EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Interviews of fifteen key managers in the Administration of Monroe County and of the five members of the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) have revealed a consensus of opinion that Monroe County Government has some fundamental management problems. There is general agreement among those interviewed that these problems need to be addressed immediately. The problems are:

1. There is no long range (7-10 year) strategic plan and no process for the development and maintenance of such a plan by the Administration and the Commission. As a consequence, the Government is reactive and often driven by crises.
2. There is no solid basis for measuring and monitoring the performance and cost effectiveness of the Departments and Divisions of the County Government. While some useful data is developed in some departments, this information is not reported above Division level.
3. There is inadequate communication, or faulty communication, between members of the BOCC; between the BOCC and the Administration; and between the locations, divisions and departments of the Administration.
4. There is inadequate communication between County Government and the Public. Of particular concern is the lack of published information on the performance of the Government.
5. The compensation policies of the County do not enable the County to hire, maintain and reward an effective workforce. High employee turnover and hiring difficulties are the result.
6. The Career Service Council procedure for reviewing personnel disciplinary decisions needs to be replaced by a procedure that is fair, inexpensive, and prompt – a benefit to both employee and employer.
7. The County needs a means to discuss and develop its positions and priorities on issues pending before State Government agencies and legislature. It also needs improved communication and coordination with our State Representative and our State Senator’

The selection and installation of a new Administrator provides an opportunity for the Commission to attack these problems aggressively.

BACKGROUND

The Concerned Citizens of the Lower Keys (CCLK) is a coalition of representatives of Homeowners Associations on Cudjoe, Ramrod, Sugarloaf and Summerland Keys. CCLK is a reformation of a group that was formed in 1999 to assess the proposed incorporation of the Lower Keys. In 2004, the objective of the group is to evaluate and report on the management practices and processes of Monroe County Government. This evaluation does not include an examination of the merits of particular public policy decisions or programs, nor does it include a detailed assessment of the operations of any one unit or department of government. The focus is on generic management processes that are common to all units of government and that are critical to cost effective performance.

The resume of the individuals who participated in this study are in Appendix A. Together, their experience includes work for government and with government, while most of their work has been in the private sector.

The methodology of the study consisted of a structured interview of fifteen key managers selected in consultation with The Administrator. A copy of the interview questions was provided to each interviewee before the interview. The Interview Questionnaire is found, along with a list of those interviewed, in Appendix B. The CCLK team was organized in pairs to conduct the staff interviews. Prior to conducting interviews with staff, interviews were conducted with the five members of the BOCC. Following the staff interviews, additional meetings were held with Commission members for additional input and to clarify any areas of question. Comments made in all interviews were and are kept confidential. All those interviewed were open, candid and cooperative.

PROBLEMS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The problems that have been identified in this study, and which all those interviewed on the staff and on the Commission agree exist, are fundamental and require immediate attention. They are not susceptible to piecemeal treatment if the management of Monroe County is to become cost effective. The job facing the new County Administrator will be a challenging one – a challenge that will not be met unless the Commission provides the Administrator with the resources that are needed to meet it. The new Administrator will be obliged to find some long term solutions while dealing with a myriad of day-to-day issues. The Administrator will need some help.

We urge that the Commissioners discuss the following problems and recommendations with the candidates for the Administrator position. The candidates should be asked to comment on each of them, to talk about their experience in dealing with them and, most importantly, what resources they need to address these problems before planning for the FY 2006 budget begins. When the candidate is selected, those resources should be provided, a target date for completion established, and the target date should be met.

It should also be pointed out that resolution of some of the problems requires action by the Commission, not by the Administrator. The time has come for the Board of County Commissioners to look not just at the job of the Administrator, but at the job of the Commission; to look not just at today and this year, but at tomorrow and future years. Now is the time to set a course for Monroe County, a course on which we steer ourselves without the close and over-riding control of the State of Florida.

