Modernization, streamlining, and efficiency-Wasilla strategic plans for IT, Finance, and HR

On November 28, Wasilla city council met to hear from city administration, directors, managers, as they laid out and discussed strategic planning to move Wasilla forward.

Each department from Parks and Recreation to Public Works, to Director of Finance and Library Director were given 15 minutes to present their vision and strategic goals. Each presentation was followed up with an additional 15 minutes allotted for questions and answers from the council.

The meeting lasted over five hours. Given the length and the breadth of the meeting, significant portions of the meeting will be covered over a series of articles starting with Wasilla Mayor Glenda Ledford’s vision for Wasilla over the next several years.

The mayor had three focuses for the city: The first, to increase the economic development by looking for ways to diversify the economy; modernize the city’s policies, procedures, and practices; and build a healthy community and strong workforce.

The mayor’s second initiative is a city-wide customer service focus. For Mayor Ledford, customer service means implementing more practices that put the residents and community at the focus and a culture organized to have positive interactions with the city.

The mayor would also like to enhance the city’s brand and its image.

Mayor Ledford’s third initiative is to connect and work with community and organization leaders to increase the trade and vocational-technical education while using the facilities around the city.

Human Resource Manager Jaymie Herbert said that in the past, Human Resources (HR) has not been able to be a part of the strategic plan for the city and be able to work with the department in a way that moves the city forward.

She expressed hope that the Human Resource Department would be the model compassionate, responsive, and customer-focused service.

“We will be postured to inform, collaborate, and coach management with the strategic approach to enhance recruitment, retainment, and training of employees,” she told the council.

“One of the things we pride ourselves, which is to be there as a resource for our managers. We’re not there to dictate what they do, but ensure that employees are heard when they have concerns.”

One concern brought up by the council was whether or not payroll was done electronically or not, to which Newman said that payroll through HR was in fact, still done on paper.

“It’s very labor intensive so with HR and Finance (Director Joan Miller), we’ve really built that bridge to have the conversations, to ask ‘how can we do this correctly’ not only for the employees, but for the city, and as cost-effective as possible.” She told the council that currently they are seeking out programs that would help reduce payroll, timekeeping, and finance redundancy and would still work with the 2 systems in place in HR and Finance.

When it was Finance Director Joan Miller’s turn, she presented the vision for her department, stating it is the goal of the Finance Department to be a trusted steward of the city’s resources, execute accurate and efficient financial processes, and meet regulatory and fiduciary responsibilities.

Miller said the goals for her department include modernizing the way her department conducts business through the utilization of technology, streamlining, and process improvement.

“Through the effective and efficient use of technology, staff will be able to do their jobs in a high-quality, operational, efficient manner,” Miller told the council. She would like to expand the use of the city’s existing technology, saying that while there has been an increase in functionality during her time in the office, there are still some components being done outside current systems.

Miller said that she would like to work with Public Works in creating a water sewer assessment and PILA (Payment in lieu of assessment) database.

“This would be a lofty project but I think the time is now because of our maturity as a city,” she said. “What this would do essentially, is every parcel that has city water or sewer available, is there an assessment, has there been an assessment, and make that available to the public.” She said this would reduce costs and manpower as compared to the current methods, which she described as “manual driven,” and a waste of their resources.

Miller also spoke of finding ways to streamline the various computer programs and information systems that different departments utilize, which would also free up time and manpower from having to learn and train, then manually using the different software into a more seamless system.

“We think with programming, there could be shared data that would improve customer service.”

Miller said another strategic goal for her department is partnership collaboration.

“When we increase development there (in shared amenities), it increases property values and that increases the property tax base for the Borough.”

I.T. Manager Steve Stewart said one of his department’s long-term strategic goals is to modernize departmental workflows.

“We would work collaboratively with each department to assess, evaluate, and design tools that automate or digitize the workflow, while reducing costs and labor,” Stewart said.

He also told the council that he would like to form a committee to brainstorm solutions, but some projects may need to be outsourced, such as data migration and support services.

Stewart said another strategic goal for I.T. is to centralize, standardize, and modernize the I.T. Department.

“This is really eliminating the technical debt and current I.T. structure. There really hasn’t been a central plan or vision with I.T. It’s a ‘everything works right now so it’s good’ plan,” he said, then told the council that his department also needs to create policies and procedures related to Disaster Recovery Plans, Incident Response Plans, and implement a security baseline framework.

Finally, the City Planner, Tina Crawford presented her vision statement, saying in part, that her department would like to “create a vibrant, resilient community by encouraging economic development that enhances the quality of life for residents of all ages and abilities.”

“Everything that you have heard today, all the plans that everyone has talked about is a component of your city comprehensive plan,” she said, adding that all of the areas need to be addressed.

Crawford said that it important with all of the new directors in place to be involved in the development of strategic goals to carry the city forward for the next 5 years. She also said that part of planning is doing exactly what the directors from the different departments have done, creating a vision for the city.

“If you don’t have that vision for the city as to where you want to go and how you want to operate, you’re not going to be able to achieve it.”

She said the benefits of planning from a city-wide standpoint is it allows for cost savings on infrastructure and service costs because if development is planned for areas that already have road systems, employees, water and sewer availability, it will have a positive impact whereas zoning areas not yet developed will place additional costs on the city.

Crawford said that planning also creates a sense of place and community and that includes, architectural, environmental, and aesthetic elements, and protects public health, safety, and amenities for the community.

She did say one goal of hers is to make sure the permit process needs to incorporate incentives for development that has been recognized as important for development or redevelopment, along with an in-depth review of the current permit process fees.

“They don’t reflect the cost of staff doing the permit reviews.” When questioned by Councilman Stu Graham about how much should be paid for a permit and how much should be provided by the city,

“The city’s job is to do permits”

“If the fees are too high, it discourages development, sometimes it’s that price point that pushes you over. And then there is the balance with the resident expectation of ‘why should we be subsidizing their permit reviews and the cost it takes to do that?’” Crawford said that she has worked in similar communities, and comparatively Wasilla offers the lowest permit prices that she has seen. She cited an example of a $250 permit for the Shops at Sun Mountain do not reflect the amount of hours that went into reviews from Public Works, Planning review, and the other processes before gaining approval.

When the last presentation was given and the council gave final remarks, there was concession that there have been some really good presentations, great insight, and excitement to see where Wasilla is headed.

“We are looking forward to seeing some of this implemented.”

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Katie Stavick at katie.stavick@frontiersman.com