December 2014

Reminder: Please join us at the holiday luncheon 11:30-1:00 Thursday December 11, West End Building.

Continuous Process Improvement
Just some of the accomplishments so far:

• IT and Finance--an improved on-line form for utility customer move in/move out requests
• Parks & Rec--a streamlined on-line park shelter reservation process
• Planning & Building and Engineering departments--a streamlined process for removal of hazard trees in the right-of-way while still complying with the tree code
• IT - a better network connection to the Tennis Center that not only provides improved public WiFi access, but also saves the city $1,680/year
• Planning & Building--a pilot project to offer "intake appointments" for complex projects. The goal is to identify missing parts of an application on the spot rather than waiting days or weeks for a completness check
• Planning & Building--a laminated "cheat sheet" at the counter to match accounting system codes with the corresponding permit types. This low-tech solution will save time in fixing mis-coded entries.
• IT--creation of a common drive and modifying login configuration to allow Public Works and Engineering to documents dealing with the operation and maintenance of streets and utilities.

Celebrating a Great Program: Lake Oswego's "Culture of Survival"
On November 12, the fire and police departments hosted a ceremony for survivors of sudden cardiac arrest, and for the people who helped save their lives. One of many recognized was Jessica Metteer, who had the training and presence of mind to administer CPR to a co-worker named Hallie. Here is a copy of an e-mail from Jessica:

Dear Chief Johnson & Chief Wilson –

I just wanted to send you a note to thank you for hosting the breakfast this morning recognizing and celebrating the survivors of sudden cardiac arrest. The brave men and women of Lake Oswego Fire & Police, AMR, and 911 Dispatch that were so fast to respond, so reassuring and supportive of my efforts to help, and have been so encouraging and gracious in the almost four years since the day when Hallie collapsed; they are my heroes, today and always. It was an honor to get to see so many of them today. 

I am so lucky to have been in the right place at the right time, just once. I am eternally grateful for the people who make it their life’s work to always be there.

Attached is a pic of Hallie and me from this morning.

The Continuing Saga of the West End Building...
Nick Bunick and the nonprofit organization The Great Tomorrow have, as of this writing, been unsuccesful in securing financing for the building. The City Council has directed staff to seek a broker to list the property for sale. Mr. Bunick remains optimistic that his organization will be able to purchase the property.

Rites of Passage and Council Goal-Setting
On December 16, Mayor Studebaker and his fellow councilors will recognize the contributions of outgoing councilors Donna Jordan (eight years on the City Council) and Lauren Hughes (appointed to complete the year and a half remaining on Mike Kehoe's term). Newly elected councilors Joe Buck and Jackie Manz and re-elected councilor Jeff Gudman will take their oaths of office on January 6. They will hit the ground running with a town hall forum on needs and priorities for the city on Thursday, January 8 and a goal-setting retreat on Saturday, January 10.

Charter Amendment
Lake Oswego voters supported amendment of the city's charter on road widening elections. Major widening projects that add a travel lane of 500 feet or more can still go to the voters, but smaller projects won't. This will, among other things, save a significant amount of staff time in our engineering department.

November 2014

On October 7 the Fire Department held a ceremony recognizing individuals who had joined the department during Chief Wilson's tenure, and those who have been promoted. The ceremony opened with a nice touch: the presentation of colors by the Police Department's Honor Guard. Congratulations to all 23 individuals recognized in the ceremony!

Emergency Preparation: We'll Leave a Light on For You
Staff representatives from all departments participated in a winter storm "tabletop exercise" on October 29. One issue that came up is that a major storm or natural disaster could strand employees, or make it hard to report to work. It occurred to me that my wife and I would be glad to make a guest bedroom available to any staff member caught in that situation, and wondered if others of us who live in or near Lake Oswego might be willing to do the same. If you live in Lake Oswego, or within an easy drive, would you be willing to be contacted about a spare bedroom if we face a serious emergency? If so, please let Bonnie Hirshberger know, at x3992 or bhirshberger@ci.oswego.or.us.  If we can develop this list ahead of time, it is one less thing to have to worry about in the middle of an emergency. Thanks!