1. Long Range Planning

   Person after person we interviewed referred to their work as "brush fire management", "responding to people playing politics", "crisis management", being "micro-managed", "asking permission to do anything". Planning in Monroe County is a short-sighted one – a time consuming, repetitive annual exercise in producing an annual budget. Even though the programs of Government are multi-year programs – from building buildings , to training firemen, to building sewers, to providing assistance to the disabled and the elderly –the budget addresses them one year at a time. Even though we know that we have hundreds of millions of dollars worth of sewers to build, hundreds of acres of land to buy, a drinking water supply that is forecast to dry up, and a money supply from Tallahassee and Washington that is already drying up, we still look at our problems one year at a time.

   We need a process that obliges and enables the Commission and the Administration, together, to look out into the future – 7 to 10 years – every year. We need a plan that enables the Commission to assure itself that each annual budget is consistent with that plan. We need a plan that can be adjusted to changing circumstances. And we need a plan that enables Administration managers to manage in confidence that they are working toward shared objectives.

   The planning process we need is a "top-down, bottom up" process in which the Commission, working with the Administrator and consulting with the public, drafts some initial objectives and parameters and submits them to the Administrative Organization. The Organization then develops feasible programs to meet the guidelines. Discussions and negotiations occur, and a plan is put in final form. It is a plan that can be reviewed and up-dated every year. And it is a plan that will facilitate the production of each annual budget.

   The new Administrator may need outside, professional help to put this process in place. If needed, that help should be provided and a timetable established to put the process in place in time to affect the FY 2006 budget.

    

2. Performance Measurement and Reporting

   There is no way for the Administrator, or the Commission, or the Public to routinely monitor how well individual units of Monroe County Government are performing their work. There is no way to determine if that work is being performed more or less efficiently because of changes in policy or procedure that have been made, or because of the investment or loss of personnel or financial resources. There is no way to compare, through so-called "bench-marking", how well units of government are performing in comparison with similar units of government in other jurisdictions. There is no way to tell whether Monroe County Government is cost effective.

   Performance measurement and reporting are established good management concepts that have been embedded in well managed public and private sector institutions for decades. They are not utopian dreams and they are workable in the "real world" of Southeast Florida Politics if we choose to use them and make them work. The workload of every unit of Monroe County Government is measurable; the amount of effort and dollars it takes to handle that work is measurable; the amount of time it takes to complete that work is measurable; and the results of that work are measurable. If we make these measures and report them routinely, we will all know, including the employees, where we stand. Today, we don’t know where we stand. All we know is that we are putting out fires, responding to phone calls, and oiling the squeaky wheels.

   An effective new Administrator will want to put performance measures and reporting systems in place. It will take someone who is intimately familiar with these concepts and who is knowledgeable in local government practices to work alongside the Department and Division managers in the selection of appropriate measures and in the development of appropriate reports. The new Administrator may need professional help to put performance measurement and reporting in place before FY2006.

3. Internal Communication

    

   • The communication problems of Monroe County Government begin with the Board of County Commissioners problems in communicating with themselves. Because you are legally constrained from talking to each other about substantive issues that might come before you for decisions, it is difficult for you to sense or understand what positions your colleagues are likely to take on a given issue, what doubts or convictions they may have regarding those positions, or what areas of accommodation or compromise may exist. You are frequently obliged to take positions on issues in the confinement of your regular monthly meetings without the time it takes to fully develop and explain your position or to fully understand your colleagues’ positions. You may even find that you are communicating with your fellow Commissioners through the newspapers.

   We have two suggestions. First, we think the adoption of the long range planning process we have proposed will help. As a number of you have said to us, it is the big problems that cause you grief; the little ones are dispatched with great ease. The big problems should all be on the radar screen of the strategic plan and the evolving position of each one of you well known to each other. Second, we think that you should consider the more frequent use of the "Workshop" to talk out the issues involved in the big problems that are identified in the strategic plan. The hours spent in Workshops may turn out to be time savers.

   • The second big communication problem in Monroe County Government is between the BOCC and the Administration. Virtually every manager we interviewed expressed concern about "micro-management" – the response of Commissioners to the complaints and petitions of constituents, the less frequent involvement of Commissioners in the performance of work that should be done by staff and, finally, just checking to see what is going on. Each of you Commissioners also made note of your own departures from "policy making" into "micro-management". You assert that you only do it to straighten out a problem that can’t be straightened out any other way, but you regret having to do it.. Everybody agrees that it shouldn’t happen and that staff morale and self confidence is damaged when it does.

