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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 07251989 - IO.6 S L 'I'O: . Board of Supervisors '`� .........- LO. 6 i • FROM: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE _— DATE: July 17, 1989 'x.: osrA-COUr'1T� SUBJECT: PROPOSED RESPONSE TOTHE REPORT OFTHE 1988-89 GRAND JU RY ENTITLED "STRATEGIC PLANNING IN CONTRA COSTA COUNTY" Specific Request(s) or Recommendations(s) & Background & Justification RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. Adopt the following report of our Committee as the Board of Supervisors' response to the Report of the 1988- 89 Grand Jury entitled"Strategic Planning in Contra Costa County". 2. Refer this report to the Budget Committee to consider as the Board of Supervisors deliberates the 1989-90 County Budget. 3. Request the County Administrator and all department heads to continue to be alert for opportunities to do planning more efficiently. 4. Remove this item as a referral to our Committee. BACKGROUND: On March 3, 1989 the 1988-89 Grand Jury approved the attached report on "Strategic Planning in Contra Costa County". On July 17, 1989 our Committee met with staff from the County Administrator's Office and members of the 1988-89 and 1989-90 Grand Juries. We reviewed the proposed response suggested by the County Administrator and discussed the Grand Jury's recommendations with the members of the Grand Jury and the staff from the County Administrator's Office. At the conclusion of these discussions we formulated the following response,utilizing a format suggested by the Grand Jury in their final report,in which the Grand Jury requested that written responses to Grand Jury recommendations clearly specify: A. Whether the recommendation is accepted or adopted. Continued on attachment: YES Signature: Recommend ' f County Ad mistrator Recommendation of Board Committee �_A Other: Signature(s): OM WERS SUNNE WRIGHT MC PEAK Action of Board on: July zs, 1989 Approved as Recommended x Other Vote of Supervisors I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN x Unanimous (Absent — ) AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE Ayes: Noes: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON DATE SHOWN. Absent: Abstain: cc: County Administrator Attested eTs' 9 All Department Heads(via CAO) it B chelor, Clerk of the Board Foreman, 1988-89 Grand Jury of Supervisors and County Administrator Foreman, 1989-90 Grand Jury Superior Court Judge Wayne Westover By Deputy Clerk CLVM:eh(io-6) B. If the recommendation is accepted, a statement as to who will be responsible for implementation and a definite target date. C. A delineation of constraints, if a recommendation is accepted but cannot be implemented within the calendar year. D. The reason for not adopting a recommendation. This and all future responses to Grand Jury recommendations coming from our Committee will follow this format as closely as possible. RECOMMENDATION# 1: The Board of Supervisors direct the County Administrator to prepare a comprehensive interdepartmental strategic plan for at least the next five years. Elements should include, but not be limited to: * Statement of objectives. * Analysis of past history. * Needs, both met and unmet. * Services and resources necessary to meet needs. * Prioritization of needs and services. * What present services can or must be curtailed or expanded and which present resources can be maximized. * Developing programs to acquire additional resources. * An action strategy to implement plans. RESPONSE: A. This recommendation is accepted, subject to the availability of funds and the setting of budgetary priorities. B. The County Administrator will be responsible for implementing this recommendation, providing the Board provides sufficient funds to permit the development of a strategic plan as outlined by the Grand Jury. The attached report from the County Administrator is incorporated herein as a part of our Committee's recommended response to the Grand Jury. No target date for completion of such a strategic plan can be determined until the Board of Supervisors has considered and adopted the County Budget for 1989-90. C. Due to the time required to complete the type of strategic plan outlined by the Grand Jury, it is not possible to complete this recommendation during the current calendar year,even if sufficient resources were immediately available. RECOMMENDATION# 2: The Board of Supervisors provide adequate staffing and mechanisms to accomplish strategic planning. RESPONSE: A. This recommendation is referred to the Budget Committee so the Board of Supervisors can review the cost of its implementation in conjunction with all other priorities for funding which are likely to be presented to the Board of Supervisors during budget hearings. The County Administrator is requested to advise the Grand Jury after the adoption of the County Budget for 1989-90 whether sufficient resources have been made available to permit implementation of these recommendations. - 2 - C. Whether this recommendation can be completed during this current calendar year depends on the ability of the Board of Supervisors to provide