CITIZEN INFORMED PERFORMANCE MEASURES

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1 CITIZEN INFORMED PERFORMANCE MEASURES College of Health and Public Affairs CENTER FOR COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS The John Scott Dailey Florida Institute of Government

2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report was developed at the request of the Florida Benchmarking Consortium (FBC) and as part of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant to facilitate citizen participation in government performance measurement. The Center for Community Partnerships and the John Scott Dailey Florida Institute of Government staff would like to sincerely thank John Becker and the FBC Steering Committee members for their constant support before, during, and subsequent to the five focus groups held throughout Florida. From the beginning of the citizen engagement process it has been apparent that the members of the Florida Benchmarking Consortium worked hard to ensure that citizens had the opportunity to participate in the focus groups held throughout the state of Florida. We would like to give special thanks to Professor Larry Martin, from the UCF - Doctoral Program in Public Affairs. Dr. Martin provided significant guidance in the development of training for focus group participants regarding benchmarking and the evaluation of community services. This report was prepared for the Florida Benchmarking Consortium through the efforts of the Center for Community Partnerships and the John Scott Dailey Florida Institute of Government, College of Health and Public Affairs at the University of Central Florida. It is the result of the efforts of the following individuals: Dr. Nancy Ellis, Director of the Center for Community Partnerships Marilyn Crotty, Director of the John Scott Dailey Florida Institute of Government Victoria Jennison RN, MS, Research Assistant, Public Affairs Ph.D. Candidate

3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Background In August 2007, the Florida Benchmarking Consortium (FBC) received a Sloan Foundation grant to facilitate citizen participation in performance measurement, called Citizen- Informed Performance Measure for Florida Local Governments. This award provided $45,000 over the course of eighteen months to address citizen participation in performance measurement. The project consisted of a three-pronged strategy for the development and incorporation of citizen-informed outcome measures into the FBC performance measurement process. The following strategies centered on facilitation of citizen input in the development and refinement of performance measures at citizen meetings, inclusion of citizens on service category committees and enhancement of the FBC website to serve as a vehicle for communication between citizens and local government representatives. Facilitation of Citizen Meetings The FBC held five one-day citizen focus groups throughout the state of Florida to facilitate citizen-citizen and citizen-fbc interaction. The goal of the focus group process was to illicit feedback from citizens on the kinds of measures that they would like to have their cities and counties implement in the evaluation of services. Inclusion of Citizens on FBC Service Category Committees The FBC has twelve established statewide service category committees, eight of which are appropriate for citizen input. They are: Police, Fire and Rescue, Planning/Growth Management, Code Enforcement, Parks and Recreation, Road Repair, Water and Waste Water, and Storm Water. The FBC goal is to seat two citizens on each of the eight service category committees and one citizen representative on the FBC steering committee. Enhancement of FBC Website for Citizen-Government Collaboration Currently, updates on the Citizen-Informed Performance Measures for Florida Local Governments initiative are posted on the FBC website. During the citizen engagement focus group process, citizens have been encouraged to log on to the FBC website ( to learn more about the FBC and developments with the citizen engagement process. Once the citizen-informed measures developed from the focus groups are incorporated into the benchmarking process, they will be placed on the FBC website to ensure public access. Citizen Engagement Methodology Dr. Ellis and Ms. Crotty identified the FBC jurisdictions and grouped them into regional areas., Volunteers from the FBC member jurisdictions were recruited at the October 2007 FBC conference to coordinate the focus group process in each region. Once the regional jurisdictions

4 were identified and geographically grouped, and regional contact leads were identified, communication materials were developed and disseminated. Five focus groups were scheduled throughout Florida during the months of February and March An additional focus group was added to the original four proposed to the Sloan Foundation in order to allow greater citizen participation and to and expand the geographic coverage area. The focus groups were held in southern and central Florida as the majority of FBC member jurisdictions are geographically located in those areas. One hundred and four citizens participated in the focus groups. In addition, some county and city employees observed their local groups and reported that they gained insight into the areas of greatest concern to their citizens. The first portion of each focus group meeting was used to familiarize participants with the Florida Benchmarking Consortium and to introduce them to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant, its purpose, and desired results. Participants were then provided with basic training information about outputs, outcomes, evaluation, and benchmarking practices. The focus group discussions were facilitated using the service categories as content area guides for group input. Flip charts titled by service category were used to record the comments from the group, and a group norm was established that supported the right of each person to contribute to the discussion. It became apparent during each of the focus groups that participants from across the state had very similar concerns with regard to both specific service categories and general observations across all of the service categories. These observations and concerns focused on the methods and procedures for determining how well services are performed, how services are evaluated, ways in which citizens can become better informed (including increased citizen education and information efforts), and ways to include citizens in the evaluation of community services including effectiveness, efficiency, and equity in service response and delivery.