City Council Decisions and Issues
On appeal, the City Council voted to override the Development Review Commission's 3-2 decsion,
and to approve the application for development of Block 137 (the "Wizer Block"). Planning & Building Services Director Scot Siegel recognized staff from his and other departments for their teamwork in managing this long and complex process. In breaking news, a notice of intent to file an appeal to the state Land Use Board of Appeals has been submitted.

In other actions, over the past two months the Council:

• Approved a lease of property in Foothills as temporary space for Parks Maintenance to make it easier to upgrade the Operations Center
• Received an award of $80,000 from the Energy Trust of Oregon for the street light LED conversion project
• Adopted an updated Transportation Systems Plan
• Approved changes to the Community Development Code that will make the code more clear
• Directed staff to proceed with the Laurel Street pathway, including a section of sidewalk between Hallinan and Cornell
• Directed staff to proceed with a number of changes to the Sensitive Lands regulations that can be done in 2014 without raising too much concern from Metro and DEQ (more extensive changes will be made in the first half of 2015, supported by more research and data)
• Joined other cities in Oregon in adopting a local tax on marijuana sales as a preemptive step in case the ballot measure passes
• Held a joint meeting with the Lake Oswego School Board

Recognizing Veterans
The nation will celebrate Veterans Day on November 11. A special "Honor Their Service" tribute will be held at our Adult Community Center at 2:00pm on the 11th. Many city staff members have served our country in the armed forces. Many have seen active duty in combat zones, and several continue to serve in the Reserves. One behalf of all your colleagues in the City of Lake Oswego, thank you for your service.

September 2014

Lake Oswego Brand
While we're not too bureaucratic about it (we have no Style Czar), we do have a style guide for printed material that is prepared for public use. It's available on the city intranet at http://lo-web1.ci.oswego.or.us/private/PublicAffairs/   Some of the reasons for following the style guide include:

1. A consistent look, so that printed material is readily identifiable as coming from the City of Lake Oswego.
2. A reminder that we offer a wide variety of services and that all departments are part of the larger city organization.
3. Maintaining high standards for the appearance of our printed material.

Continuous Process Improvement
The department directors met on August 12 to, among other things, discuss opportunities for "Continuous Process Improvement." The concept originated in manufacturing, but it can be applied to any process that results in provision of a service or good. It's certainly not new to our organization, and there are many examples of it happening right now: new police records and computer-aided-dispatch systems, moving to digitized documents that are available to anyone on the web, better methods for teaching CPR, an improved recreation registration system, a state-of-the-art water treatment plant, LED street lights, a new fueling system that automatically reads and stores the vehicle's vital stats, and many more.

What might be new (or newer) is the emphasis on continuous improvement. This means we allocate time and resources and have the discipline to be relentless in improving our service-delivery processes. There are two other critical elements of Continuous Process Improvement: 1) It has to be customer-focused, and 2) the best ideas and solutions come from the folks in the front lines who are directly providing the service.

Lake Oswego University
Building on the theme of Continuous Process Improvement, the text for September's Lake Oswego University sessions is Ken Miller's  Extreme Government Makeover. You don't need to be enrolled in LOU to read it; I highly recommend it to anyone on our staff. But for a "Cliffs Notes" short version, here are some good video clips from Ken Miller:

• Increasing government's capacity to do more good
• The 3 Myths That Keep Government From Radically Improving

In his book, he makes these points.
First, before trying to improve a process, do these things:

• Make sure you're "in the right business." Do people still need the service? Does the problem that caused the creation of a regulation still exist?
• Understand the customers and their needs. Note: a prerequisite, emphasized in Miller's We Don't Make Widgets, is to be able to identify the customer, as distinct from owners (i.e., residents) and stakeholders (for example, special interest groups).
• Build a better widget. Before improving the process, ask yourself if the thing that comes out of the process should be improved.