sufficient resources in the County Budget for 1989-90 to implement this recommendation. RECOMMENDATION# 3: Systematic follow-up be made at least annually by the Board of Supervisors with the County Administrator and department heads to determine progress,examine new alternatives,establish priorities and modify the plan. A. The ability of the Board of Supervisors to adopt this recommendation is dependent on the implementation of Recommendations#1 and#2. B. If adopted, the County Administrator would be responsible for implementing this recommendation. Implementation of this recommendation implies an on-going process and an annual review which is not subject to a specific date by which its terms will be fully implemented. C. The nature of this recommendation anticipates an on-going review process and precludes its completion within the current calendar year. D. The Board of Supervisors has no problem with the concept of strategic planning. However, its effective implementation within a local government agency which is substantially dependent on decisions made by the State Legislature,Congress and various courts,is problematic. If adequate funds can be made available for these recommendations and the Board of Supervisors judges their implementation to be a higher priority that other pressing needs which also demand funding then the recommendations will be implemented. If such funding cannot be made available it is highly unlikely that the recommendations can be made available from existing resources. - 3 - Board of Supervisors ' FROM: Phil Batchelor, County Administrator DATE: July 6, 1989 SUBJECT: PROPOSED RESPONSE TO THE 1988-89 GRAND JURY'S REPORT ON STRATEGIC PLANNING Specific Request(s) or Recommendations(s) & Background & Justification RECOMMENDATION: Refer this proposed response to the Grand Jury's report on Strategic Planning to the Internal Operations Committee for their review and subsequent report to the Board of Supervisors. BACKGROUND: Webster defines"strategy"as a careful plan or method for achieving an end. "Strategic"is the adjective form of "strategy". Strategic planning then is a careful method for achieving a desired goal or end. Does Contra Costa County do strategic planning? Of course it does! Any time a department carefully defines a goal and then devises a structured way to achieve that goal, strategic planning is going on. Every time the Board of Supervisors makes a major policy decision and then directs staff to come up with a timetable and method for moving the County in the direction of that policy decision, strategic planning is going on. Among recent examples where such strategic planning has taken place are the following: The installation of a state-of-the-art telephone system for County services which has improved service and saved the taxpayers $2 million a year for at least the next 10 years. a The refinancing of all outstanding debt of the County in order to lower interest charges and improve the County's credit rating. a The implementation of a work alternative program in conjunction with the Sheriff,which allows prisoners to provide hundreds of thousands of hours of productive work. A similar program has been implemented for welfare recipients, which helps them obtain training and productive jobs. Continued on attachment: YES Signature:� �P Recommendation of County Administrator Recommendation of Board Committee Approve (Other: Signature(s):_Lq� Action of Board on: July 11 1989 Approved as Recommended Other Vote of Supervisors I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN Unanimous (Absent ) AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE Ayes: Noes: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON DATE SHOWN. Absent: Abstain: Attested Phil Batchelor, Clerk of the Board cc, County Administrator of Supervisors and County Administrator Foreman, 1988-89 Grand Jury By , Deputy Clerk SMH:a(eh)(franchbo) PROPOSED RESPONSE TO THE 1988-89 GRAND JURY'S REPORT ON STRATEGIC PLANNING July,6, 1989 Page -2- The installation of sophisticated computerized dispatching equipment in the Sheriff's new communications center to insure a prompt and accurate response to any citizen who places a call to 911. 4 The installation of a computerized fingerprint identification program, which is making it possible to apprehend more criminals and solve some as-yet-unsolved cases. The complete renovation and expansion of the Emergency Operations Center to handle all types of emergencies,including the inevitable"big"earthquake. 4' The construction of a new courthouse annex in Martinez. The construction and recent dedication of a new Sheriff's Patrol and Investigation Center. Each of these achievements was the result of long, carefully thought-out planning involving a number of County departments. Several instances have been pointed to recently which were attributed to a lack of planning on the part of the County. In most cases, these problems are due, not to a lack of planning, but a lack of money with which to carry out the planning which has been done. d Planning does not produce money to build a new County Hospital,although the County is continuing to do the planning,knowing that the money will be available one way or the other at some point in the future. Planning does not produce the resources to staff and operate the new West County Detention Center,although the County went ahead with planning the construction of the Center,knowing that it had to be done and that the money would have to be made available when the time came to open the Center. 