SR 08-25-2015 4ACity Council Special Meeting: August 23, 2015
Agenda Item: 4.A
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Rick Cole, City Manager, City Manager's Office, Administration
Subject: Strategic Goals and SMART Metrics
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council establish three to five priority strategic goals
with measurable three to five year outcomes, with the goal of identifying game
changing priorities that will make a difference in community safety, wellbeing,
prosperity, quality of life, and sustainability.
Executive Summary
Santa Monica's elected officials, staff, and community members have been on the
cutting edge of innovative approaches to municipal services for decades. With high
levels of community engagement and a strong base of financial and staff resources,
City government is currently active on at least two dozen major project and policy
initiatives. The scope and complexity of these initiatives ties up the limited capacity of
the City Council and leadership team to manage them all simultaneously and to
effectively focus on the most critical ones. To better serve the community and more
effectively mobilize community partnerships, it will be helpful to select and commit to
deliver a manageable number of strategic goals.
Setting the top priorities is clearly the responsibility of the Council. Staff has assessed
current priority projects and policy initiatives with the goal of identifying options for game
changing priorities that will make a strategic difference in community safety, wellbeing,
prosperity, quality of life, and sustainability. With this retreat, staff seeks the Council's
active participation in identifying which three to five of the many significant things the
City is already doing should be the top priorities for the upcoming years. Once those
are identified, staff will work with the Council to clearly identify the measures for tracking
progress toward achieving those strategic goals.
Background
The City of Santa Monica's 14 departments provide a range of municipal services that is
highly unusual for a city of this size: police, fire, transit (a regional bus system and
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general aviation airport), water, wastewater, refuse, streets, parking, planning, building,
engineering, free public Wi -Fi, a high speed fiber optic network, parks, affordable
housing, economic development, pier, sustainability, library, rent control, recreational,
social, cultural, and educational services to the community. Approximately 2000 current
full -time employees deliver these services. Collectively, this work is meant to do
government's part to improve community wellbeing. The Wellbeing Project named the
factors that make a city thrive (outlook, community, place, learning, health, and
opportunity), measured them, and set a course for action and improvement. The
Wellbeing Index offers new data towards a shared understanding of the community's
strengths and needs, and encourages collaboration among City leaders, local
organizations, and residents to improve collective wellbeing. This information helps
government to set priorities and make decisions based on improving residents'
wellbeing, thus integrating quality of life considerations into City services and programs.
On June 21, 2011 the City transitioned to a biennial financial plan to improve efficiency
and overall management of the municipal organization. Each year City departments
establish goals and objectives to provide core city services and respond to emerging
needs. The FY2015 -2017 biennial budget includes 68 high -level departmental goals
and related measurements. Department work plans are the primary management tool to
track progress of broad goals and objectives and convey more detail than what appears
in the biennial budget.
Identification of three to five strategic goals will focus the attention of the City Council,
executive leadership team and community on the prioritized, game- changing project
and policy initiatives over the next three to five years. Naming the top priority strategic
goals will not diminish ongoing work on the many innovations, improvements, and
changes going on inside and across City departments, but will ensure that the most
important goals are successfully achieved
Discussion
The City of Santa Monica is nationally known as a City government whose
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groundbreaking project and policy initiatives and innovations have been widely
recognized and adopted. The City is a national leader on sustainability and has scores
of award - winning plans and projects across nearly every function. The City has a AAA
bond rating, invests heavily in social services, and recently launched a Local Wellbeing
Index, funded by one of only five grants made nationally by Bloomberg Philanthropies.
The completion of the $1.5 billion Expo line to Santa Monica is the result of decades of
community advocacy at the County level. Santa Monica will shortly launch the first bike
share program in the region. The City is engaged in a host of new efforts including:
expanding the fastest municipal fiber optic network in the country; seeking to regain
local control of land use at the Santa Monica Airport; implementing zoning regulations
for medical marijuana; adopting the Downtown Specific Plan; considering becoming the
second city in the region to adopt a municipal minimum wage; rebuilding the California
Incline; building the Colorado Esplanade from the Downtown rail station; moving
towards water independence and cutting overall water use; and more. The energetic
engagement of local residents and the pioneering spirit of Councilmembers and staff
have propelled the organization to take calculated risks, step forward, and embark on
efforts that other municipalities cannot.
Yet there are costs to this kind of flat -out appetite to simultaneously do more and better.
First, it skimps on the kind of careful vetting, civic engagement, and project
management that lays the foundation for success. This strain is particularly acute at the
funnel of twice - monthly City Council meetings and on the City's key executive leaders.
There is only so much time during Council sessions and only so much time in the
workday /workweek. Putting too much pressure on this funnel makes it a chokepoint
instead. Council meetings go into the wee hours and executive managers find
themselves spread too thinly. Minor oversights and omissions can cascade into costly
missteps. The strain of keeping on top of bubbling pots and constantly shifting projects
and policies between the front and back burners multiplies the risk of boil -overs and
burned fingers.
All this can, over time, erode external trust and internal pride. Working harder won't
solve the problem. Working smarter can.
