The Sage Project Contact Info
Kristofer Patron
Program Administrator
kpatron@sdsu.edu
(619) 594-0103

University Faculty Contact
Kim

Local Government / Community Contact

The recommendations in this report come from students of the public policy process whoworked to understand affordable housing, its challenges, and how the City of San Diego defines the term “affordable.” With this perspective, students developed innovative approaches to help the university address affordable housing challenges. The report hasbeen divided into recommendations for housing and selection, and economic instruments.

This report contains suggestions to assist SDSU in moving forward with the financial planning of the Mission Valley expansion. The recommendations that follow include best affordable housing models from other universities. Some suggestions require substantial funding, while others require relatively simple changes that can have lasting impact. While no one tool may ever fully address the challenges associated with financing affordable housing developments, these tools represent collaborative approaches that can be effective in a development such as SDSU Mission Valley.

Through the partnership between National City and the SDSU Sage Project during the fall of 2014, an upper-level undergraduate Public Administration course taught by Professor Josh Chanin developed recommendations for improvement of National City’s internal procedures for the public records process. The class was divided into five groups and investigated the process by which other California cities (La Mesa, Carlsbad, Lemon Grove, San Diego and Chula Vista) archive, retain and share their documents and infor-mation to the public.

Upon completion of an investigation of each local city, these stu-dents had access to the “best practices” and technological resources that have enabled these cities to develop appropriate processes for their respective governments. This report is a consolidation of each group’s findings and recommendations using relevant examples to encourage a sustainable CPRA process while demonstrating the role a city plays in making information widely accessible to the public.

The current process for record retrieval in National City does not have any major flaws or need an immediate overhaul, but there are many ways that the city could improve the process. Some recommendations may be part of a larger conversation of funding and resources, but more simple recommendations, such as a more comprehensive training for city employees on the public records act and process, could improve administrative efficiency.

The report acknowledges that there is not a “one-fits-all” template for cities to utilize for their internal public records process as each city differs demographically, and may need a specialized process that works within the confines of city resources. For example, some cities had more resources available to buy supportive programs, like Laserfiche, a digital imaging database which centralizes a city’s public records. Chula Vista has a designated public employee whose title is “Records Manager” and is responsible solely for the response and tracking of public records requests. In other cities, the city clerk served as the coordinator for all public records requests, but they also had a deputy city clerk or assistant who helped facilitate communication between departments to obtain documents to fulfill the requests. This helped the city clerk delegate responsibilities and removed the pressure of being the only person working on public records requests. Further, the importance of a progressive employee culture understanding of the CPRA, the retrieval process, and its role within the government and to the people must be noted.

The sum of this report is the significance that technology and communication between departments plays throughout the process of public records retrieval. Both of these organizational tools are discussed at length later in this report. Cities like Carlsbad have a database online through their city website which allows citizens to navigate and search for public records. Not only is it more convenient for the requester, but it also frees up time and money that would have been spent for a city employee to retrieve the document. Further, communication within the city clerk’s office and between different departments is key to ensuring that the requests are fulfilled on time, correctly and efficiently across different departments.

The Sage Project Contact Info
Kristofer Patron
Program Administrator
kpatron@sdsu.edu
(619) 594-0103

University Faculty Contact
Joshua Chanin
Public Administration

Local Government / Community Contact

Community Development

Facing the sunset of Proposition D in 2016, National City requires solutions to mitigate a potential revenue deficit. This report assesses the options available to National City to address this situation. Though the problem is of a very specific and definite nature, the solutions possible are disperse and many times mutually compatible with other solutions. With any budgetary solvency issues, there are multiple methods to correct imbalances. This report is divided into groups of recommendations that provide a broad range of possible actions the City can take to correct potential revenue shortages.

The solutions presented in this document can be viewed as increasing revenues, decreasing expenditures, or a combination of both. However, solutions are segregated further into four groups: Revenue, Expenditure, Administration, and Community Improvement.

The Revenue group contains recommendations related to the direct replacement of the revenues provided by Proposition D. The principle concept in this category of solutions is that the City has a structural revenue problem. These solutions involve measures aimed to directly increase General Fund revenues. The recommendations to accomplish this goal include establishing a Community Financing District, working with other local governments to revive Redevelopment Agencies and Enterprise Zones, and to increase community events.

The Expenditure group contains recommendations related to reducing the City’s budgetary costs. These recommendations consider the possibility that the City’s budgetary solvency problem can be assuaged by reducing costs. The solutions presented to accomplish this goal are to reduce current staffing levels, to encourage sustainability, to contract out services that the private sector can deliver more economically, and to consider refinancing qualified City bonds.

The Administrative group contains recommendations related to administrative adjustments in the City government. Many of these solutions could both increase revenues and decrease expenditures. The main concept of this group of recommendations is to look at this budgetary imbalance as an opportunity to reevaluate the administrative processes currently in place.

