Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 05121998 - D2 D.2 THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA Adopted this Order on May 12, 1998, by the following vote: AYES: Supervisors Uilkema, Gerber, DeSaulnier, Canciamilla and Rogers NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Su ject: Presentation of the Annual Department Performance Report by Te County Clerk-Recorder On this date, the Board of Supervisors considered a departmental performance report (as attached)presented by Stephen L. Weir, County Clerk.-Recorder. The Board took the following action: ACCEPTED the report from Stephen Weir, County Clerk-Recorder, regarding departmental performance. I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown. ATTESTED Na ly 2. 2�9}8 _ Phil Batchelor Clerk of the Board "BarbaraS. ounty Administrator BY putt'Clerk c.o. CAO County Clerk-Recorder D 2, gg w, c .Ay tg`a m 4 x 'A Contra Costa County Clerk - Recorder Department Annual Department Performance Report Stephen L. Weir County Clerk-Recorder May 1998 1999 Department Performance Report Table of Contents Summary Report Section I - Department Overview A. Department Responsibilities B. Mission Statement C. Organizational Structure Organization Chart Section It - Resources A. Financial Resources B. Personnel Resources C. Affirmative Action D. Sick Leave E. Staff Development F. Automation Section III - Customer Service A. Service Delivery System B. Customer Profile C. Customer Relationships Section.IV - Annual Performance A. Performance Indicators B. Accomplishments Section V - Challenges and New Directions A. Challenges B. New Directions t Summary Report The County Clerk-Recorder's Office consists of two divisions'; the Recorder's Office and the Elections Office. These division receive support on department wide issues from Administration and Information Technology Divisions. The Recorder's Office is funded completely by fees and continues to generate a surplus which augments the General Fund. The Elections Office is funded from a combination of fees and the County General Fund. Mate and Federal elections are conducted with little or no reimbursement. Contra Costa funds those un-reimbursable costs, as well as County election costs, from the General Fund. The clients we serve in the Recorder's Office are those individuals who seek to record or access documents dealing with real property or receive information on vital records (birth, death, and marriage). The Recorder's Office also provides "pure" County Clerk functions such as Fictitious Business Name services, marriage license, as well as acts as an agent for the Federal Passport agency. In the Elections Office the clients we serve are individuals who wish to register to vote, vote in any County conducted election in Contra Costa, circulate petitions, or those who wish to run for office. For ease in administration, this report is the same format we use to brief the incoming Grand Jury every June, as well as new members of our Board of Supervisors. It has been a pleasure working for the County and the people of Contra Costa over the past year. I would also like to thank the Board and Mr. Batchelor's Administration for their support and assistance over the last year. I - DEPARTMENT OVERVIEW A. Department Reesponjilbilitles Elections Office The Elections Office provides services mandated by state and federal law. The primary responsibilities are: ► Voter registration and voter outreach programs. ► Maintain the voter registration file. ► Conduct federal, state, county, special, and local district elections. ► Accept, verify, and process nomination documents for public office. ► Prepare all election materials and provide sample and official ballots to all registered voters. ► Recruit and train precinct officials to staff polling places. ► Establish and revise precincts for changes due to population growth and district boundary changes. ► Accept, process, and verify signatures on initiative, referendum, and recall petitions. Recur er's Office The primary responsibilities of the Recorder's Office are as follows: Maintain and preserve all official records and indices relating to real property, subdivision maps, assessment districts, and records of survey offered for recording. ► Maintain records for all births, deaths, and marriages occurring within this county. • By law, the County Clerk-recorder is mandated to provide County Clerk services and document processing for persons interested in marriage licenses, notaries, and Fictitious Business Names. The Clerk-Recorder performs as an agent of the Federal Government for processing passport applications. The County Clerk is the Commissioner of Marriage for the County and oversees civil ceremonies within the County performed by Deputy Commissioners of Marriage. B. Mission Statement The Mission Statement of our Elections Office is a follows: Provide services to maintain a high level of voter registration to ensure that all eligible citizens of Contra Costa County are able to exercise their right to vote. Conduct elections in a fair, accurate, and efficient manner. Provide information and maintain a high level of service to the public and news media. Provide voter outreach services and act as an advocate for changes in legislation to increase voter participation. The Mission Statement of our Recorder's Office is as follows: To maintain and preserve all official records and indices relating to property and vital records in Contra Costa County. • To issue marriage licenses, file Fictitious Business Name statements, administer notary and other oaths, and accept filings as provided by code. ...................................................................I ''I'll, .................... .................................................................... .. ............................................................................ ................. C. Orcianization Structure US an .E 72 Clerk-Recorder Department lad b k 00 J= 4.0 w 03 ig N CN 72 72 C) ccs CO 1.20 oA b4 rr L *b 11 - RESOURCES A. Financial Resources 1. Elections Description: To conduct required elections in an accurate and timely manner, maintain a high level of voter registration, verify signatures on initiative, referendum and recall petitions; to provide data processing support to divisions of the Clerk-Recorder's offices. The Registration and Administration section maintains voter registration records, conducts voter registration outreach, verifies and certifies filed initiatives, referendums and recall petitions. The Election Services section issues, files and certifies nomination papers, prepares and mails sample ballots, candidate statements, measures, arguments and absentee ballots, and conducts elections. FTE: 24 Level of Discretion: Very Limited Cross Expenditures: $3,557,675 Financing: 1,274,377 Net County Cost: 2,283,208 Funding Sources: Expenditure Transfers 5.2% $ 185,000 State Aid 3.2% 114,377 Election Services 23.2% 825,000 Candidate Filings .3% 12,000 Equip Replacement-Sur 2.9% 104,000 Miscellaneous Services .6% 19,000 Sale of Documents .4% 15,000 General Fund 64.2% 2,283,298 Adjustment: Increase salaries by $368,432, services and supplies by $333,300, and decrease fixed assets by $24,000. Increase revenue by $200,000. The net County cost increase is $478,332. Impact: These increases reflect the Primary year of the elections cycle, two positions transferred to Elections due to the consolidation of the County Clerk, and two new positions. The new positions reflect the recommendation that came from the special Elections Task Force Study, which was presented to the Board of Supervisors. Of the $333,000 in services and supplies, $300,000 is for specialized printing required for the June `98 "open" Primary. This primary will require a dramatic increase in the number of ballots and inserts printed. 2. Recorder Description: To maintain and preserve all official records relating to real property, subdivision maps, assessment districts, and records of survey offered for recording; and maintain records of all births, deaths and marriages occurring within Contra Costa County. FTE: 31 Level of Discretion: Very Limited Gross Expenditures: $1,568,098 Financing: 2,465,000 Net County Cost: <896,902> Funding Sources: Expenditure Transfers .3% $ 5,000 Fees 156.9% 2,460,000 Adjustment: None. 3. Recorder Micrographics/Modernization Description: To provide micrographic capability and equipment to place all documents in the Recorder's office on film, and develop procedures to quickly identify and locate needed documents for the public and other County users. FTE: 12 Level of Discretion: No Discretion (restricted revenue) Gross Expenditures: $5,100,354 Financing: 5,100,354 Net County Cost: 0 Funding Sources: Fees 23.2% $1,183,432 Fund Balance 76.8% 3,916,922 Adjustment: Increase appropriations by $86,945 with fund balance. Impact: No negative impact. Action budgets available fund balance for future projects. B. Personnel Resources The Clerk-Recorder Department has 67 full time positions. These are distributed through the divisions as follows: Elections 29 full time employees Recorders 27 full time employees Information Technology 8 full time employees Administration 3 full time employees C. Affirmative Action The Clerk-Recorder Department values diversity and promotes awareness and understanding of cultural differences. The County Clerk--Recorder, Steve Weir, received a Certificate of Commendation from the Advisory Council on Equal Employment Opportunity and the Board of Supervisors in October 1996. This commendation recognized Steve Weir as a role model for other Departments to follow; having exceeded the labor force representation in all areas: Females, African Americans, Hispanics, Asian/Pacific islanders, and American Indians/Alaskan Natives. D. Sick Leave The Clerk-recorder Department has aggressively monitored sick leave usage. The Sick Leave reports are monitored monthly. Any abuse is brought to the Division Head's attention. In the past we placed several people on sick leave management programs. This is an extremely time consuming process. E. StaffD-e—yellopment Last year our division contracted with an agency to assist with staff development, as suggested in the Elections Task Force Report from 1997. The agency worked with each of the Divisions to help resolve old issues and open up communication, establish procedures and policies committees, create a mission statement, establish Core Values, and implement our new Performance Management Program. We have completed the initial phase and have continued on our own with Leadership and Staff Development programs. The Department Head holds regular one-on-one meetings with each Division Head, weekly Division Head group meetings, and monthly all manager and supervisor meetings. Each division holds regular meetings with their staff. This has helped to ensure communication in each department. In addition, our Performance Management Program requires each manager/supervisor to meet monthly with each employee to set goals for the next month and to monitor goals for the past month. All managers and supervisors (including Department Head and Division Heads) in the department attended a specialized Front-Line Leadership Program through the County's Training Institute. We have also had specialized follow up meetings with County Training Institute staff to help us keep on