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The Real Costs of Travel
[September 23, 2008]
"Those who feel face-to-face contacts are valuable aspects of travelling elsewhere should consider how much more valuable home-based face-to-face is."
Yes, it would do us well to freeze virtually all travel by City people... after all, we are in a public safety crisis and also a fiscal crisis [yet to be appreciated]. Notice: Our worst crisis is [lack of] public safety, and our worst waste-of-travel offender is OPD.
Very important to note is that while it did indeed cost $427,000 in "travel expenses" at OPD, that the real cost in dollars isn't even figured -- and it should be. How much did it cost our budget in salaries to pay while management was travelling? That cost is surely in the many millions. Also, how much did it cost in "acting" salaries, in that those from a lower rank "filled in" for the absentees and were paid the higher salaries? How much did the travel cost us in confusion, disruption, and ineffectiveness? There are even more implications to bloated travel, but I promised myself to limit this topic for now.
If some might recall, I wrote several times over the past year that OPD travel was a serious problem... not necessarily because of the money, but because top command weren't providing management here at home. The OPD has been in virtual leadership and management anarchy. I suggested before that Courtney Ruby (Auditor) look into who was travelling and when.... after all, her job is "performance auditing."
Unfortunately, the primary reason for our management anarchy is that command staff can get no mentoring or direction from the Chief who can't seem to recognize the dots, let alone connect them. OPD and the City of Oakland urban issues are a context of knowledge predicate to the job. It is the Chief who approves all travel... and a management that travels is (a) kept happy, and (b) grateful, and (c) hopefully learning something from somewhere [actually rarely the case in terms of relevance or application] to help for the lack of experience or knowledge in the OCOP.
I think Courtney Ruby would discover that twoof our most important OPD people, the new Assistant Chief and the newest Deputy Chief, have experienced considerable and remarkable absences over the past three years... We needed them here. We regularly lose good Captains for over three months to the FBI Academy (another leaving soon) and we only have ten of them. We have one Captain who is now qualified to search for snow avalanche victims. What for?
As for our Auditor's Office, note that it is the most austere and perhaps neglected function of our government. Visit it. Ruby has a bare bones staff and budget . I recommended some time ago that it would be a very profitable move to spend some more money her way and expect real net profitable returns by expanding her budget. I would find it reasonable to expect that for every million we spent in her office, a very generous staffing increment, we could expect 5 to 10 million in savings. Not a bad return. Ruby is the key to turning on the lights in our City.
In my earlier "Plan" for Public Safety, one of the important points was "to freeze all travel at OPD" so we could have command staff "on the job."
In private conversations at OPD I have held that travelling to other cities and conferences is a waste of our time for a lot of reasons. (1) We are [should be] in a crisis mode, and while we "triage" calls to avoid our own citizens' needs, we send our key cops travelling everywhere else. (2) Oakland is simply too unique... and travelling elsewhere to find out what others are doing for their unique problems is an admission that we can't know or handle our own. This is an admission that we don't understand our problems. (3) We have telephones now. I regularly make calls to many Police Departments, especially their Planning and Research commanders. If we paid for the reports, binders, synopses, and made a few calls, we could have all the benefits of travel without absences. Those who feel face-to-face contacts are valuable aspects of travelling elsewhere should consider how much more valuable home-based face-to-face is. I should note that whenever I say I am from Oakland, there is instant recognition, empathy, and cooperation.
Remember also, that I suggested several times that we give Courtney Ruby a few million more to bolster her staff and become a real watchdog... not for the actual dollars spent necessarily, but for the performance waste in our government. Her role is to conduct "performance audits." As here, the OPD spending of $427,000 is just the tip of both the much larger cost and performance icebergs.
Please recall that for the past three years I've called for freezing all travel [even privately to Tucker as OPD Ombudsman]. I've discussed and written specific OPD strategies and tactics to dramatically improve public safety. I've even offered an extensive "public safety plan." Since then I've considered more refinements -- Modern "command and control" within an infrastructure of real time Response and assured follow-up investigations [Mobile Police Stations, GPS dispatching (thanks, DeLaFuente), articulated and compounding efficiencies, real information, real communications, real coordination, real community policing, real planning, and real reality. I've conferred continually and intimately with past and present command staff, sergeants, and street cops. I'm working on more detailed and specific strategies and tactics... and hope to find time soon to finalize. The key is to get everything into focus, balance and harmony for the express mission of making public safety in Oakland a reality.
For those who can bear more reading, please consider reviewing an earlier post (below) on ronoz.com.
ronoz
"Yes, We Can"
[May 24, 2008]
"Yes We Can!"[Barrack Obama]
“The first thing to do about Public Safety is so obvious as to see the answer in the question…”
Whatever your politics, it must be admitted that Barrack Obama has touched all of our collective senses with his slogan... "Yes We Can!"