The Administrative group includes recommendations to utilize the services of independent auditors, develop a Participatory Budgeting process, increase volunteer opportunities within the City’s divisions, adjust existing fee schedules, and establish Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs).

Finally, the Community Improvement category contains recommendations that are geared toward the long-term improvement of the City. Similar to the Administrative category solutions, this category includes recommendations that seek to use this opportunity to improve the quality of life for the residents of National City. Though not immediately providing budgetary solutions, these implementation measures should lead to an increase in overall economic development, the health and wellness of residents, and home-ownership and property values. These recommendations include the establishment of Business Improvement Districts, the increased use of Strategic Community Planning, and measures aimed at increasing home-ownership.

The Sage Project Contact Info
Kristofer Patron
Program Administrator
kpatron@sdsu.edu
(619) 594-0103

University Faculty Contact
Shawn Flanigan
Public Administration

Local Government / Community Contact

Development

National City has experienced economic ups and downs for the past decade, which has impacted the level of service they are able to provide to residents. For example, in 2005 and 2006, the city faced structural budget deficits that led to a reduction in service and service hours offered to residents in addition to the challenges presented by the national recession that occurred in 2009 and the State of California’s dissolution of redevelopment agencies in February 2012 (Comprehensive Annual Financial Report; CAFR, 2014). City management commented that “National City’s Redevelopment Agency was a crit-ical partner in planning and implementing improvements to the city’s infrastructure, as well as in meeting the housing needs for low and moderate income residents, and the loss of it resulted in the loss of millions of dollars in revenue needed to address these priorities” (CAFR, 2014, pg. viii).

To help overcome this economic uncertainty, in 2007, the City Manager’s Office worked with other city departments to create a strategic plan that was adopted in conjunction with the annual budget process to produce a financially feasible long–term strategy for the city. More specifically, the strategic plan states its goals are to:
• Establish a long–range vision and direction for the City;
• Ensure all participants are working toward the same goals and objectives;
• Assess/Adjust the direction of the organization given the current (and changing) environment;
• Communicate goals and initiatives of the organization; and
• Provide a basis for developing a work plan to ensure the goals and initiatives of the Strategic Plan are carried out (CAFR, 2014, pg. viii).

After the first strategic plan was adopted in 2007, the Council has approved an updated plan every two years.

In preparation for the 2015 strategic plan update, National City management collaborated with San Diego State University’s Public Administration graduate students who were enrolled in the upper–division Administrative Theory course. This report outlines the process that took place between the students and city staff as well as the objectives created by the students for each assigned department. These objectives were presented to the City Council for further discussion.

In preparation for the assignment, an organization chart of National City was presented to the students. The organization chart showed that the city manager and city attorney’s offices are central to National City operations. These two offices oversee four categories that, in turn, provide oversight of smaller city departments. The four categories are: Development, Public Safety, Community and Operations. Examples of departments included within the four categories include: the library, human resources and police.

After students were assigned a city department or category, the next step was to review the city staff’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) document. The SWOT was developed by management-level staff within each department and outlines their office’s capabilities and limitations. Students reviewed the documents and provided recommendations for which items could be further developed into objectives that would ultimately be included in the strategic plan.

Once objectives were established, students analyzed the items further by providing an estimated dollar amount needed to implement the objective as well as alternative sources of funding to be considered. Performance and social indicators were also developed so that progress for each objective could be tracked once adopted. This report will outline these objectives and supplemental information that the students created for each department. The objectives were then presented to the City Council for further discussion.

The Sage Project Contact Info
Kristofer Patron
Program Administrator
kpatron@sdsu.edu
(619) 594-0103

University Faculty Contact
Mounah Abdel-Samad
Public Administration

Local Government / Community Contact

Assistant City Manger

Nationally, California produces more craft beer annually than any other state, and San Diego has been crowned craft beer capital of America. While the economic downturn has affected consumer spending, craft beers are defying recessionary trends with an impressive upward trajectory. As popularity and craft beer-centric events grow, San Diego’s tourism industry has witnessed paralleled growth. Attracting tourism from outside of National City’s boundaries is important to stimulating the local economy. Additional revenues for local governments are paid through licensing and development fees, retail taxes, real estate and personal property taxes, business income taxes, excise taxes, and sales taxes.

This report is divided into four sections of recommendations that provide a range of possible strategies the City can utilize to attract this prosperous industry.

The “Building Community Buy-In” section presents the importance of creating an accepting community that buys into the idea of having craft brewery presence in the City. Stakeholders include residents, local businesses, elected officials, and bureaucrats. A key component to building acceptance is dispelling negative stereotypes associated with alcohol consumption and misuse. Highlighting the positive contributions craft brew-eries have on the economy and revitalization efforts can be helpful. Communication, education, and early engagement are the best options to develop a policy for attracting craft brewers and solidifying surrounding community buy-in.

