To: Board of Supervisors
From: Planning and Building Department
Agenda Section: Consent
Vote Requirement: Majority
SUBJECT:
title
Reduction of Walk-in-Service Hours for the Planning and Building Department
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RECOMMENDATION(S):
Recommendation
That the Board of Supervisors:
1. Authorize the Planning and Building Department to reduce public counter hours to Monday through Thursday, from 8:30 am to 2 pm, and be closed on Fridays.
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STRATEGIC PLAN:
This action supports the following areas of your Board's Strategic Plan.
Area of Focus: Workforce & Operational Excellence
Strategic Plan Category: 3001 - Support a well-trained workforce
DISCUSSION:
Executive Summary
The Board is being asked to allow the Planning and Building Department to limit the hours of counter availability to Monday through Thursday from 8:30 am to 2 pm and closing on Fridays. This allows staff with counter responsibilities to focus on processing permit applications and be responsive to the public via the telephone and email. This request comes in response to process changes that have been made and with the loss of a core staff counter team staff member. The amount of walk-in traffic has been decreasing, while communicating via phone and email has increased, and the department has started accepting applications electronically rather than at the counter. This change will reallocate staff time to provide increased levels of service by providing time to focus on processing applications.
Background.
The need and urgency for this change comes in response to staffing limitations. The department's front counter, phones and email activity is primarily staffed by permit technicians in addition to their other duties of initializing and processing permits. The department is actively choosing to reduce the work force through attrition. The department recently received a resignation from a permit technician who is moving to a higher paying job in another department. Another per...
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