   Two comments. First, the adoption of performance measurement and reporting should reduce the need for micro-managing. Regular reports showing performance improvement should give Commissioners confidence that the job is being done by staff. If constituents see that performance is improving, complaints should be reduced. Also, county employees will have an objective measurement with which they may assess their individual effectiveness.

   Our second comment. Constituent complaints are not going to go down to zero nor are staff mistakes. The establishment of departmental complaint procedures should be the subject of discussions between the BOCC and the Administrator. Reducing constituent complaints, promptly solving them when they occur, and building staff competency are not incompatible objectives and are objectives that can be achieved without "micro-managing".

   • Organized communication within Monroe County Administration is difficult and infrequent. Staff is spread out in offices from Key West to Key Largo. Division heads meet as a group only once each month, primarily to prepare for this meeting with you. Divisions and departments perform very different functions, but they have many common problems. They work under the same financial and human resource policies. They work in the same environment and serve the same public. They need peer support on the problems that they face and they can benefit by peer review of their decisions and programs. In addition to needing more frequent, organized meetings of division and department heads, staff at all levels need to know and see evidence that top management appreciates the work that they are doing, that top management understands the problems that they are facing, and that top management is addressing those problems.

   We have three suggestions. First, Division and Department heads including those with whom we conducted interviews in this study should meet regularly, perhaps bi-weekly, with the County Administrator. The agenda could include unit performance reports and problems, support needs ( e.g., Human Resources and Information Management), policy changes, and status/problems with new initiatives such as those proposed in this report.

   Second, we suggest that one of the qualifications you seek in a new Administrator is demonstrated experience in, and commitment to the art of "managing by walking around". In our view, the Administrator should be seen regularly in the offices and with the public from Key West to Key Largo. The Monroe County Government is not so large that the Administrator cannot be an interested and familiar face in every office. In fact, we believe that the Administrator should maintain an office in Marathon and Key Largo as well as Key West and that he should work in those offices on a regular schedule.

   Third, we suggest that the "span of control" of the Administrator be reviewed and changed, if necessary, to give the Administrator time to "manage by walking around", to implement the initiatives proposed in this report, and to focus on the major operational problems that are certain to occur.

   4. External Communication

      The movement that led to the incorporation of Islamorada and Marathon and that led to the consideration of incorporation by Key Largo, Big Pine, and the Lower Keys was essentially driven by the idea that incorporation would bring government "closer to the people". There was a strong feeling, held by many, that Monroe County Government was too remote, too centered on Key West to care about the folks who live in the communities outside of Key West. This feeling still exists.

      An effective way to convince people that Monroe County Government cares about them is to demonstrate, through performance, that Monroe County is providing timely, cost-effective services. This means, as we have stated, that performance has to be measured, monitored and improved. It also means that performance and performance improvement has to be reported to the public.

      Monroe County has to perform to win the respect and the support of the people it serves. But it also has to report what that performance is so that the people know that it has happened. We recommend that the County make a new beginning at the practice of issuing an annual report. This report does not have to be, and should not be, a glossy, expensive promotional piece as was the last effort in 1999. It should be a simple newspaper supplement, similar to the annual report of the City of Key West, that gives the facts and provides the evidence that progress is being made.

       

   5. Compensation

      County job classifications and the salary ranges that apply to them are not competitive and do not reflect the cost of living realities of the Keys. The inability of the County to hire and retain personnel is seriously affecting the ability of the County to get its work done. The high cost of living in the Keys, particularly housing, may not be the only factor causing high employee turn over, but it is an important contributor to the problem. Retaining the best employees – those who through skill and diligence produce the best and most consistent results – is a critical need. The lack of a program to give merit increases to those who deserve them is an open invitation for the most productive people to look for another job elsewhere.

