Operational Audit is long overdue.
Long standing systemic issues that don't happen overnight.
This town's press release takes the soft approach. I will be providing additional information and data for each item that clearly illustrates long standing management inefficiencies that we have been mostly unaware of, until now.
TOWN OF PURCELLVILLE MANAGER TRANSITION CONTINUES PROGRESS WITH ENHANCEMENTS TO OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS
PURCELLVILLE, Va. April 24, 2018 — Purcellville’s new Town Manager, David Mekarski is settling in and getting to know the Town’s staff, citizens, and businesses. As we move forward, theTown of Purcellville would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude for the strong performance and commitment of our Interim Town Manager, John Anzivino, and the guidance he provided during the transition to the Town’s permanent Town Manager. The Town benefited immensely from Mr. Anzivino’s experience and expertise and in the spirit of transparency and open governance, the Town would like to share his observations and recommendations.
Mr. Anzivino acknowledged that he encountered a challenging situation when he arrived. The Town faced significant issues with staffing and crises at every turn. However, through his practical leadership and dedication, we have accomplished much to move our administrative and operational service delivery and customer service to a greater level of efficiency and effectiveness.
The following highlight Town achievements under the leadership of Mr. Anzivino:
The outlined recommendations are:
The following items are per former Interim Town Manager, John Anzivino.
Item #1 - Lack of Planning for New Water Meter Installation and Roll Out
The Town has embarked on a program of replacing older ‘radio read’ water meters with meters that read continuously allowing staff to monitor customer usage on a continuous basis, providing opportunities to identify leaks and unusual patterns of usage to be addressed prior to the next schedule bill being prepared. Unfortunately, there appears to have been no uniform plan in place concerning where new meters will be installed and what challenges may exist in ensuring they read properly. Consequently, the system has resulted in new and old meters being placed in residences next to one another resulting in inconsistent information being made available to customers when problems occur. In addition, the newly purchased meters, in some cases, have not had strong enough, or clear line of site signal to the software system which logs in the meter reading data, resulting in reading inaccuracies. In addition, only limited planning appears to have been given to integrating the old and the new software systems relative to the meter reading and billing systems.
Item #2 - Building Department Head Accountability for Budget Management and Personnel
Discussions with key staff lead to a sense that some department staff who are in responsible positions do not truly have a sense of accountability for preparation and management of their departmental budgets nor do some understand their primary responsibilities as managers of personnel. This is borne out by some recent budget amendments for major contracts and what seems to be a high rate of turnover for probationary employees.
All department heads need to be evaluated annually as to how they manage their departments, with one possibility being development of an annual ‘business plan’ in concert with their budget submission. Realistic budgets (forecasts and expenditure levels), staff hiring and turnover, suggested and achieved training courses related to employee development, success in meeting goals and related factors need to be included as a business practice, and staff, including department heads, need to be measured against those criteria as key factors of the departments business plan.
Item #3 - Outdated Emergency Operations Plan
During the recent wind event the Town and Town Hall lost power for several days. In accessing the Town’s Emergency Management Plan (EMP) I found it was outdated and dealt with few of chapters of what typically constitutes an EMP. Limited protocols exist in regard how to communicate with citizens, with outside agencies and who takes the lead on what. In addition, we found that Town Hall’s generator, while having the capability to provide a higher level of electricity to the building, only provides enough power for lighting for only a few areas; not the whole building and does not provide enough power to provide heating or cooling to any portion of the building. The recently identified deficiencies leave the Town with a system which is less than optimum for employees who are needed to provide service and citizens who may be in need of service during emergency events.
Item #4 - Lack of Coordination in Software Purchases – Lack of a True Technology Plan
Minor software purchases have been carried out by various departments in the past with no consultation with the Town’s IT Director, even though an informal policy requiring review of the purchase prior to purchase was in place. This practice can result in seemingly good and beneficial software packages being purchased, that when needs arise, cannot be integrated (data or process) with one another leading to more work to extract the data needed and leading to inefficiencies.
The Town has invested in technology as would be expected for a community in a county like Loudoun. Unfortunately, in some cases, software investments haven’t always been coordinated with IT. In addition, the Town while having a rudimentary IT plan admits it is not all inclusive and as forward looking as it might like.
Item #5 - Outdated Personnel Policy
The last update to the Town’s personnel policies was completed and published in 2005. The framework is still valid, but much of the language is outdated and changes in law and practice are not reflected at 2018 levels. Quotations are currently being sought for an update.
