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HomeMy WebLinkAboutweekly newsletter Date: January 25, 2013 To: Mayor & City Council From: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Subject: 1.ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STAKEHOLDERS UPDATE : On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to meet with various economic development stakeholders from throughout the community to discuss the Prager Report on economic development and where we take it as a community. A facilitator assisted us in the discussion, which went over the study, asked questions regarding improvement of economic development in Oshkosh, and consequences if we did not improve, as well as what next steps we can take to improve economic development as a community. I believe this discussion was consistent with the direction Council confirmed at Tuesday’s meeting. Following a discussion of nearly two hours, the group generally agreed that a smaller group of stakeholders representing a broad range of businesses, non-profits, and other governmental agencies need to discuss the functions that are needed to achieve economic development success in our community. Specifically, we need to define economic development for our community and create a vision for what we want our community to be from an economic development standpoint. We also need to establish specific goals and objectives that we would like to achieve in economic development. One of the major discussion points that was largely agreed upon was that there needed to be metrics to hold everyone accountable for success in economic development. At the same time, it was recognized that whatever is done with economic development, we cannot lose the strengths that we have already acquired over the years that have enabled us to achieve earlier successes. The overwhelming consensus was that we needed to talk about the functions of economic development before any discussion on form takes place. Once we have general agreement on these goals, objectives and long-term visions, and the metrics to achieve them, perhaps we can have a more substantive discussion on what form that might entail, however, we want to avoid discussions of structure until we have mutual agreement on where we want to take economic development. I saw this as a positive outcome and reflective of all of the stakeholders’ commitment to economic development. I asked for the various stakeholders to identify a single person who can serve as their representative to discuss these economic development goals. We expect this group to number approximately eight people, which would give us a more focused group. We also discussed the possibility of using additional facilitation services to assist in the leg work that this group of people may need to further these goals. I will be taking these names submitted to me and organizing a smaller group meeting in the next week or two so that we can begin our work as soon as possible. I will keep Council apprised of progress that the group is making, as well as inform other interested stakeholders who were generous with their time to provide us with this input. Weekly Newsletter January 25, 2013 Page 2 TH 2.NEIGHBORWORKS PRESENTATION ON FEBRUARY 12 : At Tuesday’s Council Meeting, Council indicated its support for NeighborWorks to make a presentation to the Council th at your February 12 meeting, at which time NeighborWorks would provide a summary of its 2012 accomplishments, as well as a summary of its 2013 initiatives. In anticipation of this meeting, please find enclosed an executive summary of a Good Neighbor Grants application that NeighborWorks is submitting to fund some of its programs for 2013. The program highlights 37 property improvements that have been completed, or are nearly completed, in several of their target areas during 2012. The most powerful statistic that I drew from this report is that of the approximate $35,000 dispersed under this program, which has resulted in an added value to the neighborhood of over $200,000. This added value includes the estimated combined value of time, effort and money invested in each project, as well as the social capital brought into the neighborhood as a result of these investments. I believe the testimonials from fellow neighbors indicate that these investments are achieving the key objective of encouraging others to invest in these neighborhoods as well. I hope that this information is of value to you in anticipation of th NeighborWorks’ February 12 presentation. If there are any other pieces of information that you th would like to see at this February 12 meeting, please contact Community Development Director Allen Davis. Given that one of NeighborWorks’ objectives is to create additional neighborhood groups in 2013, I will ask Mr. Davis to make sure that NeighborWorks addresses this issue as well during their presentation. 3.PERFORMANCE DATA FROM INSPECTIONS DIVISION : Community Development Director Allen Davis and Chief Building Official John Zarate provided me with a report of the Inspections Division’s performance statistics for 2012. This explains their division from a performance management standpoint, and I think it can serve as an example to other departments of what we can demonstrate to the Council and public about our performance. I hope that this also serves as something for Council to review in terms of what you’re hoping to see from a performance management standpoint. One of the things that Messrs. Davis and Zarate have emphasized in terms of service is focus on being responsive to our customers. Specifically, for the Division’s Strategic Plan, they speak about being more responsive to citizens, business owners and developers by improving delivery of service, specifically on-time performance. In addition to the workload statistics of number of permits and phone calls, they have set a very aggressive goal of achieving a 95% on-time performance for availability, plan reviews, and inspections. As you review the performance statistics, they are exceeding this performance measure quite well. Furthermore, the improvements that the Division has made in the past year are also noteworthy. You have also heard me mention on previous occasions the fact that we are now issuing building permits on a first visit to City Hall 85% of the time, compared to 35% in previous years. Beyond that measure, it should also be noted that we are now completing plan reviews in less than four days, with a target completion of having plans reviews completed in less than five days, so we are more than meeting this goal. Furthermore, by comparison to previous years, the average time to complete plan reviews has decreased by more than five, which represents reduction time to complete these reviews by more than half. I am so proud of the improvements made by our Inspections Division, and I wanted to make sure that these statistics were highlighted so that Council could see the results that can come from a dedicated group of employees who are committed to improving their performance and their service to the public. I think that this is just the beginning of what you will see other departments achieve in our quest to better serve the public. Weekly Newsletter January 25, 2013 Page 3 4.DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS & UPDATES : Other items I’m enclosing with today’s th Newsletter include the minutes of the following meetings: The minutes of the December 17 th Housing Authority meeting; the minutes of the January 16 Transit Advisory Board meeting; and th the minutes of the January 17 Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee meeting. The last item I’m enclosing is the weekly wrap-up from Museum Director Brad Larson to the Public Museum Board, highlighting the Museum’s activities over the past week. th 5.UPCOMING MEETINGS : Meetings I have scheduled for the week of January 28 include the th following: On Monday, January 28, at 1:30 p.m., I will be holding a virtual meeting with all city employees to discuss goals and objectives relative to the recently adopted Strategic Plan, particularly as they relate to employee engagement and creating a performance culture that are th identified in the plan. On Tuesday, January 29, at 10:00 a.m., I am meeting with Dennis Tweedale of the League’s Mutual Insurance Company to discuss issues that will be facing the Board of Directors in the coming year. On Tuesday, at 3:00 p.m., I am meeting with Doug Jarmusz of the UW-Oshkosh Business Success Center to discuss potential uses of interns in the city to achieve various goals and objectives. On Tuesday, at 5:15 p.m., I will be joining Council Members and Department Heads in the visioning focus group at the Public Library. Please note th that the location will be held outside of City Hall. On Wednesday, January 30, at 1:00 p.m., I will be attending an event at UW-Oshkosh to celebrate 100,000 rides by UW-Oshkosh students on GO Transit. On Wednesday, at 4:00 p.m., I will be attending the United Way Board meeting. On st Thursday, January 31, at 10:00 a.m., I’ll be meeting with staff and DNR representatives regarding the Buckstaff property. On Thursday, at 4:00 p.m., I will be attending the Chamber’s st Business Expo at the Convention Center. On Friday, February 1, I will be in Madison for most of the day to attend the League of Wisconsin Municipalities Board meeting. Finally, on Saturday, nd February 2, at 1:00 p.m., I will be attending Professor Nollenberger’s Policy Analysis Class to discuss the 2013 Citizens Survey that his class, once again, will be conducting for us. If you have any questions regarding my attendance at any of these meetings, please do not hesitate to contact me. MAR/jdc Enclosures