SAN CLEMENTE : Consultants Give City Good Grades

The city’s services and departments are “pretty productive . . . and well managed” with the exceptions of the Police Department and maintenance services, according to an organizational audit reviewed in a special City Council meeting.

The report, done in three phases by the consulting firm of Hughes, Heiss & Associates, suggests restructuring some departments to be more cost effective, from top management down. It also recommends disbanding at least one and maybe two of five city committees and commissions.

Although some implementation has already begun, the City Council formally accepted the report on a 4-1 vote Wednesday and directed departments to begin exploring ways to implement the plan to increase efficiency.

City Manager Michael W. Parness said the council commissioned the audit last year after learning that the city needed more economic development and tax dollars to survive the next 20 years.

Although council members said they were pleased to learn that the city has a relatively low amount of administrative fat, Councilman Thomas Lorch said he disagrees with most of the findings and voted against accepting the report, even in concept.

“I think some major shake-ups are recommended at this point that cannot be accepted in concept,” Lorch said.

Among the report’s findings were performance and cost inefficiencies in the Police and Fire departments, streets neglected by an overstaffed maintenance division and irregular lines of authority.

In addition, the consultants found little justification for the Human Resources Committee and the Community Design Commission. They recommended disbanding the Human Resources Committee, saying it has “achieved little” in its three-year history and had “little sense of direction, no plans and no real defined goals.”

The report also suggested that the council consider eliminating or limiting the design commission, calling it “autocratic and dictatorial in dealing with applicants.”

Police Department patrol squads, while adequately staffed, are slow in responding to priority calls, the report said. Yet up to 44% of officers’ time is uncommitted. Conversely, the department’s dispatch center is understaffed, as is the city jail, creating a liability risk for unsupervised inmates.

The consultants recommended reassigning patrol officers for peak hours and adding two dispatchers and five positions for jail supervision.

While the report praised the Fire Department’s emergency medical services program, it suggested increasing the fees for aid to ease the $260,000 burden on the city’s general fund. It also suggested dropping the firefighter reserve program and adding paid personnel instead.

In the city’s maintenance services division, too many functions and too much work bog down productivity, the report said.

The resulting problems include neglect of needed street repairs and preventive maintenance programs. The report recommended revamped repair and maintenance schedules and two new positions.

After the first phase of the consultant’s study, the division was removed from the scope of the Public Service Department, which is being disbanded, and included in a newly created Public Works Department.