Item #6 - Outdated Classification and Compensation System
The Town’s classification and compensation system was last updated in the 2005 to 2007 timeframe. Over the ten to twelve year period jobs have been added to and deleted from the Town system and many have had changed duties which materially affect the value of the skills required to do the job. Some jobs have been added to the system without a systematic evaluation of the job and have been placed in pay grades on a ‘best fit’ basis leading to potential inequities when comparing similar types of jobs. In addition, the pay schedule has not been updated and at least twelve employees are placed above the maximum and continue to receive increases even though they would have been ‘topped out’ in most systems. In addition, a competitive analysis of benefits has not been completed and may not reflect shifting trends in employee participation rates and overall allocations. Quotations are currently being sought for an update.
Item #7 - Building a Staff Culture of Creativity - Building a Culture Which Addresses Issues ‘Head On’ in a Proactive, Rather Than Reactive Manner
Creativity in solving problems appears to be a challenge in some areas. In many cases we do not look beyond Purcellville for best practices which often can be ‘stolen’ from other entities and adapted to fit the Town’s needs.
Town staff appear to have good ideas on how to solve problems. In many cases, I have found that they have been hesitant to bring them to the table because in prior years they were not implemented or were not considered when raised. In addition, when needed resources were required to resolve an issue related to a related problem or issue that could be fixed at the same time they were not allowed to fix both issues concurrently. Finally, issues appear to arise that could be dealt with before they become issues if staff had been given the opportunity to look to the future and evaluate how dealing with current issues often impacts the future.
The following highlight Town achievements under the leadership of Mr. Anzivino:
- Implemented the Fiscal Year 2019 budget review and adoption process, ensuring a high level of participation with key stakeholders and citizens of our Town while focusing on minimizing fiscal impact our residents and businesses;
- The appointment of an Interim Town Attorney who provided significant assistance to guide the Council, in its investigative process, leading the Council on clear path to identify truth, administer justice, and work toward the resolution of the administrative instability impacting the organization;
- Solicited Request for Proposals for the Town’s first Classification/Compensation System review and Personnel Policy overhaul since 2005/2007;
- Addressed problems stemming from a leaking water tank and an underfunded water tank maintenance project;
- Pursued a contract to purchase filters at a discounted rate for the wastewater treatment plant, saving the Town thousands of dollars a year from our former procurement process;
- Worked with Council for the recruitment and evaluation of candidates for a new Town Manager;
- Expanded, reviewed and adjusted administrative policies leading to improved governance practices including but not limited to greater internet security, a more defined FOIA policy, improved hiring practices, and a better records retention system;
- Moved forward with the organizational assessment/operational assessment process;
- Concluded the first phase of an investigation of a range of events that Mr. Anzivino defined as the “Perfect Storm” of local government and taking positive action to begin a return to organizational normalcy and with the selection of our new Town Manager toward a path organizational excellence.
The outlined recommendations are:
- Personnel Policy – update the 2005 policy to current federal/state law and best practices
- Completion of a New Classification and Compensation Study – utilizing outside resources
- Address the Town’s Outdated Emergency Operations Plan – it is recommended that the Town convene a panel of staff to identify deficiencies and update the plan to include local fire, EMS and County resources
- Develop a Master Plan for New Water Meter Installation and Rollout
- Develop a Detailed Technology Plan – outlining the Town’s goals for use of technology, both hardware and software, to ensure that the Town makes the best investments in the future
- Coordination of Software Purchases with the IT Department
- Build Department Head Accountability for Budget Management and Personnel – expand the annual evaluation process to ensure department heads are being assessed on specific aspects of personnel and departmental management practices and are measured against those criteria as key factors of their departmental business plan.
- Development of a Records and Retention Policy and Records Storage/Recovery System
- Cultivate and Nurture a Staff Culture of Creativity – encourage creativity in addressing and solving problems coupled with recognition for creative solutions.
- Foster a Culture to Address Issues Proactively – focus efforts on looking to the future to identify and evaluate potential issues rather than a reactive approach.
- Simplify Meeting Agendas – to streamline and increase efficiency of meetings
- Development/Update of Internal Administrative Policy Manual – review and update existing manual
- Development of a Press Release Policy – to define what items and events should be released to ensure that they are timely and noteworthy to capture the press’ undivided attention as oversaturation results in diminished interest.
The following items are per former Interim Town Manager, John Anzivino.
