The Board of Supervisors Tuesday will consider whether to form a new committee tasked with identifying ways to improve operations in the Riverside County Transportation & Land Management Agency, where inefficiencies from high turnover and lack of staff expertise have become a concern.
Supervisors Kevin Jeffries and Yxstian Gutierrez are jointly seeking the full board’s approval of the proposed “Ad Hoc Committee for the Continuous Improvement of TLMA.” The two men would serve as the principal committee members.
“Riverside County has experienced significant growth in recent years, placing increasing demand for land-use services,” the supervisors wrote in documents posted to the board’s policy agenda. “This growth has resulted in some challenges.”
Jeffries and Gutierrez said the intent of the committee will be to identify ways to strengthen recruitment and retention of staff, because shortages have, “contributed to service delays and reduced the department’s overall effectiveness.”
“The heavy load of planning case work adds to the challenges of keeping staff, pointing to the need to stabilize our workforce to achieve and maintain manageable caseloads,” they wrote.
They further cited ongoing “system inefficiencies” stemming from “outdated processes” that need to be addressed.
“The county’s ability to effectively manage land use projects is hampered when our systems are not efficient,” the supervisors said. “Reviewing and mapping our development process from start to finish would identify opportunities to enhance system efficiencies.”
Among the other major concerns is the lack of “timeliness … processing permits, reviewing plans and addressing inquiries” from developers, according to the supervisors.
“Exploring opportunities to reduce processing times would make the county a more attractive place for development,” documents stated.
The committee would undertake a “thorough review of current systems and processes” to identify “specific areas where inefficiencies exist” to ferret out solutions, which may require hiring an independent consultant, according to the proposal.
There would be an opportunity for developers and others to provide input as part of the committee’s work, which would necessitate the establishment of “clear timelines for the completion of key milestones within the (committee’s) action plan,” the supervisors said.
No General Fund costs are associated with the proposal.