The “Marketing to Craft Brewers” section contains information officials can use to market their city to craft brewers. On the surface, the demographics of the population residing in National City do not match the ideal demographics of craft beer consumers. However, examining projected market trends tells a different story about the expanded consumer base that lies in wait in National City. Also in this section are recommendations for an Innovative Business Committee, successful economic incentives deployed by other cities, a marketing brochure, and a how-to manual to provide prospective brewers.

The “Policy Analysis” section proposes revisions to policy language for conditional use permits and establishment of new microbrewery policies. There are recommendations on how to address nonconforming liquor stores, amend existing land use and zoning policies, and support co-existing industries. Included are policies that mitigate negative impacts associated with increased brewery presence.

Finally, the “Vision Plans” section presents existing National City resources that can be leveraged to attract craft brewers. Local business partnerships can be beneficial for establishing a distribution hub for Southern California. Different business models (malting, aquaponics, urban farming, and agritourism) can be incorporated to offer tourists a unique craft beer experience. National City also has valuable resources to help businesses identify and apply for tax credits and exemptions, wage reimbursement programs, and green business incentives.

The Sage Project Contact Info
Kristofer Patron
Program Administrator
kpatron@sdsu.edu
(619) 594-0103

University Faculty Contact
Shawn Flanigan
Public Administration

Local Government / Community Contact

Community Development

This report is comprised of summaries which detail the components of policy programs as well as the political and fiscal feasibility of each. They are grouped by policy area; these areas are: housing, prevention and partnership, mental health, and infrastructure based recommendations. While each recommendation attempts to address the city’s concerns related to homelessness, both cost and political feasibility must be taken into account. Cost is an obvious concern for a small, local government entity, and political feasibility, or the likelihood that there will be community support for the tools, is an important factor to consider. At present, it may be that only a few policy tools are feasible for the city to pursue, however other tools may become more feasible over time. This report acknowledges the challenges associated with each tool, but should the city have the means and motivation, these tools are a logical starting point.

Recommendations most feasible for National City, at the current time, are both the municipal shower program and the extension of the ARTS partnership. These tools take into account existing city resources, rely on nonprofit collaboration, and encourage the city to take an active role in addressing homelessness. The municipal shower program would incorporate public safety personnel and community volunteers in providing open shower times for homeless individuals. The program would rely heavily on community donations for shower supplies. It is a novel approach to the issue of pollution in the waterways and in providing essential or basic services to the homeless in the city. The ARTS partnership has the potential to result in both the beautification of the community and the provision of services to youth experiencing homelessness in National City.

While other tools represent higher costs, at some point in time they may become viable solutions for the city. This report can serve as a guide to a variety of potential strategies for addressing homelessness in National City.

The Sage Project Contact Info
Kristofer Patron
Program Administrator
kpatron@sdsu.edu
(619) 594-0103

University Faculty Contact
Shawn Flanigan
Public Administration

Local Government / Community Contact

Development

Livable City Year Contact Info
Teri Thomson Randall
Program Manager
terir@uw.edu
206.221.9240

University Faculty Contact
India Ornelas
Health Services
Professor
iornelas@uw.edu
206-685-8887

Local Government / Community Contact
Erika Klyce

In the fall of 2016, the City of Auburn and University of Washington collaborated
together to work on the Buy Local Project. The Buy Local project was developed
in order to respond to the loss of sales tax revenue and to stimulate the local
economy of Auburn. The overall goal of the Buy Local Project is to create a robust,
searchable online database, known as the Auburn Business Collaboration (ABC)
database. The database will essentially consist of a catalogue of local businesses
in Auburn. This will allow businesses to search for local suppliers in Auburn rather
than taking their business outside of Auburn, generating more sales tax revenue
for the City of Auburn to put towards city projects as needed.
To assist in achieving this goal, the City of Auburn utilized student assistance for
two separate projects. The first project asked students to survey a sample of local
businesses in order to populate data to allow for testing of the database’s coding
and framework, while the second project asked students to aid in developing the
website design.
This report will provide a clear and concise description of the work that both
student teams did. Each section is dedicated to one of the two main projects. Each
section includes a description of the teams’ work, the results of their work, and
further recommendations and considerations for the City of Auburn.

Read the final student report delivered to the local gov/community partner.

Livable City Year Contact Info
Teri Thomson Randall
Program Manager
terir@uw.edu
206.221.9240

University Faculty Contact
Ashley Blazina
Environment Studies
Professor
ajblazin@uw.edu
360-440-4065

Local Government / Community Contact
Douglas Lein

Mayor