Why? Because this is as American as apple pie, hot dogs, and baseball. We may differ as to what it means to be an American, but we all believe that "we can," especially when we have to - help each other in need, confront a crisis and solve it, and stand up for each other when in trouble. What we can't seem to be able to do in Oakland, is to move forward, to get out of the rut, to sing together in harmony and agreement. Well folks, we're in trouble now. We've got a crisis. We need to stand up for each other, roll up our sleeves, and start getting things done.
The Number One Priority is not "Public Safety." No, it is not. The most important thing we can do is commit ourselves to Economic Growth. Everything we can do to help each other for a better future lies in Economic Growth.
Our Ethos should be a dedication to upwardly expand our economic base, while guaranteeing all our citizens that none will be forgotten or left behind by what we do.
The Number One Strategy, without a doubt, is to get a grip on Public Safety.
The Number Two Strategy is to establish a Working Government.
The Number Three Strategy is to Follow The Money.
The Number Four Strategy is to Design and Implement Efficiency in Operations.
We can address education, those in need, our green concerns, preservation and development, and so many others. None may, however, be more than merely adding another hamster wheel to our get-nothing-done colony unless we see results toward the first four strategies.
Inside the strategies are Tactics. Proper attitude and application are the measures for transforming strategies. Nowhere else does "can-do" become new reality.
Comments:
It is the responsibility of those holding public office to establish the policies, as manifest in priorities, ethos and general strategies. City employees, especially Department Heads, hired by the policy makers, are responsible to design and implement enabling strategies and tactics.
There are those who say Oakland has moved backwards. In Oakland, the expression seems to say "Bullshit talks, and money walks." This is not to say that no one cares... In fact, everyone cares. But we're still moving backwards. According to the Census Bureau, our population in 2000 was 399,484, and for 2006 their American Community Survey estimated it at 377,256 (+/- 13,173). In 1950, when I first moved here, we had over 385,000 people.
In the 1950's, there were 654 Police Officers handling 1,417 Violent Crimes [1956 Annual Report]. On January 2, 2006, 683 cops (filled positions) would handle 7,600 Violent Crimes by the end of the year. If there were around 1,000 other Oakland employees in 1955 and over 3,000 in 2006, then it seems that the priorities to get things done didn't necessarily favor public safety... and the results appear to speak for themselves. There is much to be learned by comparing the budgets, but one thing certain is that citizens are paying much more and getting much less - and that is moving backwards.
Oakland has very much the same density of population and housing units per square mile as the City of Los Angeles, more than with most other cities, yet L.A. reduced their Violent Crime rate under Chief Bratton by 39% from 2000 to 2006, while we increased our crime rate by 51% (and climbing) under Chief Tucker. Why? L.A. increased their population and still decreased the crime. Conversely, Oakland decreased in population and increased the Violent Crime [5,038:7,599]. Why? San Jose increased their population by 5% and reduced their crime by 28% [4,928:3,561]. Even Richmond, our little neighbor that has similar "flatland" demographics increased their population by about 4% and their Violent Crime rate remained flat [1,200:1,224].
The "Why?" in the previous paragraph is obviously rhetorical. The answer is that the policy makers are treading water and the implementers aren't rowing.
Strategy Number One: Public Safety
The first thing to do about Public Safety is so obvious as to see the answer in the question - Replace the Chief of Police. This is a clinical solution, not a political one. His replacement should also be a clinical consideration, not one of "profile." It should be based, of course, on a "Can-Do" attitude, but also a demonstration of Can-Do understanding. The test must be for the candidate to show an aptitude (not on-the-job training) for critical analysis and constructive solutions (not promises or "let's try this just because."). Results should be immediate, not still begging after 39 months.
Strategy Number Two: Establish a Working Government
Our Government talks, listens, consults, confers, meets, and does a lot of getting, doing, and putting-out. But, there is no sense of forward movement. We all cherish a democratic form of government, and we have one form in Oakland. The City Council has Committees. The Mayor has Task Forces. The City Administrator has thousands of employees. But, as an example, who's responsible for the work of Public Safety? The Council is not allowed, by Charter, to interfere, but they are spinning all their gears trying to understand what's wrong with public safety. The Mayor is not technically the boss of the City Administrator; she has her own authority in the Charter and she reports to the Council, but the Mayor can fire her for not doing her job. Who tells the Mayor if the City Administrator's not doing her job? The public is telling him every day. For one thing, if the Chief is not doing his job, then the City Administrator is not doing hers. The reality is that the Chief, not knowing what to do, has completely abrogated the major public safety prerogatives to the City Manager who doesn't know what to do. But, if he doesn't know how to do the job, then how does she? Does her private parking space at OPD qualify her? It is reported that she, or those close to her, actually wrote the Chief's "Vision" and "White Paper." The new Deputy Chief wrote the recent Strategic Crime Reduction Plan, and it appears to pander to - and toe the line of - excuses and generalities directed by the misguiding Vision and White Paper. Neither the City Administrator nor the Chief signed the "Plan," so it's no wonder public safety isn't going anywhere but backwards. Where is the "How" of things to be done? Any can-do is evident by the "how" it is to be done and who is to do it.
