Steering Group #1--Nature of the Interaction

 

Successes, Needs, and Progress Report in preparation for the February 18^th Joint Meeting

 

I.                  Steering Group Update

    

     After presenting our first set of recommendations to the Board of

     Supervisors and Planning and Development on December 2, 2003,

     the activity of Steering Group #1 has continued as follows:

 

          Group representatives met with Planning and Development on

          December 18 to get feedback, identify priorities and clarify the

          direction of the Steering Group. P&D was fully supportive and

          offered suggestions and points of contacts for proceeding with our

          recommendations. Additionally, some progress was already being

          been made on some recommendations.

 

The Steering group has identified successes, needs, and progress.

Additionally, the group identified issues that need to be reviewed

with the other steering groups.  The results of these deliberations

follow below.

 

II.      Website Improvement

 

                    a. Successes:

                             The Website has incorporated recommendations of the

                             subcommittee and is in the process of improving the

                             site. Improvements regarding availability of documents

                             and ease of use have been made almost daily. The

                             committee has received positive feedback from users

                             regarding these changes. Forms and instructions for

                             Planning Consultations have been downloaded and are

                             currently in process.

                  

                             The committee continues to work with the department

                             and monitor Website improvements.

         

                   b. Needs:

                             The sub-committee needs feedback from the other

                             Steering Groups regarding their part of the improvement

                             process as it pertains to the website.

 

III.           User Identification / Outreach

 

a.       Successes:

          The sub-committee has addressed the need for outreach

          to groups and organizations that are affected by Planning

          and Development to talk about the Improvement Process

          and provide updates as to the department’s activities. The

          goal is to provide positive communication with users.

         

          The Department spoke at the November luncheon of the

          Santa Maria Valley Economic Development Association.

          Other forums will become available.

 

b.     Needs:

          The sub-committee asks that other steering groups

          provide names of organizations and points of contact that

          they feel would be beneficial to the outreach process.

 

 

c.     Additional Action:

          The sub-committee will tackle the physical aspects of the

          counter to make the process more user friendly and more

          efficient. This includes the physical layout of the counter,

          availability of important materials and instructions. 

 

          The sub-committee is working on gaining focus group

          members to work on this specific aspect.

 

IV.            Public Awareness:

 

a.      Successes:

          The sub-group is working on a script and outline for a

          workshop that will cover the permit process. It will be

          made available to the general public and open for anyone

          to register for.

         

The objective is to provide this workshop and tape it so

that it can be distributed to libraries and consulting

agencies, viewed on cable’s Community Access channel,

and downloaded from the web site onto the applicants’

computer, etc.  There will be a short and long version.

 

          The goal of this project is to educate potential users,

          break through pre-conceived notions of the permit

          process, and take away confusion that may be

          associated with it. It will also help to put a human face

          onto a process and reflect a more open department.

 

b.     Needs:

          The subcommittee needs additional members and County

          contacts who will verify the script for accuracy and

          detail.

 

V.               Continuous Improvement

 

a.      Successes:

          Sub-committee noted that the importance of Continuous

          Improvement in regard to training of staff, etc. is being

          addressed by Planning and Development as well as

          Steering Group 4. Also under review is the One-Stop-

          Shop concept where elements of a permit can be

          accomplished in one place rather than involving different

          departments, different times and different locations.

 

b.     Needs:

To verify with Steering group #44 that they are

addressing the staff side of improvement including

training, effective procedures, reviews, etc.

 

c.     Additional Action:

          The sub-committee is working to gather focus group

          volunteers to work on elements that affect the public side

          of continuous improvement. This includes designing a

          suggestion form, the placement of suggestion boxes, and

          the timely response to complaints and letters from

          applicants and users.

 

VI.            Improving the Interaction

             

               a. The Steering Group has identified the need for a subgroup to

               deal with the often contentious atmosphere that exists on

              both sides of the permit process. The objective is to find

              common interests between parties and build on those

              rather than focusing on negative differences and creating

              a volatile environment. The goal is for both sides will

              come to a better agreement and understanding to resolve

              potential disputes before they get out of hand.

 

b. Needs:  This is a new Sub-committee. Focus group

volunteers are needed to adequately cover this topic. The

Steering Group is working to procure focus group members.

    

VII.        Items of Concern that may involve other Steering Groups

             

              These items were identified which may or may not be in review

              by other Steering groups. If not, they should be so that they do

              not fall through the cracks.       

 

a.      One-Stop-Shop concept. Other Steering groups need to

interface or have input regarding this.

 

b.     Certificate of Compliance – This should be accomplished

one place and one time instead of the current inefficient

manner.

 

c.     Due Process of Permits- Permits should be processed in a

timely manner PERIOD.

 

d.     Permits should proceed even when someone is on vacation

Often the processing of a permit stops for weeks because

someone is on vacation. This is unprofessional and unfair to

the applicant.

 

e.      Ways of opening up closed meetings to the applicant.

Scheduled meetings should be open so that applicants can

understand first hand the reasons for permits being delayed

or unapproved.

 

VIII. Conclusion:

                  

                   The members of Steering Group #1-- Nature of the Interaction

                   continue to work together to develop solutions that are

                   workable.

 

                   We have identified the need to interact with other

                   Steering Groups to verify that issues are being addressed and

                   that we are on the same page in regard to items that intersect

                   between groups.

 

                   Additionally, we have identified the need of additional

                   volunteers on the focus group level.

 

                   Some members have also noted that while some improvements

                   are being addressed, there is no shortage of examples of

                   inefficiency and apparent lack of common sense that exists

                   routinely in regard to permits and permit processing.

 

                   It is our hope and objective that this process truly creates a

                   positive change.

 

 

Dave Cross

Steering Committee Chair