A Madera County grand jury report released Monday focused on the county Planning Division, a department that was reorganized last year by the board of supervisors for economic and operational efficiency.
The department functions as the planning agency for the unincorporated area of the county, and is responsible for the preparation and implementation of a comprehensive long-term General Plan for land use, and administers certain state acts including the California Environmental Quality Act of 1970 (CEQA).
Norman Allinder, who has been the county’s planning director for six years, heads the division, which is made up of eight full-time, and five part-time employees, and operates on an annual budget of $1.6 million.
The grand jury said the Planning Division “is functioning in a positive manner under sound leadership.”
“We’re quite proud of the performance and resolution report received from the grand jury,” Allinder said. “They do make certain recommendations, and we do look forward to implementing those so that we can continue to improve our customer service and help streamline government bureaucracy.
Some of the grand jury findings were:
• Some of the information on the Planning Division web page is outdated, inaccurate and does not reflect the division’s reorganization under the Community and Economic Development Department.
• Increased revenue from grants and planning services has substantially reduced the net cost to the county for the Planning Division operations.
• Staff morale appears good. Issues include insufficient managerial and staff training, employee orientation and changes in work load. These problems are likely due to the reorganization. Recent staff promotions from within are positive.
• The division has reduced the waiting time for certain building permit approvals from 200 days to 60 days.
• The downturn in the economy and building industry has affected staff workloads, resulting in fewer specific building permit requests and site plan reviews. At the same time there has been an increase in workloads for code enforcement staff resulting in more reactionary responses to critical requests.
Recommendations made by the grand jury include:
• Solicit recommendations from staff to improve teamwork, communication, and work efficiencies.
• Implement a practical and user friendly system to solicit, review and respond to customer complaints.
• Develop a public awareness program to educate the community on how to comply with building and land use regulations.
[for the full report, http://madera-county.com/index.php/county-forms/category/645-reports?download=5843:1415-03-madera-county-planning-division]
Sierra Star
BY STAFF REPORT
editorial@sierrastar.com March 11, 2015
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