Agenda - Council Work Session - 10/03/2006

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Interview Summary Over a 3 week period, interviews were conducted with the City Administrator and 5 Department Heads, and 2 focus groups of city employees to develop qualitative data regarding organizational effectiveness. Below are the general concerns expressed by a majority of the interviewees, in no specific priority order. Critical Issues The critical issues most often mentioned were traffic, the extension of utilities to northern Ramsey, and the ongoing Town Center activities. There is also concern over recreation programs, including youth and senior activities; provision of cultural facilities; housing rehabilitation and the addition of town homes and rental housing; commercial crime; municipal finances; taking back sewer/water billing duties, and environmental issues. Lastly, there is a concern that the updated Fiscal Impact Study will show a slowdown of revenue from Town Center, making it difficult for the City to meet its service and staffing needs. Comparable Communities When asked what communities Ramsey would compare itself to, the most frequently mentioned examples were Blaine, Savage, Maple Grove Woodbury, Eagan, and Lakeville. The most common reason given is that these communities are creating identifiable city centers through mixed use development. However, most participants followed up by noting that Ramsey has a transit -oriented component with the North Star Corridor that will make it unique. Mission and Direction The City currently has no official Mission Statement. After speaking with members of Council and staff, it seemed that most agreed that an understood Mission Statement was "To provide cost-effective city services with high quality customer service to Ramsey residents and businesses." Strengths and Weaknesses There are concerns as to whether or not the understood Mission can continue to be met over the next 3-5 years, given current staffing levels. Demand for services continues to rise, making the personalized customer service more difficult to provide. Staff listed several examples of more professional, less personal service provision, which has led to concerns over a loss of quality. Many noted that there is often no time for follow-up or to focus on the details. Meeting service demands with good response times, while keeping tax rates at a reasonable level to keep living and working in Ramsey affordable seems to be the balance that everyone is trying to achieve. There is a perception among staff that they are losing ground in this battle and that service priorities need to be set. Despite the focus on day-to-day efforts, there is pride among staff the work they do. Springsted heard many examples of innovations aimed at reducing the time spent on paperwork, so that staff could be . available for more face-to-face contact with citizens. We also heard examples of departments working together, rather than getting bogged down in disputes about `turf.' Morale is good, but there is a growing feeling that the city is not taking care of the people of the people it presently has, that there are more rules and less flexibility, and that new employees are being hired so quickly, the current staff hardly knows them. Also noted was the fact that the Council -staff relationship is the best it has been in years.' There is a lot of trust, but staff would like to see Council implement the results of the study, much like they did for equipment needs as a result of the last organizational effectiveness study. Frequently mentioned was the cutting of the Communications position in the final budget as a step backwards in meeting personnel needs; many respondents expressed the hope that this trend could be reversed.