Two Way Communication

When I became a City Manager nine years ago, I was surprised by the lack of interest in local government in communicating with our citizen customers. The attitude of most of my colleagues was, "If we haven't heard from them, they must be happy." There is some truth to that, but I don't buy it. My previous experience in the private and non-profit sectors convinced me that listening to and communicating with your customers is something that should never be taken for granted.

That's why I maintain this blog. I know only a small number of people have time in their busy lives to go out of their way to keep up with City news. But for those of you that do, I want to offer a real time opportunity for dialogue and more in-depth background than you'd find in the daily paper. But it is only one way we are emphasizing communication:

Improvements to our City Web Site: we are constantly updating and expanding information and links to give you around-the-clock easy access to information. Our new media portal, for example, not only lists all City press releases, but recent articles from local and regional media about our town.

http://www.cityofventura.net/mportal/

Web Streaming Council meetings: In addition to live and taped cable broadcast of Council and key Commission meetings, we now have both live and archive web streaming. It allows you to click right to the agenda topic discussion you want to hear.

http://www.cityofventura.net/video

My Ventura Access: We've established a one-stop way to get your questions answered and your complaints, concerns and compliments addressed. This easy-to-use portal allows you to not only leave a comment that is automatically acknowledged and routed to the right contact in City government, it allows you to track the status yourself. It also allows us to ensure accountability so that concerns don't simply fall between the cracks or linger unresolved indefinitely.

http://www.cityofventura.net/mva

E Newsletter: We also offer a weekly update on city news to anyone interested in subscribing. Primarily focused on smart growth updates, it also carries other important news you can use.

http://www.cityofventura.net/enews/smartgrowth/

My Ventura: For years, we blanketed the town with our seasonal recreation guides -- and sent out a color flyer with the bimonthly water bills. Last fall, we consolidated the two at no additional cost to mail My Ventura magazine to all households a three times a year round-up of recreation classes and other city news.

Of course that's not all. City Councilmembers and City staff speak often at service clubs and community meetings. We put on workshops and special events. We produce a steady stream of flyers, posters and postcards about the latest happenings.

Could we do more -- or better? Sure. I welcome your feedback and ideas. As my wife often observes, "Communication is key."

Change

When my kids were younger, I often thought of the quote, “The only people who look forward to change are babies with wet diapers.” I found, of course, that even babies with wet diapers would put up a fuss about change.

In government, we often find ourselves uncomfortably in the middle between calls for change and pressures to preserve the status quo. That’s why it is important to be intentional about change, starting with clarity about “what is the goal?”

This year our city government is working intentionally on change on a number of fronts. We are continuing to emphasize greater accountability and empowerment of our staff. We have implemented performance measures for every department. We are also embracing "budgeting for outcomes" which will better match up how we spend our money with the goals we are seeking to achieve.

We are also pursuing positive change to promote a more sustainable Ventura through our “Green Initiative.” During the last fiscal year we inventoried our practices throughout the city to benchmark how well we do against national standards. In the year ahead, we’ll be moving forward on a number of efforts to make Ventura a more sustainable community. A key area of emphasis will be economic development, with the goal of retaining and attracting high value, high wage jobs. We will continue with our push for "smart growth" and will initiate an ambitious look at the future of our parks.

The overall goal of such initiatives is to go from good to great in pursuing the community's long-term vision for Ventura’s future. How we manage these change efforts is crucial to their realization.

Police Chief Pat Miller recently shared with me a matrix that not only illustrates the key attributes to successfully managing change, it also pinpoints the pitfalls of giving short shrift to any one of them. It's a helpful reminder that change requires careful planning and execution to be successful.

As we enter the local election season, both incumbents and challengers will be presenting their agendas for the future. Of course, it is not enough to just announce you want change -- you have to be both focused and patient enough to see those changes to fruition. Whoever is chosen by the voters will have the challenge of ensuring that the goals and promises they advocate are actually realized. For those of us with the job of seeing the aspirations of the community realized, ensuring that we have the required vision, skills, incentives, resources and action plan is critical to getting that job done.

Changing climate?

Did you know that California Attorney General Jerry Brown has sued San Bernardino County because their Environmental Impact Report failed to analyze how future growth authorized by their proposed General Plan complies with California's new climate change law?

Were you aware the State's Regional Water Quality Board Control board has drafted a proposed permit for all Ventura County cities (and the County and its watershed agency) that would trigger costs as much as ten times higher to control pollution in our local rivers, creeks and beaches?

Did you hear that the same board may require the total phase-out of our City's discharging treated wastewater into the Santa Clara River estuary -- and that the Federal Government has stepped in taking the opposite view that ending that practice might hurt an endangered tide water fish because the water we pump in is actually cleaner than the water already flowing in the river?

Chances are you haven't heard any of these things.

Most Californians consider themselves as "pro-environment," happy to do their part by recycling their trash and not dumping motor oil in the stormdrains. True, some think "global warming" is hysterical propaganda and there are others who think that unless we all ride bikes and wear locally-grown organic cotton clothes the world faces imminent catastrophe. But most of us fall in between. We want government to ensure the polar ice caps don't melt and we don't breathe foul air or drink carcinogenic water -- but we aren't expecting to pay for big tax increases or make radical changes in our lifestyles.

Unfortunately, we are moving past the "feel good" stage. I remember my mother saying, "Your father likes having a clean house, just not enough to do anything about it." We are facing a similar challenge in California. Voters want a clean environment -- and now we are being asked to actually do something about it -- and these involve some tough (and expensive) choices. State government is tackling some complex and controversial issues -- and the impact falls squarely on local communities.

In Ventura, we are working to be pro-active. We are looking to find the right balance. Our General Plan is squarely founded on a commitment to protecting the environment -- and promoting a prosperous economy and social equity. Instead of waiting for State government to tell us what to do, we are striving to do the right thing -- in ways that don't trigger a huge backlash or break the bank.

Not easy. But to be successful, everyone in the community needs to be a part. Check out our "Green Ventura" web pages -- and stay informed:

http://www.cityofventura.net/GreenVentura/

We all share one planet. We also share this special place called Ventura. We can't take it for granted. Your health, your job, your taxes will all be affected by the important decisions we all make as individuals -- and a community.