5 Findings and Recommendations Code Enforcement Finding1: Focus group participants clearly want to have better access to, and understanding of, the code enforcement process and regulations. They want clear, concise information packets explaining code regulations and their responsibilities as citizens to ensure that their properties are meeting code requirements. The FBC code enforcement service category committee should seek ways to work with citizen representatives to identify methods to help local municipalities better communicate information about city or county codes to citizens. Citizens suggested such things as streamlined code information packets, internet access to code regulations, and direct communication lines to code enforcement personnel to answer questions about code requirements. Citizens want to be able to have access to operational information concerning code enforcement in their communities. They want to be able to determine such things as the time period from violation (complaint) to resolution and how to follow up on whether or not code complaints were resolved and how they were resolved. The FBC code enforcement service category committee should work with local governments to develop ways in which citizens have better access to code enforcement processes including the status of unresolved code violations possibly through a variety of venues such as written information, website communications, and town meetings. Finding 3: Citizens want to have stronger relationships with their code enforcement officials. They want to have more proactive processes in place for code enforcement and want to have incentives put into place that would encourage code compliance. In addition, they want code enforcement departments to consider using community volunteers to help with code enforcement activities in specified neighborhoods. Recommendation 3: The FBC code enforcement service category committee may want to explore creative ways in which citizens can have greater personal involvement in the application and support of code

6 enforcement requirements in their neighborhoods. These types of strategies could then be shared with FBC member jurisdictions. Finding 4: Citizens want to have the assurance that code enforcement is being applied in an equitable, consistent manner across neighborhoods regardless of possibly diverse demographics of the populations being served such as race, language, age, and/or income, Etc. Recommendation 4: The FBC code enforcement committee may wish to work directly with citizens to assess creative ways to monitor equity and consistency of code application across diverse populations. Fire and Rescue Focus group participants are interested in having access to operational outcomes for fire and rescue services in their communities. They want to know how well their fire fighters and rescue workers are doing in responding to emergencies. As part of that information, they want to know the response times for fire fighters and rescue workers, the number of people using 911, the types of calls, and whether or not services are available for special populations such as the elderly and handicapped people living at home. The FBC fire and rescue service committee may want to work with member jurisdictions to assess and develop ways to provide operational information to citizens regarding the effectiveness of their fire and rescue services and how the level of effectiveness is being measured. The focus group participants feel that citizens need to have better access to information about fire and rescue services and fire safety information. They feel that communication and training modules should be made available to citizens through a variety of venues such as school presentations, booklets for community release, education modules for T.V. and the internet, and booklets placed in community businesses. The FBC fire and rescue service category committee members should work with local jurisdictions to develop outcome measures that determine how well citizens are informed about fire and rescue services and the level of knowledge that citizens have about fire safety.

7 Finding 3: Citizens want to be able to access information about the relationship between resources/funding and quality of services, facilities and equipment. Recommendation 3: The FBC fire and rescue service category committee members should work together to develop and disseminate measures that take into consideration the level of funding in relation to the level of service quality including response times, positive outcomes to emergency situations, equipment and facilities maintenance, and training availability for emergency workers. Parks and Recreation Focus group participants are very concerned that parks in their communities be accessible. They are concerned about park access for the elderly and the handicapped, and whether or not there are alternatives to park fee payments for low income adults and children so that they can have access. They are also concerned about the accessibility of active park facilities, particularly for children and youth. The FBC Parks and Recreation service category committee members should work with their member jurisdictions to devise the means by which diverse populations are able to access local parks including the elderly, handicapped, low income youth and adults, etc. Citizens want to have better access to parks and recreation program information including park amenities, park services, sports facilities and team-related activities, hours of operation, park locations and access to dog parks, etc. They are also concerned about the availability of parking, particularly at active parks where team sports might be scheduled. The FBC parks and recreation service category committee may want to work with local jurisdictions to develop outcome measures that assess citizen access to information about parks programs and services, and work with local jurisdiction to develop creative ways in which to inform citizens about parks programs and services. Finding 3: Citizens have identified the need for partnerships and joint use agreements between parks and local organizations such as schools, the YMCA, and volunteer and civic organizations from