So how about getting together a simple but major Charter change intended to promote forward movement?
Just a few ideas to kick things off...
1. Instead of debating, as we have for the past half century, about whether we should have a strong-Mayor, strong-Council, or strong-City Manager form of government, why don't we focus on having a "Strong Government?"
2. The Mayor should run with a Vice Mayor to offer double the effort, continuity, and replacement during absence. Either should be always in Oakland. Both should be properly and judiciously impeachable.
3. We should have a bicameral City Council. The current District Council is a good way to guarantee the interests of provincial and parochial concerns, but not so good for moving Oakland into the future. We should consider a second branch of legislature to foster forward progress for all of Oakland. The current District Council is properly composed, and can be considered senatorial. The City-Wide Council should be more representative and have maybe eighteen City Council Members voted at-large. This would afford greater public access. Those who say "nothing will get done" should be countered with maybe twice as much can get done, and more importantly in the right direction. Of course, all Council Members should also be subject to proper and judicious impeachment.
4. The Charter should not mention specifically any role, rights or responsibilities for the City Administrator. We have enough confusion. The Mayor should be the senior implementer, and thus he must have the exclusive executive authority over the City Manager. The Mayor's Office need not have separate employees, because all Oakland employees are already working for the Mayor. The City Administrator should merely be the highest authority employee in Oakland's Executive Branch. If the Mayor wanted to split the job into three City Administrators, each responsible for distinct operations, then so be it. The City Manager should be in charge of all administrative affairs, not performing the roles exclusive to Department Heads. They are the respective subject matter experts. It should be the City Administrator's leadership and management skill sets that accommodate the needs of the experts with the resources available, and not interference. There is enough for the City Administrator to do. The City Administrator should have an easier time evaluating the productivity of Department Heads if the various Directors are solely accountable. There should be only one Police Chief, not a lot of fingers in the pie. Currently the fog of police leadership is wet with city administrative interference, mayoral engagement, a separate mayoral Public Safety Director, a Mayor's Chief of Staff, a bevy of City Council desperation, conflicting outside "experts," various activist pressures, a variety of Public Safety Task Forces, and many more.
5. Any Executive Branch employee, from Department Head [Director?] upward, should have the "advice and consent" of the District Council branch of Oakland's Legislature.
6. The City Councils should have full authority and power in the Charter to require inquiry of the the Executive Branch, but not interference in its operations.
This topic deserves an extended conversation, but hopefully not as long as it took for our country's Constitution. We must do something soon.
Strategy Number Three: Follow the Money
Money is the currency for productivity. To move forward in Oakland, we must be productive with Oakland's money. As any parent tries to teach a child, handling money takes a certain attitude; principle to that attitude is to handle it frugally today and save for the future. "Don't spend it all" is what we’ve heard countless times. The independently elected City Auditor is wonderfully positioned, but she should have her role extended and re-defined for better oversight. The Auditor's Office should of course have more money to do more things, but that means also that our current budget should be sufficient to expect the net return to be greater. The results are as measurably determinable as cost-effective evaluation/planning is the mainstay for leveraging every dollar in private business. In other words, if the Auditor cost us another $5 million, but we saved $20 million, then at that ratio why not spend $10 million?
Let's get some savviness into policy and the implementation of financial utilization. As an example, let's not automatically think that hiring more cops for exaggerated sums is the path to better public safety. If Wayne Tucker's $28 million in overtime for OPD, the equivalent of 200 experienced cops, and his three dozen annuitants couldn't get better public safety, then why hire 200 new cops to add to the confusion and get just as little benefit from them? Why not get rid of the confusion and improve results first, and then talk about what's needed? Get this type of thinking operative in every part of our government - getting more bang for the bucks we've got before spending more bucks - and watch real progress happen.
Saving means investing. Every Department is in a flurry for a few months, beginning around March, to spend every dime they have so they can justify asking for more in the next budget. Why not see how much we can save, while getting more done, by incentifying employees with bonuses (or even a lottery) with a portion of the monies saved, and putting the rest in a fund for a rainy day? It is easy for employees to want to spend the money because they are all told that "otherwise it will go back into the General Fund." And, everyone knows the General Fund is a black hole.
