POL POSITION:

The Newport Beach City Council understands that citizens are the customers who are being served by city government and the ones whose taxes pay for the cost of providing these services.

Our citizens have a right to expect city government will be operated in a competent, courteous, responsive manner and that their tax dollars will be used in an effective and efficient manner.

The City Council recently adopted the Services and Benchmarking Initiative that will provide for an assessment of the city’s service delivery systems to determine what actions should be taken to improve the overall productivity of the organization, systems, procedures, staffing, facilities and operations of the city of Newport Beach.

Good government listens and then responds. The first step of the three-step process is to survey our business community and residents.

How can the city know what the level of satisfaction is among its customers if it does not ask them? The City Council values your opinion and wants to know what you think is working well and what needs to improve. The priorities of the community as represented by the council will direct the city to focus its attention and give priority to those areas of service that most need improvement.

Do you feel the city is serving you well? Do you believe the services you receive are effectively administered? Are the city departments providing services in a responsive manner? Are the facilities and infrastructure at a level that is satisfactory to you? Are there services that are not currently provided that the citizens believe should be provided?

An independent national leader in market research will conduct the survey. The survey will utilize a sample of at least 600 residents.

Although Newport Beach is a beautiful and unique community that has no identical twin, we believe the residents deserve to know how the satisfaction levels with the delivery of city services compare to those reported in other jurisdictions. Therefore, the survey results obtained from our citizens will be compared to those collected in other cities across the nation.

The City Council directed the three of us on the Council Finance Committee to prepare the groundwork of the Services and Benchmarking Initiative for their review. The committee will provide the initial blueprint on this vital initiative to council. We are formulating the recommended actions needed to implement this initiative to maintain a culture and operation that values excellence, productivity and efficiency.

The second step will be to identify performance measurements that measure results for each department. For example, review of plans to modify your home will be completed by planning within a specified time period. Indicators will provide the City Council and staff the tools necessary to measure the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of the service delivery system.

The third step, upon City Council appropriation, is an audit and assessment to determine the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the organization and operations. It is an established practice in both private and public sectors to assess productivity capacity by scheduling periodic audits or assessments by independent third parties that specialize in making these reviews.

An assessment may include a diagnostic review of operations, budget, staffing levels, workload assignments, management practices, systems review, and a review of the checks, balances and division of responsibilities within the city. Operational expenses have grown from $98 million to $150 million in five years and less than a nickel of every new General Fund dollar is going to projects. Government must allocate scarce resources for maximum community benefit.

The city will undertake this long overdue checkup to help position itself to meet current and future challenges and needs in the community. The committee will use this assessment to make recommendations on strategies and actions to improve performance.

It is important to note that we are not undertaking this process because we believe that city services are somehow deficient, indeed, we believe municipal services in Newport Beach are among the best in America. High performance organizations, however, should always be challenging themselves to do better and to get honest feedback.

Bottom line government accountability is what residents think of city services and if these services are being delivered in a cost-effective manner. The City Council will be working closely with our employees to improve responsiveness and efficiency in city government through The Services and Benchmarking Initiative.

LESLIE DAIGLE, KEITH CURRY and MICHAEL HENN are members of the Newport Beach City Council and the Newport Beach Council Finance Committee. PHIL BATCHELOR, the city’s financial consultant on the Services and Benchmarking Initiative, contributed to this article.