8 surrounding areas. They feel that using community volunteers to help in park maintenance and cleanup would be extremely beneficial. Recommendation 3: The FBC parks and recreation service category committee might want to work with FBC members to develop partnership strategies for their communities that address the potential for joint use agreements and volunteer efforts to maintain parks and parks programs. Planning/Growth Management Focus group participants feel that, generally speaking, the permitting process lacked clarity. They want to understand the permitting process; how permits are given, the length of time it takes to get a permit, equity across citizenry in getting permit approvals, the number of variances awarded and who gets them, and how citizens can be involved in the permitting process. The FBC planning/growth management service category committee might want to consider developing generic tracking measures for the permitting process that could then be identified and implemented in communities without such tracking measures. Citizens want to better understand the impact of future development on current community residents. They also want to be informed about the relationship between planning and growth management and the impact of future growth on quality of life, transportation, ecological effects of construction, and the impact of construction on established neighborhoods. It is recommended that the FBC planning/growth management service category committee work with citizen volunteers to devise ways in which citizens could be encouraged to participate in growth planning efforts. These ideas could then be shared with member jurisdictions as they develop strategies to manage future growth in their communities. Finding 3: Focus group members feel that there needs to be more opportunity for citizen feedback in a manner that allows their input to have impact. They also desire increased community coordination between neighborhoods and public managers, and emphasize the need for improvement of inter-neighborhood relationships to ensure better community-wide input into planning and future development.

9 Recommendation 3: It is recommended that the FBC planning/growth management service category committee members identify outcomes that could assess the level of citizen involvement in community planning and development. Policing Citizens want to have access to information that could tell them how well their police and sheriff s officers are doing in carrying out their duties and their qualifications. They want to have access to information about traffic violations, arrests, conviction rates, response times in emergencies, and officer training efforts. The FBC policing services committee members should work with citizens to develop outcomes measurements to assess the effectiveness of policing efforts in member jurisdictions. Citizens want to have much stronger relationships with their police officers. They want to have officers assigned to specific neighborhoods and schools, and they want to have the opportunity to get to know their local police officers. They want to have more diverse officers assigned to their communities, to include officers who reflect the racial and ethnic populations they serve. They felt that closer relationships between officers and community residents would promote greater trust. It is recommended that the FBC policing services committee identify multiple ways in which officers can become more integrated into the communities that they serve with the intent to develop stronger relationships and trust between officers and residents. Road Repair Citizens have expressed a desire for clarity regarding traffic signal settings and timing, and for information regarding who monitors traffic issues and how they are resolved. The FBC road repair service category committee members might want to develop measures to assess traffic light signals and timing to be shared with member jurisdictions.

10 Focus group participants have expressed an interest in being able to access to information on traffic changes, particularly those secondary to planned and emergency construction. They also want to know who to call in their community government with questions, problems, or suggestions regarding traffic concerns. The FBC road repair service category committee might want to identify ways to disseminate information on emergency construction sites and operations to ensure that citizens are aware of the construction activities. The committee may also consider recommending mechanisms to allow citizens to perceive better access to open communication. Finding 3: Focus group participants want to see stronger partnerships between jurisdictions. Specific concerns addressed those public and private agencies involved in construction and maintenance of roadways that span multiple communities. Citizens also want their jurisdictions to ensure that there is a relationship between government departments and subcontractors specifically as it applies to citizen reporting of safety and quality concerns related to roadway development and repairs. Recommendation 3: The FBC road repair service category committee may wish to identify ways to increased communication and partnership efforts inter departmentally and between jurisdictions to ensure better coordination of construction projects and road maintenance. Storm Water/Drainage Focus group participants are concerned about runoff and water safety. They want to know that their communities are ensuring that water runoff is clean and free of dangerous chemicals. It is recommended that the FBC storm water/drainage service category committee identify measures to track runoff and ground water safety. Citizens want better coordination and partnerships between citizens and government employees. They want to be able to participate in local planning efforts in water management.

11 It is recommended that the FBC storm water/drainage service category committee develop outcome measures that assess citizen involvement in local storm water and drainage planning efforts. Water/Wastewater Water quality is one of the most important issues with regard to waste water reclamation. Citizens want to ensure that water quality is maintained through testing procedures at point of discharge. It is recommended that the water/wastewater service category committee develop a suggested process for documenting and communicating water quality test results. This could go a long way to ensuring that citizens feel comfortable about the quality of their reclaimed waste water and its safety. Focus group participants have expressed a need for more education about how to manage water resources and conserve potable water. They want government to assess ways to communicate water restrictions and conservation measures at the individual home owner and business owner level. It is recommended that the water/wastewater service category committee develop measures to assess citizen conservation education efforts.