If Stanford, with far fewer constituents and graduates, can amass an endowment capable of spending for the benefit of their people while growing ever richer, why can't Oakland? One of the biggest clubs in the world is the "I used to live in Oakland Club." Oakland has much larger alumni than Stanford. The difference is that Stanford has an independent management company handling their funds. They recently earned $3 Billion. Oakland's entire "unmanageable" budget is barely over $1 Billion. Oakland can amass dollars, properties, philanthropists, investments, and a profitable future. But, it has to have the right attitude about money. "Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves." Benjamin Franklin said this, and we can recall the role he played in the formation of a better government.
Strategy Number Four: Design and Implement Efficiencies in Government
Why is this so difficult? If government efficiency is rated 2 out of 10, then doubling efficiency should be simple.
Again, with an OPD example (since it is our number one strategy), I drove by the PAB (Police Administration Building) at 8:45 am this morning. There were 38 marked police cars parked at headquarters. I always count the cars there because it's easy. At Eastmont it's not so easy, but I assume a similar number are parked underground there. Why aren't they in the neighborhoods? Also, why did I see three cops driving around in one marked car yesterday?
Do we have too few cars, or too few being properly utilized? The same question should be asked when we think about how many cops we have or should have. If we halved the time cops spend in headquarters, wouldn't that double such times on the street? If we halved the 78 minutes per average call, wouldn't that double the number of calls we could answer? If the motivation of our cops was doubled, now estimated at 20% because of low morale and high job dissatisfaction, then couldn't we expect an exponential increase in productivity if our cops were inspired? Off the wall - if we have increased our high-tech by many millions of dollars and crime still increased drastically, then why not spend less on high-tech and emphasize more low-tech... like talking with people.
I can't resist this one... If the Chief can't do the job, and the Violent Crime numbers are perilously expressive on this… and the City Administrator has to have her people constantly involved, and an "Assistant Chief" has to be installed, and the Mayor has to throw in a Public Safety Officer, and a Director of (Police) Administration has to be created, and four Captains have to become administrative assistants, and Harnett and a clutch of outside consultants have to tell us how to reorganize, and three governmental committees have to spin their wheels, then why not just trade it the whole mess and confusion in for a Chief who can do the job. That would save a pile of money, get OPD much more productive, and instantly stimulate police morale, job satisfaction, motivation and initiative.
Ronoz
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[Below is the Yahoo Groups email to which I responded…]
Wow – check out what our tax dollars are paying for. Sister City Conference in South Africa? Amazing. Svea
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/22/BAUB131HLG.DTL
Grounded: Even as Oakland plunged into a financial pit last year, city officials spent $1.2 million to attend more than 900 meetings and conferences - prompting City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente to call for an immediate halt to out-of-town jaunts.
Mayor Ron Dellums rang up more than $44,000 for eight trips during fiscal 2007-08, according to a new report from city Budget Director Sarah Schlenk. That included a tab of more than $9,000 for a weeklong trip to the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington in January and more than $8,000 to attend the Congressional Black Caucus gathering, also in D.C., the previous September, the report said. There's no suggestion that any of the spending for the trips cited in Schlenk's report was improper. But with the city staring at a $50 million deficit this year, De La Fuente figures such trips are a frill that Oakland's taxpayers can't afford.
He'll ask the council's Budget and Finance Committee to put the brakes on any more spending at least until the dust settles.
Dellums isn't the only city official who headed out of town last year. Recently ousted City Administrator Deborah Edgerly spent $5,852 to attended three conferences on police and fire retirement issues, redevelopment and government finance, plus a forum for black public administrators, Schlenk's report said. No locations were given.
The City Council spent $14,207 for four members to attend a total of eight conferences, the report shows. More than $9,000 covered the cost of three trips by Councilwoman Desley Brooks, including a crime-prevention conference in Las Vegas and a U.S.-Africa Sister Cities Conference in South Africa in the summer of 2007, the report shows.
Council members Jean Quan and Larry Reid each attended two conferences, and Councilwoman Jane Brunner attended one meeting in Los Angeles.City Attorney John Russo and six staffers spent $11,983 for various conferences and meals, the budget director's report said. Records show that the Human Services Department paid for 15 members of Oakland's Head Start management team to attend an overnight retreat in Monterey in June. The city Parks and Recreation Department spent $28,900 on travel, including one staffer's trip to a U.S. sailing symposium in St. Petersburg, Fla., in January. The $43,000 spent on travel by the city's library included $500 for a staffer to attend a comic book convention in San Diego.
The biggest chunk, however, was spent by the Police Department, which rang up $426,831 on travel.
De La Fuente - who didn't bill the city for any travel - says he realizes that eliminating trips will put only a small dent in the city's financial troubles.
"But these are the types of things you need to do before you start laying off people," he said.
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