as well as additional activities you believe are missing.
• Starting in April, the city manager will provide quarterly reports highlighting project and operational outcomes. A quarterly study session will also review the material and provide an opportunity for questions.
1st Qtr Highlights
Human Resources
o HR director position opened and search for new director began; once new HR director is on board, projects can be refocused
o Working on recruitment for ten police officer positions
o The city has about 200-300 open positions each year
Communications
o Employee survey indicated an overall positive shift in communication
o The division received awards from the Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals: gold for the city's Redefining Commerce video and an Honorable Mention for the interactive ICSC map for economic development
Information Technology
o Virtualization technology is currently being implemented, which will combine the previous 28 physical servers into as few as six physical servers
o New equipment for the Court Video Arraignment system is ready to install
Finance
o With the Buffalo Highlands agreement and ECAGID, the groundwork for E-470 corridor and 96th Avenue development are in place
o FD director assumed interim director of human resources position
o Almost $8 million of Q1 revenue came from sales and use tax with the second most, at $1.1 million, coming from property tax
City Clerk
o Passport applications doubled
o Election activity will increase Q3 with four city council seats opening in November
o Contracts, ordinances and resolutions are maintained in both paper and electronic format
City Manager
o Staff participates in regular meetings with the Minority Business Association, the Metro North Chamber’s Business & Governmental Affairs Group
o Water credits approved
o Two executive positions opened: HR director and intergovernmental relations manager
o All Hands meetings conducted with all city employees
Economic Development
o Rush Truck Centers approved for incentives, estimates $13.1 in capital investment and 25 new jobs; construction scheduled for summer
o There are about 30 active prospects
o Preparing for ICSC in May
Parks, Recreation, and Golf
o Major progress on Fairfax Park includes completion of underground utility, maintenance building, and Futsal court grading. The basket ball court, perimeter trail/sidewalk, and irrigation system are all near completion
o Three special events at Bison Grill sold out: New Year's Eve, Valentine's dinner, and Easter brunch
Public Works
o Increase in Right-of-Way Permits (1 07 total)
o Facilities maintains 26 city buildings, all inspections, and provides 24/7 emergency service for city buildings
o Street sweeping beginning
Community Development
o Increase in building permits and currently ahead of 2013 projections, especially for residential units
o Mobile Home Park Inspection improved the appearance of the area
o Drafting alternative concept maps for STAMP
o Presented basic concept and plan ideas for the Historic Preservation Plan
Police Department
o Police Chief position was filled
o 9 news aired a story on the puffer campaign
o Victim Services Unit
o Assisted 141 victims; 67% increase from last year
o Called-out on scene 23 times; 39% increase
o Currently there are nine volunteers in the VSU
Staff Responsible (Department Head): Jim Hayes, Roger Tinklenberg
Staff Member Presenting: Brian McBroom