California public agencies will be hard-pressed to maintain quality management and service levels as Baby Boomers retire. (See Nov. 7 Public Agency Workforce Crisis).
There is a tried-and-true alternative to privatizing public services. Hiring private consultants under extension-of-staff arrangements has been successful for years and here's why it's going to grow:
Control remains in the public sector. Extension-of-staff is not privatization. All governing power and municipal assets remain in the public sector. Private firms serving in extension-of-staff roles work at the pleasure of the governing board and agency staff only as long as needed to accomplish the current goals and objectives, remaining focused on the immediate needs.
Competition remains a driving force. Public agencies can qualify several private agencies to provide extension-of-staff services on an as-needed basis. This protects against complacency from a single supplier.
Technical expertise is efficiently managed. With a greater demand on their services and increasing regulatory constraints, public agencies are more challenged than ever to maintain the appropriate level of technical expertise in-house. Workloads fluctuate with economic development, increased regulations, funding availability, and unexpected emergencies. Further, public projects have become more complex, requiring greater technical and regulatory specialization as well as more sophisticated coordination by project teams. Extension-of-staff programs enable public agencies to supplement their staff with key experts and professionals from the private sector on an as-needed basis.
Staffing costs can be well-managed and quickly adjusted. Adding a full-time and adequately qualified employee at a public agency takes valuable time and a long-term funding commitment. Extension-of-staff allows public agencies to immediately tap the expertise needed to supplement in-house capabilities, yet only for as long as needed. The agency pays only for the time worked and is not responsible for the long-term total costs of a permanent employee.
Nov 12, 2007
Nov 9, 2007
Modelling Wildfire Threats
CalFIRE's most recent figures estimate approximately 12 million homes on 8 million acres in the state's Wildland Urban Interface (WUI). Wildfires will always be with us, but there's hope for mitigating their destruction beyond throwing more firefighters and equipment at the problem.
Urban foresters can use GIS (geographical information system) to identify problem areas and recommend corrective action by modeling fire behavior.
Software programs like FlamMap and FARSITE take into account weather, terrain and available fuels to calculate flame lengths, fire spread rate and generated heat. Wildfire specialists use the information to identify hazard areas, fuel treatment priorities, and fuel modification zones.
In 2006, the City of Del Mar Fire Department used GIS modeling software for high-risk zones in residential canyons with thick brush. They removed hazardous fuels and provided firefighters with “defensible space” to more effectively control a fire’s spread - while retaining soil integrity and without doing ugly, wholesale chopping of foliage.
Wildfire specialists say GIS modelling can help fire agencies:
Urban foresters can use GIS (geographical information system) to identify problem areas and recommend corrective action by modeling fire behavior.
Software programs like FlamMap and FARSITE take into account weather, terrain and available fuels to calculate flame lengths, fire spread rate and generated heat. Wildfire specialists use the information to identify hazard areas, fuel treatment priorities, and fuel modification zones.
In 2006, the City of Del Mar Fire Department used GIS modeling software for high-risk zones in residential canyons with thick brush. They removed hazardous fuels and provided firefighters with “defensible space” to more effectively control a fire’s spread - while retaining soil integrity and without doing ugly, wholesale chopping of foliage.
Wildfire specialists say GIS modelling can help fire agencies:
- Prioritize efforts based upon known hazards, and conduct pre- and post-treatment analyses to determine the fuel modifications predicted success.
- Analyze where new buildings should be sited as well as how structural requirements will help reduce the vulnerability to wildfire.
- Plan for fuel modification based on modeled fire behavior in vegetation communities and design setback requirements.
- Treat areas strategically to minimize impacts to sensitive habitats while maximizing reduction of fire intensity.
Nov 8, 2007
Un-Green Water Policy
Here's a case of does the left hand know what the right hand is doing.
The Governor and legislature pass the AB32 measure to cap carbon emissions in California.
Separately, the state's Water Resources Control Board has proposed more stringent water quality standards for recycled water to manage salinity levels in groundwater.
Recycled water producers say current treatment levels achieve sufficient water quality and that the proposed new standards will require higher treatment levels. Higher treatment levels require significant increases in energy usage and will likely create additional solid residual material that would have to be transported to disposal sites.
The result is a water policy that could increase greenhouse gas emissions from plant operations and conveyance trucks; more solid waste requiring additional landfill capacity and energy-consuming disposal methods, and added traffic on an over-crowded, deteriorating highway system.
The appointed water boards and their staffs don't need to consider the related impacts of any decisions; their only charter is water quality.
The Governor and legislature pass the AB32 measure to cap carbon emissions in California.
Separately, the state's Water Resources Control Board has proposed more stringent water quality standards for recycled water to manage salinity levels in groundwater.