      We recommend that the compensation system be reviewed and brought up to date. We also recommend that a merit increase system be put in place along with appropriate training and guidelines for supervisors. Once again, these steps should be taken immediately so that the impact on the FY2006 budget can be calculated.

   6. Career Service Council

      There can come a time when a failure to perform in a job requires that an employee be suspended, dismissed or demoted. The decision to take such an action, in the public or private sector, should be fully justified, be consistent, and be documented to show that all efforts were made to alert the employee to the need for improvement. There should also exist a means for appeal of decisions to suspend, dismiss or demote an employee. Monroe County employees, affected by such decisions, appeal to the Career Service Council.

      The Career Service Council exists by a long standing act of the Florida Legislature and provides an appeal process for Monroe County employees and for the employees of some other institutional employees in the Keys. Matters taken to the Council over the years have involved difficulties in the scheduling of hearings, have taken up to two years for decisions to be made, and have been expensive for the county and for the employee. The potential involvement of the Council has deterred County Government from taking appropriate management actions. The County has in the past sought to be removed from the jurisdiction of the Career Service Council and sought to replace it with a fair, more expeditious and less expensive appeal procedure. We urge that this effort be resumed. We also suggest that, at the same time, guidelines for taking such disciplinary actions and documenting the actions be reviewed and made part of the personnel evaluation training that was previously discussed.

4. Communication and Coordination with State Representatives

The relationships with the Legislature and the Agencies of Florida State Government are a central concern. Communication and coordination with our State Representative and our State Senator should be as close as possible. Great effort should be made to minimize differences. Great effort should be made to reach agreement on positions and priorities. There also should be no surprises in the actions taken by Monroe County Government or by the State Representative and Senator. But there have been.

We have three recommendations. First, we recommend that the State Representative and the State Senator be consulted in the development of the long Range Plan. Second, we recommend that they be advised when Workshops are to be held that touch on issues in which their input could be relevant. And, finally, we recommend that the Commission and Administrator, in advance of the Legislative Session, obtain from the legislators a listing of the bills that they intend to submit, the initiatives that they plan to take with the Governor and Cabinet, and other issues of importance to the County that are likely to come up. This information can then be used to develop positions to be communicated back to the legislators.

SUMMARY

The members of this coalition of Concerned Citizens appreciate the opportunity that has been given to us to meet with members of the Board of County Commissioners and with key managers in the County Administration. We appreciate the cooperation we have received in each one of our interviews and the candor with which everyone has discussed their work and their problems. The person selected to be the new Administrator will be facing some challenges, but will face them with a team of people who are capable and ready to do the job.

The challenge to the Commission is to find the right person for the job and then to provide the tools and support required to do the job.

APPENDIX A

Members of the Concerned Citizens of the Lower Keys

John R. Clark

John Clark is a resident of Ramrod Key and a past president of Breezewood Beach Estates Civic Association, He graduated from the University of Washington in 1949 and joined the Federal Fisheries Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass. He was Assistant Director of the Sandy Hook Marine Laboratory, Director of the Narragansett Marine Laboratory and Senior Associate with the Conservation Foundation in Washington, D.C. Here he was influential in the formation of national coastal environmental policy in the 1970’s and early "80’s, particularly in the US Coastal Zone Management and Clean Waters programs. He then joined the International Office of the US National Park Service where he conducted research, planning and training projects in coastal and marine environments. Retired from government in 1987, he is a freelance consultant and is affiliated with the Mote Marine Laboratory. He has authored 25 books and 175 research papers and reports. He taught graduate students in 3 universities and is currently listed in Who’s Who in America, has won several professional awards and worked in 35 countries.

Gary Falkenstein

Gary Falkenstein, a retired corporate executive, has been a resident of Sugarloaf Key for two years and is the President of the Sugarloaf Shores Property Owners Association. He and his wife Connie purchased their house in 1998. Gary obtained his college education at MIT, where he received a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering. His initial business experience was with Rockwell International at their Rocketdyne Division where he managed advance development programs for NASA and DOD and at Polaroid as Manager of a photographic film development and manufacturing group. He then joined American Can Company, a manufacturer of packaging films and laminates. During his 23 years at American Can he served as Vice President of R&D, of Sales and Marketing, and of Business development. He also was Chairman of a partially owned New Zealand packaging business.

