HomeMy WebLinkAbout07.a. Summary of 01-20-19 Long-Term Vision Planning Board Workshop Page 1 of 15
Item 7.a.
,ek CENTRAL SAN
SANITARYCENTRAL CONTRA COSTA , .
March 7, 2019
TO: HONORABLE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
FROM: CHRISTINA GEE, MANAGEMENT ANALYST
REVIEWED BY: ROGER S. BAILEY, GENERAL MANAGER
ANN SASAKI, DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER
SUBJECT: RECEIVE SUMMARYOF JANUARY30, 2019 LONG-TERM VISION
PLANNING BOARD WORKSHOP, PRESENTED BY THE WORKSHOP
FACILITATOR, GLEN T. DAIGGER, PH.D., P.E., BCEE, NAE
On January 30, 2019, the Board conducted a long-term visioning workshop with the aim to achieve an
improved understanding of and consensus on the challenges and opportunities facing water utilities, an
expanded vision of what Central San could become over time, some of the constraints that could limit
Central San's ability to achieve that vision, and how those constraints can be addressed.
To facilitate the discussion, Central San retained a distinguished consultant, Dr. Glen Daigger of One
Water Solutions, L.L.C. Dr. Daigger has produced a report summarizing his findings (Attachment 1) and will
be present at the Board meeting to give a PowerPoint highlighting his findings and recommended next
steps (Attachment 2).
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Report
2. PowerPoint Presentation
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One Watel"TM One Water Solutions, LLC
5220 Pheasant Court
Solutions Ann Arbor, MI 48105 USA
glendaigger@comcast.net
Mobile: (+1)303.478.0777
February 25, 2019
Roger Bailey
General Manager
Central Contra Costa Sanitary District
5019 Imhoff Place
Martinez, CA 94553
Subject: January 30, 2019 Central Contra Costa Sanitary District (Central San) Long-Term Vision Planning
Board Workshop Summary
Dear Roger:
Let me first thank you,your staff, and the members of the Board of Directors (BoD) for the assistance
and outstanding hospitality provided preparing for and conducting the Long-Term Vision Planning Board
Workshop on January 30, 2019. It would not have been possible for the workshop to be successful
without this assistance. The documents shared with me in preparation for the workshop are listed in an
attachment. As promised,this letter report summarizes observations from review of the materials you
provided, discussions with you prior to the workshop, and the visioning workshop itself. I will present
my observations on a number of topics, along with analysis and suggestions, endeavoring to distinguish
each. A copy of the agenda is attached, along with notes from the meeting provided by your staff which
also summarize the contents of the materials recorded on the flip charts.
It is clear that the BoD and staff are aligned on the general vision of Central San as a leading wastewater
utility. The historic reputation and contributions by Central San are highly valued, and there is
commitment by all to continue this. It is also clearly the assessment of the BoD that Central San is
undergoing a transition. BoD members used terms such as "growing/learning", "seeking", "rebuilding",
and "recovering"to describe Central San today. It seems clear to me that the assessment is that some
aspects of the historic "spirit" of Central San that truly distinguished it have been lost to some extent,
and that the desire strongly exists to restore these aspects of the organization. The desire is simply not
to return to "the old days", however, as terms used to describe the future Central San include "flexible",
"progressive", "simplified/action-oriented", and compassionate (concerning the workplace). One BoD
member referred to the Star Trek training exercise, "Kobayashi Maru", which is about being able to
redefine situations when following the usual course will not lead to success. One may view this as a
desire to retain and reinvigorate historic strengths but in a modern and forward-looking context. The
question is "how to achieve this continued transformation?".
Making the transition inherent in the phrases above requires an evolution of the business processes and
tools used by Central San, but especially in the culture of the organization. While Central San has a
history of a strong culture,views differ whether the historic culture should be renewed and reinforced,
or whether the culture should evolve to reflect current and future conditions. At a minimum,the
culture must be compatible with expectations of more recent entrants into the workforce, as this will be
the source of future employees. The strongly expressed interest in Central San becoming more action-
oriented is also consistent with expectations that the wastewater industry is facing significant new
challenges and must adapt more rapidly than in the past. Central San offers a competitive salary and
benefit package. While this is necessary to attract high-performing employees, it is not sufficient for
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retention. A key question for Central San to address is whether employees remain at Central San
because it is a "comfortable" place to work, or because they are highly motivated by the professional
growth opportunities provided, coupled with recognition for exemplary contributions and performance.
I would suggest that retention, alone, is a poor metric, as compliance with numeric goals can be
achieved without developing the workforce truly needed. What a modern workplace needs is a
workforce that is challenged to perform at ever higher levels, consistent with the needs of the
organization. One model to consider is of an organization that is a highly attractive for those entering
the workforce to begin their careers there, but that professional growth from that employment provides
positions at least some for opportunities elsewhere. It is important for any organization to retain those
who best fit the culture and performance expectations of that organization. It can be advantageous,
however, if a cadre of"graduates" develops within the broader community. This community of Central
San "graduates" can facilitate interagency cooperation and position Central San to play a broader
industry leadership role.