Recycled water producers say current treatment levels achieve sufficient water quality and that the proposed new standards will require higher treatment levels. Higher treatment levels require significant increases in energy usage and will likely create additional solid residual material that would have to be transported to disposal sites.
The result is a water policy that could increase greenhouse gas emissions from plant operations and conveyance trucks; more solid waste requiring additional landfill capacity and energy-consuming disposal methods, and added traffic on an over-crowded, deteriorating highway system.
The appointed water boards and their staffs don't need to consider the related impacts of any decisions; their only charter is water quality.
Least Action vs. Best Action
The environmental regulatory movement that started in the 1960s resulted in a bias for project developers to ask themselves, “What is the least action I can take to satisfy regulators given overall costs, benefits and risks?”
California is in a more complex position today -- population continues to increase in an already crowded state; infrastructure that needs to be both rehabbed and expanded (for 25 million more people expected to come here); and now the issue of sustainability.
A better question for public and private sector managers who design and build California’s infrastructure is to ask, “What is the best action we can take to produce value for customers, make smarter use of resources, and deliver bottom-line results to us?”
This is also a more challenging question.
The answer is that infrastructure solutions need to pragmatically integrate sustainability in three areas -- economic, technical and environmental. It gets complicated because regulatory agencies look only at the environmental.
California is in a more complex position today -- population continues to increase in an already crowded state; infrastructure that needs to be both rehabbed and expanded (for 25 million more people expected to come here); and now the issue of sustainability.
A better question for public and private sector managers who design and build California’s infrastructure is to ask, “What is the best action we can take to produce value for customers, make smarter use of resources, and deliver bottom-line results to us?”
This is also a more challenging question.
The answer is that infrastructure solutions need to pragmatically integrate sustainability in three areas -- economic, technical and environmental. It gets complicated because regulatory agencies look only at the environmental.
Nov 7, 2007
Luxury to Be Green
On September 27, 2006 Gov. Schwarzenegger signed the law to reduce
On the same day with no fanfare, the American Society of Civil Engineer's California chapter representing 12,000 civil engineers working in
Municipal agency managers driven by the need for operational efficiencies and cost-savings have been moving in this direction before green was “Green”. Using low-to-zero emission turbines and fuel cells, driving natural-gas powered vehicle fleets, and wastewater agencies going off the grid by powering operations with electricity generated by recaptured methane gas is old news in public infrastructure
These pre-green actions underscore a key point. Green cannot stand-alone as a concept but gains traction when it produces bottom-line business results; infrastructure needs to defined as sustainable in three ways – economic, technical and environmental.
It's nice that Tony Blair thought enough of California's AB32 to look in on the bill signing. I'm pretty sure he won't be looking in via satellite when your sewer line bursts.
Workforce Quiet Crisis
The much-heralded demographic shift in the workforce is starting to take hold as 50 million generation X-ers prepare to take the place of 80 million Baby Boomers.
The demographic shift will hit the public sector harder than the private sector because Boomers represent a higher percentage of the public workforce, according to the International City/County Management Association. ICMA has dubbed this the public agencies "Quiet Crisis."
As experienced public-employee Boomers start to leave, a great deal of localized experience and knowledge goes with them.
The out-of-balance workforce in California municipal agencies is more than a product of demographics. Many agencies encourage retirement with attractive pension programs.
Participants at a recent League of California Cities leadership seminar identified the following obstacles public agencies have in creating the next generation of leaders:
College students who bypass civil engineering because they don’t see opportunity may miss out on a bull market for employees. The need for public works professionals will continue to grow as California faces the combined need to rehab aging infrastructure and add new infrastructure for the growing population.
On the horizon: the shortage of qualified workers will create intense talent competition between public agencies and the private sector -- or possibly even local market public agency versus public agency competition for experienced, senior employees.
The demographic shift will hit the public sector harder than the private sector because Boomers represent a higher percentage of the public workforce, according to the International City/County Management Association. ICMA has dubbed this the public agencies "Quiet Crisis."
As experienced public-employee Boomers start to leave, a great deal of localized experience and knowledge goes with them.
The out-of-balance workforce in California municipal agencies is more than a product of demographics. Many agencies encourage retirement with attractive pension programs.
Participants at a recent League of California Cities leadership seminar identified the following obstacles public agencies have in creating the next generation of leaders:
- few incentives to move up,
- lack of succession planning programs,
- civil service restrictions on designating heirs apparent, and
- generational issues concerning younger people and government service.
College students who bypass civil engineering because they don’t see opportunity may miss out on a bull market for employees. The need for public works professionals will continue to grow as California faces the combined need to rehab aging infrastructure and add new infrastructure for the growing population.
On the horizon: the shortage of qualified workers will create intense talent competition between public agencies and the private sector -- or possibly even local market public agency versus public agency competition for experienced, senior employees.
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