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This starts with being strategic about being strategic. Not everything is of equal
importance. Not everything is of equal urgency. Balancing the important and the urgent
must be intentional and transparent. That means being clear about what is truly
important, sticking with that framework, and delivering the promised results on time and
on budget.
In the short run, it means being realistic about what can be realistically done. The
organization has the capacity to do almost anything. However, it does not have the
capacity to do everything
Setting the top priorities is clearly the responsibility of the Council. With this retreat,
staff seeks the Council's active participation in identifying which of the many significant
things the City is already doing should rise to the top priorities for the upcoming years.
Once those are identified, staff will work with the Council to clearly identify the
measures for tracking progress toward achieving those strategic goals.
It should not be overlooked that today's Santa Monica is the product of the cumulative
pursuit of strategic goals even if they were not always formally identified as such. Big
moves over several years and multiple budget cycles have decisively shaped the City's
physical landscape and organizational structure as well as the community's quality of
life and standard of living. The rehabilitation of the Pier, the creation of the Third Street
Promenade, securing construction of the Expo line to its terminus in Downtown are all
tangible examples of game changers that have influenced the City. Prudent fiscal
management to achieve AAA credit rating, fostering of active civic engagement, and the
partnership with the Santa Monica School District and college are examples of less
visible but equally important strategies that have had consequential impact. A list of a
number of such strategic projects and policies in recent years can be found in
Attachment A.
In preparation for this Council session, members of the City's Leadership Team
(managers, department heads, and CMO staff) worked in small interdepartmental
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groups to identify the many strategic initiatives underway throughout the organization
and the associated SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant & Timely)
metrics which foster accountability by identifying tangible outcomes and setting
deadlines for achieving them.
Members of the department head team (department heads and CMO staff) reviewed
and prioritized items, which were grouped in the following categories:
mobility
affordable housing
emergency preparedness
homelessness
planning and development
sustainability
technology
capital improvement and infrastructure
wellbeing
communication
The team then identified the strategic initiatives that once achieved will make a
difference and improve the quality of life in Santa Monica.
Staff is now presenting the Council with the following 12 strategic initiatives and
associated SMART metrics for consideration (see attachment B for detailed goals and
metrics) and seeks the Council's direction on the top three to five strategic goals as well
as the appropriate SMART metrics to focus on over the next three to five years. The
metrics, by and large, are reflected in the FY2015 -2017 adopted biennial budget. Others
appear on departmental work plans. A few arose through the recent discussion of
strategic initiatives and SMART metrics. All are suggestions for the Council's
consideration. Based on Council direction during the retreat, staff may fine tune some of
the metrics.
1. Providing world -class customer service to the community
2. Establishing a new model for mobility
3. Addressing homelessness
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4.A
4. Maintaining an inclusive and diverse community
5. Securing local control of the City land occupied by the Santa Monica Airport
6. Achieving water, energy and climate change sustainability goals
7. Safeguard Bergamot and the Civic Auditorium assets as cultural hubs
8. Providing affordable community -wide gigabit speed fiber and wi -fi connectivity
9. Strengthening downtown as a community hometown with local- serving and
cultural amenities
10. Expanding and improving the resilience of community infrastructure
11. Taking community civic engagement to the next level
12. Building on the partnership with SMMUSD and SMC to emphasize Santa
Monica as "a learning community" from Cradle to Career and beyond
This first cut is meant to give the Council a basis to mix, match, trim and change these
suggestions to a list of three to five clear choices for top priority strategic goals and
associated SMART metrics. Based on Council's direction, staff will adjust to ensure that
the goals and metrics are met within the desired time frames. This may involve shifting
appropriate resources to the identified initiatives, modifying the timelines on other
projects, or other efforts necessary to achieve the stated goals. It bears repeating that
essential City services and programs, work to meet Council's adopted policy goals, and
day -to -day service delivery will continue. Progress on the City's strategic goals and
SMART metrics will be reported during the annual budget adoption process at the time
the proposed budget is considered.
Alternatives
The Council could identify more or less of the presented strategic initiatives, could
create and prioritize different initiatives, and /or develop alternative SMART metrics.
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Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
There is no immediate financial impact or budget action necessary as a result of the
recommended action. Clearly, however, the identification of top priority strategic goals
and the commitment to achieving them will significantly influence future budgetary
allocations. And, current budgets and programs may need to be adjusted at mid -year or
other times to implement the strategic goals.
