 |
|||||
|
City retreat: the good, the bad and the endless
by George Wiley
When 22 participants gathered at the Knob Hill Community Center last week for a Redondo Beach staff and city council day-long "retreat," part of their task, as defined by moderator Marilyn Snider of Snider and Associates, an Oakland-based service that directs such get-togethers, was to list the city's good and bad points.
While not alarming, the results of that listing were revealing.
Under "What's Going Well With the City of Redondo Beach?" participants came up with the following: Crime has decreased; we have a city manager; facilities have improved; community outreach has improved; there's better teamwork around city hall; there's improved employee morale; the appearance of the harbor has improved; the big power plant (AES) is being reduced in size; services provided to the public are incredible; citizen satisfaction is up; there is improved maintenance throughout the city; the rolling stock (cars and trucks) looks cleaner, and the fleet is in better condition; traffic accidents are down; employee trust of the administration is improved; the city is getting more sophisticated with technology.
That was the good.
The "bad" list was longer.
Under Snider's heading "What's Not Going as Well as You Would Like With the City of Redondo Beach?" were listed: No long-range capital improvement program (public facilities improvement funding) plan; insufficient manpower; not enough progress on five-year technology plan; long-term AES project lacks interdepartmental communication; not enough computer support staffing; impacts of deferred maintenance are showing; too many frivolous lawsuits; city council is not participating in setting goals for the city; there is interdepartmental turf anxiety and lack of coordination between departments.
Other listed flaws were: Aging work force; lack of communication with the Chamber of Commerce and the Visitor's Bureau; no signed agreement with employees' union; salary ranges out of adjustment; no accountability for department program budgets; city council's lack of confidence in staff; outdated core financial system; lack of meaningful performance measures; inadequate work spaces; community expectations are extremely high about what government can do-we don't say 'no'; unwillingness of staff to tell council it is trying to do too much and lack of council listening to staff concerns; web page presents poor image of city; slowness in filling job vacancies.
Snider directed the city employees attending the meeting to address some of these concerns with specific action plans, but many items on the good and bad lists were simply left as observations.ER