Staff Report 5.2

Analysis

Staff is requesting that the Commission contract with an independent professional services firm to conduct an organizational and staffing assessment.  

The impetus for the organizational assessment comes from the Assistant Executive Officer’s intention to retire from her position with Sonoma LAFCO in the upcoming year.  

Staff believes that this change presents an opportunity to examine staff workload; job classifications and job descriptions; longevity, retention, and recruitment of quality staff; and succession planning.  

Organizationally, Sonoma LAFCO has evolved over the past twenty years, with staff resources adjusted from time to time. However, an independent evaluation, which requires special expertise and attention which staff cannot provide, has never been conducted.  

Background  

Before the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000 (CKH) became law on January 1, 2001, an analyst and a clerk in the County Administrator’s Office (CAO) spent limited amounts of time as staff for Sonoma LAFCO; the County Administrator was officially (nominally) the Executive Officer.  

When LAFCO became an independent agency in January 2001 pursuant to CKH, the Commission and the County signed a Memorandum of Understanding whereby the County provided professional and clerical staffing and office space for LAFCO, and County Counsel’s office provided legal services.  

At that time, Commission staff consisted of 15 percent of the time of an analyst in the CAO – designated as the Executive Officer – who supervised a 0.50 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) analyst – designated as the Assistant Executive Officer (AEO) - a new position. Support staff consisted of a .50 FTE Clerk, for a total staff of 1.15 FTE.  

The table below shows the evolution of LAFCO staffing positions and time allocated. From 2001/02 to 2007/08, the change was minimal. In March 2007, the then-Executive Officer retired, and a full-time position of “LAFCO Executive Officer” was created within the County’s job classification system.  

Staffing levels remained stable for the next decade until 2018, when staff recommended, and the Commission approved, an increase in staffing due to workload needs: an Analyst I position at .90 FTE was created, and the Clerk position was budgeted at .50 FTE instead of the previous .75 -.90 FTE.  

'When the CAO analyst designated as the LAFCO EO retired in March 2007, the County and the Commission agreed that the individual would work .22 FTE (8-9 hours/week) as an “Extra-Help” employee until a full-time LAFCO Executive Officer would start work.  

²The Executive Officer authorized an increase in work time for the clerk for the last quarter of FY 2016-17 (from .75 FTE to .90 FTE) due to additional workload coupled with an extended medical leave for another employee; this was carried over into FY 2017-18.  

³The Clerk position was filled for only the last half of Fiscal Year 2018-19.  

Purpose of the Organizational Assessment  

Contracting with an outside firm to conduct an organizational assessment will provide the Commission and its staff an independent evaluation of appropriate staffing levels and operational structure to meet Sonoma LAFCO’s responsibilities under state law and the goals of the Commission.  

Additionally, it is staff’s intention to couple the organizational assessment with a goal-setting session, at the first of the year, so that the Commission can determine, with the assistance of a facilitator, short- and long-term plans, to direct staffing needs.  

From a quiet organization in 2001 that primarily reacted to submitted proposals, today Sonoma LAFCO is subject to more regulations, works on projects that are more controversial and sometimes contentious, receives greater public and local agency scrutiny/questions/involvement, and is more proactive in reaching out to the greater Sonoma County community.

Further, the State Legislature continues to look at LAFCO as its local “watchdog” on sustainable growth and good governance matters and continues to expand LAFCO’s responsibilities or direct LAFCO actions.  

Staff have actively participated in state-level activities, with our state association, CALAFCO, on the CALAFCO Legislative Committee, and in conferences and workshops and has fostered relationships with staff at the County, the cities, and with special districts. Further, the Executive Officer routinely makes presentations before community groups and organizations.  

Summarizing current staffing allocations and experience:  

• The LAFCO Executive Officer position is designated in the County’s job classification as full-time. Mark Bramfitt has worked in that capacity for Sonoma LAFCO for just over five years.
• The Assistant Executive Officer position is designated in the County’s job classification as Administrative Analyst III. Carole Cooper has worked for Sonoma LAFCO for more than 18 years with her time varying from .50 FTE initially to .80 FTE for the last 13 years.
• The Analyst position is designated in the County’s job classification as Administrative Analyst I. Cynthia Olson has worked in that position for the last 16 months; she previously served as the Commission Clerk for almost 14 years, generally at .75 FTE.
• The Clerk position is designated in the County’s job classification as Administrative Aide. Diana Wilson has served in that position since mid-December 2018, working half-time.
• Legal Counsel responsibilities have been undertaken for the last 13 months by Verne Ball, a Deputy County Counsel. LAFCO pays by the hour for his time on LAFCO matters.  

As more and different work has come to LAFCO, staff has adapted to changes by shifting responsibilities, postponing work, if possible; and rearranging priorities.  

A good example is work related to reorganizations of fire agencies. It has been clear for many years that the type and number of agencies/organizations providing fire protection services in the County are not as effective and efficient as they could be. Although discussions had occurred off and on, efforts to reorganize did not pick up steam until after the October 2017 devastating fires. LAFCO has a pivotal role in what should happen with the many agencies/organizations providing fire services, and the Commission indicated its desire to have the Executive Officer fully engaged in fire agency community discussions. Municipal Service Reviews for fire agencies are conducted in-house, instead of contracted out, so that staff familiar with the community can responsibly and accurately represent the position of the Commission.  

As a result, however, application work is sometimes shifted to other staff; long-term areas of focus, such as revision of applications for changes of organization or reorganization and extension of services; revisiting and updating of adopted policies, or website user-friendliness are addressed only on a case-by-case basis as time permits. Commissioners have been aware of and have commented on responsibilities and workload.  

All organizations experience shifting of priorities from time to time and adapt to varying circumstances. At the same time, staff believes that actual duties and experience requirements should align with job classifications and job descriptions.  

With the exception of the Executive Officer position, staff’s job descriptions are not specific to LAFCO and have been “fitted into” the County’s job classification system, even though actual job responsibilities do not align with the County’s job descriptions. Positions need to be reviewed to better reflect actual responsibilities and work expectations and to facilitate recruitment and retention of personnel.  

Finally, because the staff is few in number, when one person leaves, it creates a vacuum and a vulnerability in the organization for which both Commission and staff need to know how to prepare and proactively respond.  

As a result of all that has been described, staff recommends that an independent organizational assessment be conducted to address the following:  

• -Organization and reporting structure
• -Clarification of job descriptions
• -Performance evaluations
• -Succession planning and preservation of institutional knowledge
• -Encouragement of career growth  

One goal of the assessment will be to identify any organizational and structural vulnerabilities and provide recommendations on how LAFCO can better address them The assessment will also support efforts to ensure consistency, continuity and reliability in the services that LAFCO provides to affected agencies and the community.  

It is anticipated that the consultant will collect the necessary data through research, surveys, interviews, and other best practices; analyze the data using appropriate methods, tools, and techniques; and issue a report with findings and recommendations for the Commission’s review and consideration.  

Fiscal Implications  

Based on independent assessments conducted for other LAFCOs, staff anticipates that the organization assessment for Sonoma LAFCO would cost between $15,000 and $20,000. Funds are available in the Commission’s Fund Balance for this purpose.

Recommendation

Staff recommends that the Commission discuss staff’s proposal and then authorize the Executive Officer to initiate a Request for Proposals for an independent professional services firm to conduct an organizational and staffing assessment.

Alternate Recommendation 

None.  

With the Assistant Executive Officer’s projected retirement early next year, staff believes this is an opportunity to evaluate the organization’s staffing and operational structure.