Marco Prieto

Bill Stevenson

R. William "Bill" Stevenson and his wife Ann have owned a house on Cudjoe Key, Florida for several years, becoming full-time residents in 2002. He is a member of the Board of Cudjoe Gardens Home Owners Association. He spent his first 22 years in Anchorage, Alaska working at various jobs through high school and college: commercial fisherman, surveyor, construction worker, and bulldozer operator. As his father was in the aviation business, he started flying as a teenager, became a commercially licensed pilot with instrument and multi-engine ratings, and owned several aircraft over the years. He graduated in 1967 with a BA in History from Alaska Pacific University, Anchorage, Alaska. He spent thirty years in management or ownership in the metal fabricating and woodworking industries around Western Michigan, primarily in the Grand Rapids area. He also participated in various non-profit or charitable organizations over the years. Currently, semi-retired, he is involved in a manufacturing company making commercial furniture products in partnership with his youngest son, Brad, who manages the business. He is a retired amateur race car driver, terrible golfer, and reformed sailboat racer. Current outside interests include travel, reading, fishing, flying, boating and wine.

Gordon A. West

Gordon West is twelve year resident of Monroe County and a past President and Board Member of the Sugarloaf Shores Property Owners Association. Prior to his retirement, he directed the Management Consulting Practice of Roy F. Weston, a major environmental consulting firm, serving public and private sector clients on organizational, management systems, and policy assignments. Earlier he was in charge of the Environmental Control and Government Relations Programs of the Rohm and Haas Company, a multinational chemical Company. As an "executive on loan" he served as director of the Children and Youth Agency of the City of Philadelphia and managed a staff of 500 persons and a $110 million budget. He holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. from Trinity College.

Roger Williams

Roger Williams is a resident of Summerland Key and is serving his second term as President of the Summerland Cove Civic Association. In 1971, he started Williams Litho Services as a one man operation and grew that business to 64 employees and $4 million in sales. He served as President and sole owner until selling the company in 1986. In 1992, he started Color Systems, Inc. and grew that company to 28 employees and $3 million in sales before selling it in 2000. In 2000 until the present he has been engaged in homebuilding as owner/builder in the Florida Keys.

APPENDIX B

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

CONCERNED CITIZENS OF THE LOWER KEYS

APRIL, 2004

1. What education, training and experience prepared you for the job that you have?

2. Is the system of measurement and reporting of the performance and cost effectiveness of the departments and divisions adequate?

3. What significant impediments to effective management exist and are they being addressed appropriately?

4. Following the incorporation of Islamorada and Marathon, were appropriate steps taken to reduce staff and costs?

5. Is the County doing an effective job of long range (beyond annual budget) planning?

6. Are the compensation plans and Human Resource policies effective in encouraging stability and improved performance of county employees?

7. Are the mechanisms in place to facilitate communication between County Government and the public?

8. Are the mechanisms in place to facilitate communication within Monroe County Government?

9. What is the proper role of the BOCC in providing oversight of County Administration?

10. How well coordinated are the efforts of Monroe County Government and those of the State representative and State Senator to manage relations with Tallahassee?

PERSONS INTERVIEWED

.Murray Nelson, Mayor

David Rice, Mayor pro tem

Sonny McCoy, member

George Neugent, member

Dixie Spehar, member

 

Administration

James Roberts, Administrator

Sheila Barker, Director Management Services

Marlene Conoway, Director Planning

George Garrett, Director Marine Resources

Peter Horton, Director Airports

David Koppel, County Engineer

James Malloch, Director Community Services

Clark Martin, Fire Chief

Tim McGarry, Director Growth Management

Ronda Norman, Director Code Enforcement

Reggie Paros, Director Public Safety

Joe Paskalik, Director Building Official

Dent Pierce, Director Public Works

Roy Sanchez, Director Fleet Management

Billy Wagner, Director Emergency Management

State Representative

Ken Sorensen

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