4 Planning does not finance the replacement of an old sewer system at the Marsh Creek jail. In each of these cases there was plenty of planning. Everyone knew what was needed and what was to be accomplished. But what was lacking was money, not planning. If the County were to wait until the money was identified to construct a new County hospital,the current one would fall down around us. We must undertake several years of planning first so we will be in a position to move quickly when funding becomes available. If we had not undertaken the planning and construction of a new West County Detention Center until we knew where the money was going to come from to operate it, the Courts would in all likelihood have taken the decision away from the County and simply ordered the construction of a new jail. It required several years of planning to construct the West County Detention Center,during which time we were fully aware of what it would take to staff and operate it. The jail will open on time and will be properly staffed. Much inter-departmental planning also goes on. Each of the projects and accomplishments mentioned above required the cooperation and input from many staff in several departments in order to accomplish the project successfully and on time. In the human services area, the Board of Supervisors recognized the interdependence of many health and human services several years ago and established the Youth Services Board,which does planning and problem-solving in the Mental Health, Social Service, Probation and Education areas. The Board of Supervisors also recognized the inter-relationship of many human service programs in 1977 when the Human Services Advisory Commission was created to look at the possibility of setting priorities across program lines in the human services area. While much planning has been done in this area,the various state,federal and local funding streams which support our human service programs cannot, generally, be mixed or diverted from one program priority to another. The Board of Supervisors cannot,for instance,divert federal money from the Private Industry Council to support drug abuse programs for teenagers simply because the Board might feel that drug abuse programs are a higher priority. In many instances the program priorities are set in Sacramento or Washington,D.C. - not in Martinez. However, within these constraints the Board of Supervisors has taken a leadership role in the innovative use of funds. PROPOSED RESPONSE TO THE 1988-89 GRAND JURY'S REPORT ON STRATEGIC PLANNING July 6, 1989 Page -3- Currently working its way through the State Legislature is AB 899 (Campbell), which will create a more flexible financing mechanism for Contra Costa County so that the skills of social service, mental health, probation and education staff can be brought to bear on a family to avoid the need to place children in out-of-home care. This legislation,which has been carefully planned by an interdepartmental group of staff,and is sponsored by the Board of Supervisors, will allow the inter-disciplinary Family Preservation Program to be implemented county-wide. Despite all of the planning which is going on, there is probably always room for more planning. If we had some likelihood of being able to predict the future such additional planning would,no doubt,be extremely valuable. The major problem in this regard is being able to predict what actions the state and federal governments will take. Who could have predicted the availability of the Trial Court Block Grant Program a few years ago or when and at what level it would be funded? Who could have predicted the passage of Propositions 98 and 99 two or three years ago? Who today can predict exactly how much money the County will receive from Proposition 99 in the current fiscal year and for what purposes it will be dedicated? Perhaps the best local government can do is to forecast need without being able to forecast resources with any degree of precision However,there appearsto be little value in simply being able to forecast needs since the 1989-90Count Budget already has some $128 million in unmet and largely Justified needs identified. The issue before the Board of Supervisors is whether hiring additional staff to undertake additional planning of this type is a higher priority that providing drug and alcohol abuse prevention services to our young people,providing more adequate child abuse prevention services or arresting and prosecuting criminals. It would appear to be difficult to justify such priority setting. After the issue has been reviewed with the Internal Operations Committee it may be that the Board of Supervisors will want torefer theproposal to increase ourplanning capabilities to the Budget Committee to consider as the Board considers the 1989-90 Budget for the County.