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Morgan Hill, California
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Zucker Systems
Given that we received considerable negative feedback during our interviews about
customer service and project management inconsistencies between tenured staff,
newer staff and contract staff, we believe that the PPM should be updated to be used
as a management tool to help train new staff and ensure that all staff have a clear and
consistent understanding of work practices and performance expectations including
work quality, accountability, professional demeanor, customer service and to facilitate
more seamless project transitions between contract planners and regular fulltime
planners. Topics should include:
Preliminary and Conceptual Planning Review processing protocols;
Planning Application processing procedures for all application types;
Project management protocols;
Design Review Committee (DRC) procedures and expected outcomes;
Record keeping and file maintenance (paper and electronic) and close-out
methods;
Staff report and presentation formats and practices;
Customer service standards and communication requirements, including return
email and telephone policies;
Field inspection protocols; electronic file and record keeping requirements; and
Other policies that establish performance expectations.
125.
Recommendation
: The Community Development Director should update
the Policy & Procedures Manual for Department as described above.
Zoning Code (Title 18)
The City is currently comprehensively updating its Zoning Code as part of the
Morgan Hill 2035 project to improve cross referencing, eliminate jargon and legalese,
resolve interpretation issues, update definitions and include more tables so that the
document provides a more modern format that is easier to follow, which is excellent.
The City selected a consulting team led by The Planning Center | DC&E for this
effort.
However, some staff interviewed stated Planners are not receiving adequate updates
on the progress of the project and tenured staff should be providing more
input/feedback.
126.
Recommendation:
The Community Development Director should require
the project manager for the Zoning Code update to provide regular progress
updates to Division staff during weekly meetings and obtain input from
tenured staff.