track. F. Autmation The Clerk-Recorder Department has a new Network Administrator who has been in place for almost one year. The Network Administrator assists the department with technology issues, problems, purchases, upgrades, and improvements. The projects we are currently working on include: 1} Signature Verification: The Elections Office is required to verify signatures on state and local initiative, referendum and recall petitions, candidate nomination documents, candidate petitions in lieu of ding fee, absentee ballot identification envelopes, and provisional ballet envelopes. The division is currently in the process of acquiring an upgrade and replacement of the existing signature verification system (SIRS) which will provide a faster and more efficient method to index and retrieve signatures. This system will be fully integrated'with the main election management system in order to provide voter look up, absentee voter data, absentee voter application and return information, petition checking and processing, and candidate filing information. 2) Ballot Counting: The Elections Office is also in the process of replacing and upgrading election night ballot counting. The new system is a PC-based system developed specifically to automate the functions and procedures required for ballot counting. This new system is a Windows NT based client-server application comprised of three components: 1) creating, maintaining, and reporting election data, 2) election night ballot counting, and 3) ballot counter diagnostics, election results and archiving, and application log reporting. The office recently acquired six additional ballot card readers, which will expand ballot counting capacity 43%. The new upgrade to this system provides for unlimited expansion of ballot card counters, whereas the existing system, has limited capacity. The readers were acquired for about 20% of their purchase price saving the Department and County over $100,000 had we bought new equipment. 3) Recorders Imaging System: We are more than half-way through the phased implementation of the Recorder's integrated imaging system. This is a state-of-the art PC-based system, which addresses all the major tasks in the office. These functions include the primary functions of recording, indexing, cashiering, and licensing. We have begun our imaging project as of the beginning of 1998. We are launching our Microfilm and microfiche projects this year. We plan to have the first phase of our WEB site up with public information soon. We intend to have our general index and Fictitious Business Name index available on the WEB, as well as general information regarding the Recorder's Office. 4) Major system changes: In the Recorder's Office we no longer microfilm. We still must produce microfilm for archival purposes, but we are no longer actually filming. Our new system will produce microfilm and microfiche from digitized images. We are currently working with the system in order to perfect the programs for good quality, prior to addressing the possibility of outsourcing our services to recoup a portion of this technology's expense. III - CUSTOMER SERVICE A. Service Defly-try System Service delivered is outlined in Section 1,A. The Department has very little discretion. With the exception of budget, personnel, and the County Campaign Ordinance, all of our procedures are established by State and Federal laws. B. Customer Profile Our customer profile is a member of the public seeking to marry, file a Fictitious Business Name, record or obtain copies of real property ..........I........... documents, record or obtain copies of birth, death, and marriage documents, use election services or exercise their right to vote, and those seeking public information on any of the above outlined areas. Our public records in the Recorder's Office are under attack by various individuals and anti-government groups. We have withstood such attacks and we have been credited as having the most defensible oath filing program in Northern California. C. Customer elationships A broad cross section of this County's population (mainly adult) access our records. The Recorder's Office houses much public information and to those without an ability to use a computer, the process can be frustrating. We assist customers by showing them how to use our system. Now with the conversion to an imaging system, our customers are finding more "customer friendly" screens. We are currently in the processof creating WEB pages for each division to allow customers Internet access to our public information. Concerns about the potential for voter fraud continue to be an issue to the press and to our general public. Because of the controversy'surrounding past elections, we have established two citizens board committees. First, we established our Citizens Ad Hoc Purge Committee. We developed a major purge program to reduce "deadwood" from our voter rolls. Second, we established our Elections Citizens Advisory Panel (ECAP) to monitor the state of elections in Contra Costa County. ECAP is made up of 13 members, 10 of whom are former County Grand Jurors (two from each supervisorial district, one from the Mayor's Conference, one from business, and one from the League of Women Voters). We strive to avoid customer frustration. My managers and I try to deal with problems and complaints in a diplomatic manner. Our Core Values have been established which focus on public service. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. .. .................................................................................................................................................................................................. W - ANNUAL PERFORMANCE A. Performance indicators Elections: I Cost per voter: 1996 $1 .92 1997 $1.87 1998 $1.90 (estimated) 2. Percent registered vs. those eligible to register: 1997 84% 1998 87% (estimated) Recorders: 1 . Number of documents, affecting the title to real property recorded and number recorded per employee: 1995 252,378 9,707/employee 1996 261 ,631 10,063/employee 1997 280,437 10,786/employee 1998 330,500 (est.) 12,711/employee (est.) 2. Annual deposits (total of all taxes and fees collected) 1995 $11 ,221,938 $400,783/employee 1996 $10,697,076 $368,865/employee 1997 $15,021,555 $500,718/employee B. Accomplishments Recorders: Implemented new imaging system, we will continue with the implementation of the final phases. Established a notification program for expiring Fictitious Business Name Statements with no additional cost to consumer. Established two standing committees made up of management and . . ............................. staff to address office policies and procedures and office physical environment. ► Begun implementation of the Performance Management Program. The purpose of which is to establish uniform standards to identify primary job responsibilities, clarify the specific duties that accomplish the primary responsibilities, and to monitor the performance of those responsibilities on a regular basis. Elections: ► Successfully conducted elections for the governing boards of 12 school and special districts and 7 cities, involving over 520,000 registered voters on November 7, 1997. ► Conducted four special elections successfully during the past 12 months. ► Implemented aggressive voter file maintenance programs in order to correct the voter roll. These programs reduce the people who are ineligible to vote because they have moved, passed away, or may have been convicted of a felony. Clearing the voter files of "deadwood" reduces elections costs and lessens the perception of voter fraud. ► Implementing the Performance Management Program. The purpose of which is to establish uniform standards to identify primary job responsibilities, clarify the specific duties that accomplish the primary responsibilities, and to monitor the performance of those responsibilities on a regular basis. ► Installed a new phone system to accommodate the large amount of _ _ calls received during election time. The system has been in place for over two months, training has been completed. > Established ECAP (Elections Citizens Advisory Panel) V - CHALLENGES AND NEIN DIRECTIONS' A. Chatlenaes The top issues of concern for each division during 1997/98 are: Elections: > Substandard working space, identification, development, and move to an appropriate location. > Continue team building and staff development. District/City consolidation of elections, and resulting changes in our work processes. Recorders: Space needs: Trying to implement new technology and its changing work flow processes have been difficult in the existing building space and configuration. As the Departments functions expand and additional equipment is implemented to provide those functions, we have found it difficult to locate the equipment and meet the technology needs (HVAC, scanning at the front counter area - no space to do it, PC's have custom monitors that don't fiton regular desks). Reorganization of department. Redistribution and upgrade of current vacant positions for better customer and staff service. Finding time for staff personal and professional growth is difficult ........................................................................................................................................11.11,11111.11 ..............I...................................................................... ............... when our operation is insufficiently staffed. ► No control over the Real Estate Market. We are at the mercy of the market and cannot always plan staffing for volume. Each year the number of documents we process increases though staffing levels have remained constant. ► The need for legislation to carry out pilot imaging program is necessary. Possible proposed legislation is in progress. B. Now Directions ► Identify, design, and relocate to a consolidated Clerk-Recorder- Elections Office. The Elections and Recorder's Offices are located in substandard space and provide a poor work environment. The Elections Task Force and Staff Development Consultants identified this substandard work environment as a consistent stressor for our employees. ► I have pursued relocation as a long range goal, beginning in 1989, when I became County Clerk. I have prepared for this by: arranging for cotermination of all three leases associated with my buildings and in 1992 conducting a study for new space. Funding for a new location has been identified through lease savings. Continue training, team building, and staff development. ► Continue implementation of technology innovation. ► Continue efforts to become computer friendly for the public as well as other county departments. This will include the implementation of WEB pages for both divisions, electronic recordings (State agencies, Federal agencies, Title Companies), optical character recognition .. ........ ................................. ....... ..................................................................................................................................... (Vital Records - birth, death, and marriage), and a PC-based tally system. The mission of our office is to give the maximum public support for our operations. We want to be the best Recorder's Office and Elections Office in California by the year 2000. This goal can be achieved with the support of the Board of Supervisors and the County Administrator.