A recent study by Team Tipton, a Denver-based consulting firm, provides an enlightening and devastating review of the operating environment within two city of Boulder departments, Public Works and Planning and Development Services. Commissioned by the city manager, results were released to city staff earlier in September with the intent to build a model of “operational excellence.”
Though City Manager Jane Brautigam and her executive team are widely implicated in the report, the report is a wide-ranging indictment of the political leadership that, under the past two years of a PLAN-Boulder County-dominated City Council, has fostered a disrespect for professional staff opinion and lost sight of basic government needs in their pursuit of the endless “next big things.”
In 12 overarching insights, the report notes that city staff members are “smart, hardworking, and dedicated and who strive to perform their jobs well.” I can personally attest to this assessment from my own dealings with Public Works and Planning staff from my time on City Council and as a private citizen. The remainder of insights were sobering, including: arduous, slow and unpredictable decision making; employees feeling a strong sense of futility; a lack of rigor and discipline in processes and procedures; high levels of turnover with long-standing open senior leadership roles; and ineffective organizational structures and support systems.
The insights can be categorized broadly into culture, processes and procedures, organizational design, and decision-making.
Let’s focus on the cultural aspects. One important chart in Tipton’s presentation describes the inverse proportion of leadership shifts and how even small shifts at the executive level or with the elected body (City Council) cause waves of change throughout the entire organization. The report states there is “a feeling that senior leaders and City Council don’t truly respect and value the input from and the role of staff (they don’t have our backs).” This is a cultural phenomenon that is prevalent with the Council majority over the past two years.
There are numerous instances to highlight when, after years of staff analysis, consulting work and public process, the City Council decided to punt a decision or outright override it. The design of flood mitigation for South Boulder Creek, the development of Alpine-Balsam, and the Hogan-Pancost fiasco are just a few of the most egregious examples.
How de-motivating is it to have Council override years of research, scientific analysis, and public process? Well, it’s enough that some of our most important employees have chosen to leave the city for employment elsewhere. The most recent example is the loss of our excellent utilities director to Lafayette. It’s also not surprising that, under these conditions, it has been such a challenge to recruit qualified directors for Planning, Public Works or the Transportation Division, among other leadership positions.
While staff members are the focused victims in this report, it’s also important to recognize the other victims: You, the citizens. It’s terribly de-motivating for the many residents who participate in a public process only to see a project sidelined, delayed or irrevocably altered by Council. The report also confirms the indecision and conflicting decisions that define the development review process that results in enormous and costly delays for everything from large housing projects to small home remodels.
Another root cause of the chaos the Tipton report describes is this: “The push for innovation (Boulder’s ‘brand’) is regularly in conflict with the more mundane realities of long-term operations and maintenance.” Think municipalization, oil company litigation, and development impact fees that respond to the calls of anti-development constituencies but aren’t helping us address the true big-picture priorities of affordable housing, flood mitigation, and climate change or the more mundane tasks of fixing potholes, maintaining our bike paths, and mowing our medians.
These problems cannot be ignored. If the city of Boulder wants to build a model of operational excellence, change in the internal and external culture must begin with the top leadership, our City Council. Whoever sits at the Council dais after this November’s election must be committed to leading this effort.
Tipton has summarized the implications if the relationships with elected officials and the public at large are improved: Great ideas will be implemented, staff turnover will drop, performance will increase, satisfaction will grow, and costs will decline.
That’s why it is critical to pay attention to this year’s City Council election. Some PLAN-Boulder County-backed candidates have listed their priorities as moving jobs out of Boulder, further increasing impact fees, or limiting tourism. Let’s stop the distractions. Council needs to get back to the basics: prioritizing the most important and impactful projects, supporting staff to execute the recommendations from Team Tipton, and focusing on operational excellence.
Jan Burton is a former Boulder City Council member. Email: Jan.burton111@gmail.com.
