On the City’s agenda for Tuesday night:
The City intends on reorganizing as a major step to realize its overall goals to become more efficient and effective. The objective is to have the new organization fully deployed and operational no later than mid-December 2010 so that the financial benefits will begin accruing to the City no later than January 2, 2011.
These organizational changes will generate many changes to the current reporting structure and the processes currently utilized by City Government for the majority of the organization. And, unless this new organizational structure and corresponding process changes are readily and rapidly accepted by the employees the resistance to these changes will present the potential for lost productivity, turmoil, and risk to gaining the desired financial results.
With that in mind, Staff is recommending the approval of LaMarsh and Associates, Inc. to assist the City of Peoria plan for and roll out its new organizational structure and process changes to the organization. By proactively addressing the potential resistance to these changes, the organization can and will more rapidly accept and adopt these changes, generating the desired financial gains for the City and its taxpayers.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: Estimated total cost of $45,000 to be funded through the reprogramming of capital project funds relating to Federal Grant Consultant (E04009) $18,585; Community School Initiative (PB0604) $22,760 and Competition Enhancement (PB0710) $3,655.
NEIGHBORHOOD CONCERNS: N/A
I can’t wait to see what changes are being planned to the City’s organization, although I suppose I shouldn’t care. After all, neighborhood concerns are “not applicable.” Sounds like the changes, which have yet to be revealed to the taxpayers they are supposed to benefit, are quite controversial within the ranks of city employees.
Sounds to me like this “consultant” is not designed to assist in developing a new organizational plan (based on efficiency and effectiveness) but simple to develop a “change management” plan to push into place a plan that has already been developed behind the scenes. I’m lukewarm on supporting this — would prefer a more open and transparent study that reviews operations and was based on a consultant selected competitively. There is no indication how this consultant was selected and clearly wasn’t based upon a competitive process. Can you blame the employees from being skeptical when it appears that a plan has already been developed, a consultant is selected with no indication of the process utilized, and the plan is going to be operational within 3 months?