And only after you've answered these questions, improve the process using these techniques:

• Triage: don't use a one-size-fits-all approach; tailor processes to the different needs and abilities of customers (example: the option for library patrons to self-check-out).
• Simultaneous processing (e.g., if more than one person needs to review an application, have them do it concurrently rather than passing the application from one person to the next).
• Find and eliminate bottlenecks.
• "Quit your batching," or, move things through a process continuously rather than letting them pile up to be processed in a batch.
• Eliminate backlogs. "The secret to dealing with backlog is to never get behind in the first place."

There's more, but this is enough for a blog!

Have a good Labor Day holiday; my thanks to our police and fire colleagues who will be on duty on Monday. See you on September 5 at the Lake Oswego Employee BBQ Picnic!
--Scott

August 2014

Take Time to Enjoy Our City Too!
There are a lot of activities for families to enjoy this summer. Here are just a few of them:

 

• Wednesday evening concerts. 7pm at Westlake Park in August
• Sunday evening concerts. 6pm in Millenium Park
• Movies in the Park. Two more in August -- Thursday evenings at Millenium Park.
• National Night Out -- a whole bunch of block parties. Tuesday August 5
• Library events in a variety of times and venues
• Farmers Market -- Saturday mornings at Millenium Plaza
• Collector Car & Classic Boat Show -- 10-3 August 19, George Rogers Park and Lakewood Bay (sponsored by Oswego Heritage Council)

And remember to keep your calendar clear for our staff picnic on Friday, September 5.

Continuing sagas...

• Late at night on July 30, the Development Review Commission voted 3-2 to deny the application for development of Block 137 (Wizer). A final decision and adoption of findings is scheduled for August 18. Decisions of the DRC can be appealed to the City Council.
• A milestone in the WEB sale is fast approaching: the end of the buyer's "due diligence" period and the deadline for a non-refundable earnest money deposit ($250,000). Stay tuned...

Delighting Customers is the topic of a special Lake Oswego University presentation at noon on Tuesday, August 14 in Millenium Park (at the pergola). Our guest speaker is Dr. Eric Allenbaugh, a Lake Oswego resident and nationally-recognized speaker and writer on organizational leadership. Please join us, whether or not you are officially registered for LOU.

Speaking of customer service, a resident called to tell me how impressed she was by the quick and personal response they received from staff of the Engineering Department. Another resident thanked us for addressing a neighborhood issue involving hedges and right-of-way; that one involved a team approach from engineering, streets, and citizen services. Another resident told me how pleased he was with the response from a police officer and the police chief in dealing with a noise problem. A resident used the citizen request system to compliment the street department for fishing her keys out of a storm drain: "I wanted to let the City of Lake Oswego know that they have hired two outstanding employees... who truly serve the city." Complaints help us improve our services, and we know we should welcome them. But it is nice when folks take the time to let us know when they catch us doing good, too.

July 2014

News & Events

Pardon Our Mess!  There is work going on all over town. LO-Tigard water project, Kerr Parkway, PGE transmission line upgrade, and much more. The city web site and LOTWP website have maps and schedules to let folks know what's happening when.

Wizer (Block 137) Development. The developer submitted revised plans on June 2. See the web site for information about the project, including the developer's narrative description of the changes they made in response to concerns from the Design Review Commission. It will probably be scheduled for DRC consideration again in late July.

West End Building. On June 3, the City Council approved a purchase and sale agreement with Nick Bunick for the WEB. It gives Mr. Bunick two months for his "due diligence" inspection of the property, and to arrange financing. For the time being, at least, the agreement assumes that the current city uses of the building will continue. Stay tuned...

Lake Oswego University is taking a brief summer break...and is also inviting new enrollment for the fall term. Classes meet over lunch on the second and fourth Thursdays (starting again on September 11). No prerequisites necessary; just an inquiring mind. If you're interested, please contact LOU Provost Anne-Marie Simpson. For continuing students, no need to re-register; see you at the special summer session on August 14 (with no reading homework!).

Personal Notes

For many organizations, summer is a relatively quiet time. For cities like ours, summer is the busiest time--construction projects, events like the 4th of July parade, Farmers Market, concerts and movies in the parks, and the list goes on. At the same time, we want to enjoy the Oregon summer weather with our families, and travel while the kids are out of school, so we're often short-staffed. Thanks to all of you who get us through it and make it all work.