Item #1 - Lack of Planning for New Water Meter Installation and Roll Out
The Town has embarked on a program of replacing older ‘radio read’ water meters with meters that read continuously allowing staff to monitor customer usage on a continuous basis, providing opportunities to identify leaks and unusual patterns of usage to be addressed prior to the next schedule bill being prepared. Unfortunately, there appears to have been no uniform plan in place concerning where new meters will be installed and what challenges may exist in ensuring they read properly. Consequently, the system has resulted in new and old meters being placed in residences next to one another resulting in inconsistent information being made available to customers when problems occur. In addition, the newly purchased meters, in some cases, have not had strong enough, or clear line of site signal to the software system which logs in the meter reading data, resulting in reading inaccuracies. In addition, only limited planning appears to have been given to integrating the old and the new software systems relative to the meter reading and billing systems.
Item #2 - Building Department Head Accountability for Budget Management and Personnel
Discussions with key staff lead to a sense that some department staff who are in responsible positions do not truly have a sense of accountability for preparation and management of their departmental budgets nor do some understand their primary responsibilities as managers of personnel. This is borne out by some recent budget amendments for major contracts and what seems to be a high rate of turnover for probationary employees.
All department heads need to be evaluated annually as to how they manage their departments, with one possibility being development of an annual ‘business plan’ in concert with their budget submission. Realistic budgets (forecasts and expenditure levels), staff hiring and turnover, suggested and achieved training courses related to employee development, success in meeting goals and related factors need to be included as a business practice, and staff, including department heads, need to be measured against those criteria as key factors of the departments business plan.
Item #3 - Outdated Emergency Operations Plan
During the recent wind event the Town and Town Hall lost power for several days. In accessing the Town’s Emergency Management Plan (EMP) I found it was outdated and dealt with few of chapters of what typically constitutes an EMP. Limited protocols exist in regard how to communicate with citizens, with outside agencies and who takes the lead on what. In addition, we found that Town Hall’s generator, while having the capability to provide a higher level of electricity to the building, only provides enough power for lighting for only a few areas; not the whole building and does not provide enough power to provide heating or cooling to any portion of the building. The recently identified deficiencies leave the Town with a system which is less than optimum for employees who are needed to provide service and citizens who may be in need of service during emergency events.
Item #4 - Lack of Coordination in Software Purchases – Lack of a True Technology Plan
Minor software purchases have been carried out by various departments in the past with no consultation with the Town’s IT Director, even though an informal policy requiring review of the purchase prior to purchase was in place. This practice can result in seemingly good and beneficial software packages being purchased, that when needs arise, cannot be integrated (data or process) with one another leading to more work to extract the data needed and leading to inefficiencies.
The Town has invested in technology as would be expected for a community in a county like Loudoun. Unfortunately, in some cases, software investments haven’t always been coordinated with IT. In addition, the Town while having a rudimentary IT plan admits it is not all inclusive and as forward looking as it might like.
Item #5 - Outdated Personnel Policy
The last update to the Town’s personnel policies was completed and published in 2005. The framework is still valid, but much of the language is outdated and changes in law and practice are not reflected at 2018 levels. Quotations are currently being sought for an update.
Item #6 - Outdated Classification and Compensation System
The Town’s classification and compensation system was last updated in the 2005 to 2007 timeframe. Over the ten to twelve year period jobs have been added to and deleted from the Town system and many have had changed duties which materially affect the value of the skills required to do the job. Some jobs have been added to the system without a systematic evaluation of the job and have been placed in pay grades on a ‘best fit’ basis leading to potential inequities when comparing similar types of jobs. In addition, the pay schedule has not been updated and at least twelve employees are placed above the maximum and continue to receive increases even though they would have been ‘topped out’ in most systems. In addition, a competitive analysis of benefits has not been completed and may not reflect shifting trends in employee participation rates and overall allocations. Quotations are currently being sought for an update.
Item #7 - Building a Staff Culture of Creativity - Building a Culture Which Addresses Issues ‘Head On’ in a Proactive, Rather Than Reactive Manner
Creativity in solving problems appears to be a challenge in some areas. In many cases we do not look beyond Purcellville for best practices which often can be ‘stolen’ from other entities and adapted to fit the Town’s needs.
Town staff appear to have good ideas on how to solve problems. In many cases, I have found that they have been hesitant to bring them to the table because in prior years they were not implemented or were not considered when raised. In addition, when needed resources were required to resolve an issue related to a related problem or issue that could be fixed at the same time they were not allowed to fix both issues concurrently. Finally, issues appear to arise that could be dealt with before they become issues if staff had been given the opportunity to look to the future and evaluate how dealing with current issues often impacts the future.