Prepared By: Rick Cole, City Manager
Approved Forwarded to Council
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MCK Cole, City Manager bi I Wzu 15 W o e, -City manager MM015
Attachments:
A. Priority Projects Over Time
B. Strategic Goals and SMART Metrics
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Attachment A
Strategic Projects and Priorities That Have Shaped Santa Monica
• Establishing Rent Control
• Rebuilding the Santa Monica Pier
• Creating the Third Street Promenade
• Developing and maintaining affordable housing
• Becoming a tourist destination
• Establishing the Special Office District
• Operating a regional municipal transit system (Big Blue Bus)
• Adopting and implementing the Sustainable City Plan
• Earning a AAA bond rating
• Supporting citizen engagement and neighborhood organizations
• Developing and maintaining parks and green space
• Partnering with SM -MUSD and Santa Monica College
• Developing CityNet (fiber optic system) and City wi -fi
• Offering General Fund grants to human service and arts organizations
• Being a Lifelong Learning Community
• Investing in capital infrastructure
• Implementing the Housing First model of homeless service delivery
• Adopting the LUCE
• Developing a Cradle to Career program
• Building a local Wellbeing Index
• Growing community resilience and emergency preparedness
• Drafting the Downtown Specific Plan
• Embedding the Expo light rail line in the City
• Working towards local control of the Santa Monica Airport
• Building new libraries (Main Library and Pico Branch Library)
• Nurturing Silicon Beach
• Earning a Class 1 rating for the Fire Department
4A.a
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Attachment B
Strategic Goals and Metrics
1. Providing world -class customer service to the community
2. Establishing a new model for mobility
a) Achieve a 1% reduction in Santa Monica -based PM Peak Hour
Vehicle trips between 2015 and 2019.
b) Achieve 1.70 citywide employer AVR by 2017, and 1.75 by 2019.
c) Achieve a 20% increase in PM Peak Hour Pedestrian and Bicycle
Counts between 2015 and 2019.
d) Achieve a 10% decrease in reported crash rate involving people
walking and biking from 2014 numbers
e) Create a Transportation Management Organization that will promote
and market transportation information, incentives, and other
strategies to reduce single- occupancy vehicle trips and increase
active transportation and transit.
f) Increase BBB ridership by 6% in first year of Expo Line operation.
3. Reducing homelessness
a)
w
Create 30 new, permanent supportive residences by 2020.
b)
Ensure 100% of all field and first responder personnel have
undergone mental health training to improve the quality of
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documentation collected and better connect homeless individuals to
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local and regional resources by June 2018.
c)
70% (206 of 295) of the vulnerable individuals on the Service
Registry will be permanently housed by June 2017. ¢
d)
In collaboration with County agencies and local hospitals establish a ai
sobering center within SPA -5 by December 2017.
e)
Secure 5 new medical detox beds by January 2017. n
f)
Implement a pilot street -based medical substance abuse treatment o
program by January 2017. v
4. Maintaining an inclusive and diverse community by increasing housing accessibility
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a) Create a stable funding source for affordable housing by placing a w
C
funding initiative on the 2016 ballot that would increase City w
revenues by approximately $12 million per year. Use the additional v
revenue to leverage financing for construction or rehabilitation of
150 affordable homes by 2020. ¢
5. Securing local control of the City land occupied by the Santa Monica Airport
6. Achieving water, energy and climate change sustainability goals
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4A.b
a) Reduce citywide water demand by 20% by December 31, 2016
b) Achieve a 20% reduction in community greenhouse gas emissions
by 2020.
c) Achieve water independence for the City of Santa Monica by
December 31, 2020.
d) Increase solar installations in the city by 500 kilowatts annually.
e) Increase green food waste diversion by 5% a year.
7. Building on Bergamot and Civic Auditorium assets as community and regional
cultural hubs
8. Providing affordable community -wide gigabit speed fiber and wi -fi connectivity
a) Increase number of fiber optic network circuits by 12% by June 30,
2016 and 5% more by June 30, 2017.
b) Expand free public internet access by increasing the availability of
free internet Wi -Fi hot zones and major corridors by 25% by June
30, 2017.
9. Strengthening downtown as a community hometown with local- serving and cultural
amenities
a) By 2021, create an additional gathering place within downtown that
can support locals- focused community events such as winter -time
ice skating, concerts, and recreational and cultural programming.
10. Expanding and improving the resilience of community infrastructure
a) Complete an average of 1/4 mile of new sidewalk, sidewalk
widening or significant improvements annually.
b) Rehabilitate 7 miles of streets per year.
c) Repair 25,000 square feet of sidewalks per year.
d) Apply 900 sidewalk patches and repair 800 potholes per year.
e) Perform approximately 200,000 square feet of general asphalt
repairs per year.
f) Replace 3,000 linear feet of water main each year.
g) Replace an average of 3,000 linear feet of wastewater main each
year.
11. Taking community civic engagement to the next level
a) Rather than have people come to the City, have the City go to
people. Pilot Policy and a Pint in 2016, a six - events -a -year program
with educational and entertaining topics relevant to everyday life.
Topics revolve around the intersection of government, business,
community, built environment, and personal responsibility; tie to
current events and forthcoming community issues.
b) Implement electronic chit submissions by February 2016.
c) Develop an interactive Council Agenda that incites community
participation, and provides an alternative to attending Council
meetings by May 2016.
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12. Building on the partnership with SMMUSD and SMC using City library, human
services, and other resources to emphasize Santa Monica as "a learning community"
from Cradle to Career and beyond
a) Improve the readiness of children in Santa Monica for
Kindergarten. Based on the Early Development Instrument,
increase the percentile of children developmentally On Track in All
Developmental areas 10% by 2019.
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