"How come my colleague got a birthday card from the city manager, but I didn't?" -- Lonely in LO.
Dear Lonely: Don't feel left out! The cards are commemorating birthday milestones that end in a zero...so the most you'll have to wait is nine years.

Finally, our hearts go out Fire Lieutenant Kevin Soyk who lost his son Hayden in a car accident.

June 2014

Policy & Administration
Some local guest columns in the LO Review accused city staff of not following city council policy direction. I don't believe there was a factual basis to the charges. Nonetheless, it's always good to reaffirm our commitment to our system of representative democracy.

The city management profession adopted a code of ethics in 1924, and ever since, adherence to this code has been the only qualification for membership in the International City Management Association. The code includes these tenets:

Tenet 1 -- Be dedicated to the concepts of effective and democratic local government by responsible elected officials and believe that professional general management is essential to the achievement of this objective.

Tenet 5 -- Submit policy proposals to elected officials; provide them with facts and advice on matters of policy as a basis for making decisions and setting community goals; and uphold and implement local government policies adopted by elected officials.

Tenet 6 -- Recognize that elected representatives of the people are entitled to the credit for the establishment of local government policies; responsibility for policy execution rests with the members [and staff].

A colleague once summarized it this way: "Our councils have the right to run our cities into the ground, and we have the duty to help them." There's some hyperbole here, but truth too: the elected city council members own the policy domain, and they hire us to carry it out.

To me, it's odd the issue has even come up. We sought direction on policies and goals from the City Council at their January retreat, and carrying them out has driven much of our work. The comp plan update is complete, the implementation package for the sensitive lands revisions is going to the Council on June 3, we're making significant progress on catching up on the backlog of street maintenance, and we've negotiated a sale agreement for the West End Building. These are all significant council goals for 2014.

City council policies are subject to constraints: laws of nature and economics; laws of the state and federal governments. But here too, if council policy requires it, we need to push the boundaries of these constraints as far as we can. The State of Oregon has spent the past half century removing, piece by piece, local home rule authority, and I believe we have a responsibility to the community we serve to restore local control. But that's a topic for another time...

May 2014

City staff gave David Donaldson a nice send-off for his new job as Vice President for Human
Resources at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo.

I've been contacted by colleagues from around the state, interested in the position. This speaks well of the desirability of Lake Oswego as a place to work. Over the past nine months, I have relied heavily on David's knowledge of the organization and community, and for me, his ideal replacement would be an individual with a similar knowledge and insight. For this reason, and to provide a promotional opportunity for our highly-qualified staff, I plan to do an in-house recruitment for the position.

Nick Bunick has made an offer to purchase the West End Building for $20 million. He has stated his willingness to allow city staff and facilities to remain in the building even after he (or his nonprofit organization) purchases it. We're still working on the details of a purchase & sale agreement, and the whole thing is contingent on his ability to secure financing. We'll keep you posted...

The Evergreen Development Group is still back at the drawing board, working on modifications to their design for the Wizer (Block 137) development. We expect they will have something ready for the Design Review Commission soon. 

It will be a busy summer for construction projects, and an obstacle course for LO residents (and city staff) trying to get around town. See the construction schedule and construction schedule and map.

As I write, the Budget Committee is still meeting and deliberating on the 2014-15 budget. The proposed operating budget is a "hold-the-line" budget. Most of the interesting decisions center on the capital improvement plan (how to finance the upgrade to the Operations Center, long term funding of street improvements, etc.). The budget preparation process gave departments more authority and responsibility over their own budgets (see the "budget process and philosophy").  While they do tend to be fiscally conservative, several of the appointed members of the budget committee have managed large organizations themselves, and understand the reasons for this approach. We expect the committee work to wrap up on May 8.

The planning staff have made significant progress on a replacement for our current "sensitive lands" regulations. A full package of proposed changes will be reviewed by the City Council in a work session on June 10.