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.

Special April 1 Edition

NEWS
The Katniss Everdeen Group, developers of Block 137, have abandoned plans to build a combined retail and housing project. They have instead secured tenants for the existing building. Proposed retail uses include a medical marijuana outlet mall ("biggest on the West Coast!"), the Lake Oswego Head Shoppe, tattoo parlors, a Piercing Spa, and exotic dancing. "No density, no dogs," said developer Kat Celery.

Not taking "no" for an answer, the Free Oswego Lake action coalition plans to airlift ski boats onto the lake this summer using Chinook helicopters. In response, the Lake Corp has put in an order for a surplus Dolphin-class submarine equipped with 650mm torpedos from the Israeli Navy.

The Dark Forest Neighborhood Association has nominated three vine maples along the fence of the Dark Forest School as Heritage Trees. "William Stafford's dog piddled on them," according to the nomination form.

City Manager Spot Lozenges urges all city staff to honor Earth Day (April 22) by bringing a worm to work.

REGION
Emboldened by Vladimir Putin, the Molalla Prairie Hamlet has annexed the south part of Oregon City and all of Molalla. "You has property rights too, ya know," said Commissioner Gassie Jones in a note of congratulations.

STATE
State legislators have hit upon a new formula to guarantee their reelection: first, create a pile of bad laws that mandate, limit, and preempt local government. Then, when those laws prove to be unworkable, emerge as heroes by superseding those laws by legislative fiat. "It really worked out well with the land use Grand Bargain," exulted Sen. Orem Bukshot (D-Toadleg).  House leaders noted that future targets include local property taxation, employee relations, public pensions, bids and contracting laws, and records and open meetings laws. "There is almost no limit to the bad laws we can supersede," said Rep. Margaret Beekeep (R-Piglick).

NATION
Foreign policy matters have distracted President Obama from his primary interest of "focusing on the economy." M. Friedman of the Chicago School of Economics noted, "Just as well; do we really want to trust our economy to the same outfit that gave us the TSA?"

March 2014

Meetings With Staff
One of my resolutions for 2014 is to meet individually with every member of the city staff. We've tried to block off Thursdays for this, and it's become the highlight of my week. I've thorough enjoyed learning about the background, talents, ideas, and interests of the folks working for the city.

Some staff members have asked, "when's our turn?" Anne-Marie Simpson is handling the logistics, and this is a challenge with different shifts and locations for staff. The last few weeks, I've been meeting with police department staff, and as our largest department, this will just take some time.

Quarterly Briefing
Anne-Marie has also scheduled the first 2014 city manager briefing on current issues and Q&A session for Wednesday, March 19 at 10:00 a.m. in the Willamette Room of the West End Building. Join us if you can. Free coffee and donuts!

News
The Evergreen Group, developers of the proposed Block 137 (Wizer) project have asked for a continuance of the Design Review process to see if they can address some of the concerns raised by the Design Review Commission.

On March 18, if everything goes as planned, the City Council will formally adopt the long-anticipated update to the Comprehensive Plan. Congratulations to the staff of the Planning & Building Department and to the community members who have worked so diligently on this project. It is a major milestone in the City Council's goals.

We were as surprised as anyone on Google's announcement that Lake Oswego is being seriously considered as a Google Fiber community. The availability of 1,000 megabit per second (gigabit) broadband service will be a fantastic opportunity for our residents. Google is asking for information on mapping, location of utilities, right-of-way permitting process, and other technicial information. At this stage, David Kudna in Engineering is the point person in communicating with Google. If our information seems OK--and we're confident it will be--Google will, later this year or early in 2015, invite residents to sign up to have their neighborhoods be the first served. For more information, see https://fiber.google.com/newcities/

Thanks to the staff of all departments, and especially Streets, for taking care of our community during February's snow storm. I attended the debriefing session on February 14, and was so impressed by the professionalism of our staff, and the willingness of departments to support each other.