BoD members expressed support for the "One Water" and "Resource Recovery" directions increasingly
adopted by the water sector, but there appears to be a lack of consensus on the role that Central San
should play in these areas. It was strongly stated that Central San must, as a first priority, continue to
provide outstanding wastewater service to its customers. This was evident in the discussion at the
workshop and reinforced throughout the strategic planning documents provided for review and the
metrics routinely and consistently used by staff to assess performance. Maintaining superior
wastewater service can largely be achieved by Central San working with available resources and
established mandates. Making significant contributions to advancing One Water and Resource Recovery
initiatives is likely to require functioning outside of normal boundaries and working collaboratively with
other partners. There appears to be a lack of consensus on the relevant actions that Central San should
pursue. There also appears to be a lack of consensus on the relative roles of the BoD and senior staff in
pursuing opportunities. Ongoing activities, such as the evaluation of technical options and institutional
arrangements to allow Central San to provide reuse water to local refineries, the externally funded
Hydrothermal Liquefaction pilot study, and initiatives incorporated into the Comprehensive Wastewater
Master Plan provide opportunities for Central San to explore boundaries and learn how to identify and
participate in opportunities to advance these industry-wide initiatives locally and regionally.
This leads to the topic of external relations with both customers and other potential partners and
collaborators. The traditional approach by many water utilities has been to focus on providing excellent
service and letting this "speak for the utility". While historically sufficient, leading utilities are finding
that this approach is not sufficient currently, and certainly not in anticipated further contexts. This is
manifested in many ways, including support for necessary actions by the direct customers of the utility
(such as for rate increases) and new actions that provide greater societal value (reuse being a good
example), and the willingness of potential partners to collaborate. It appears that Central San staff
possess relevant competence in this topic and may be well positioned to work with the BoD to develop a
more proactive strategy than currently exists.
Innovation is clearly a core strategy for Central San, and it was interesting to learn that this builds on a
strong history, particularly in the wastewater collection area. An effective innovation program requires
clarity on those areas where innovation is particularly important to the District, and the role that the
District will play in developing innovations and bringing them into practice. It would appear to me that
Central San will generally play the role of the early adopter or early majority, depending on how
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strategically important the particular innovation area is to its operations. Clarity on which topics to focus
on will assist staff to understand Central San's priority areas so that they may direct their activities most
appropriately. Innovation is a skill, and an educational and experience-based program to further
develop this skill would be particularly advantageous to Central San, not only in terms of results but also
as it relates to the evolution of its culture, as described above. Identifying priority areas for innovation
will also allow research efforts to be focused, and can become an important element of staff
development.
Central San is blessed with a highly knowledgeable and experienced BoD and a very capable staff, both
of which are focused on continuing the excellence that Central San has demonstrated historically. The
BoD is actually quite small, which can be an advantage from a decision-making perspective but also
limits the role that it can play in terms of work tasks that it can take on. When directly asked,the BoD
indicated their interest and intent is to play an enabling role for the organization, in contrast to
evaluating and recommending policy and strategy. While a BoD is ultimately responsible for such
matters, along with their fiduciary responsibilities,the relative roles of the BoD and staff in evaluating
policy and strategy options varies. An important factor to recognize is the significant experience that
each of the BoD members have, not only in the wastewater(and water) industry, but specifically with
Central San. In many instances,their history and experience may exceed that of key staff members.
Dialogue is always needed to clarify expectations in this regard; it is my impression, however, that, while
the BoD will retain its ultimate responsibility for these matters, and will in some areas be the initiator of
topics for action and resolution,the BoD not only will support staff but expects staff to bring topics and
analysis of options to the BoD when staff judges that this is necessary. In any event, dialogue on this
topic, leading to greater clarity, might be beneficial.
Central San is an excellent wastewater utility with many strengths. As noted above, however,
opportunities exist to anticipate the requirements of the future and for continued improvement. Some
of these desired changes will take time, so they must be addressed proactively. As the old saying goes,
"if something is going to take some time, we better get started." Thus, let me make the following
suggestions.
1. Accelerate the cultural change process currently underway. Clearly articulating the
characteristics of the desired culture can be an important step. Expression of the characteristics
of the "future Central San"from the workshop provides a good starting point for staff to
develop a more succinct statement,for review by the BoD. Implementing the change process
requires explicit decisions concerning the working environment at Central San, and the
operating model concerning staff development and retention, as discussed above. The interface
with Central San's approach to innovation is also important, as discussed below.
2. Continue to develop working relationships with direct customers and potential external
partners. It appears that Central San has good relationships with direct customers. Staff should
continue to build on this solid foundation with a forward-looking perspective on the level of
customer support needed to address future challenges. An explicit strategy to expand
relationships with external partners who can materially affect achievement of Central San's
direct and expanding objectives should be developed jointly by staff and the BoD. These
objectives include increased service to direct customers, along with pursuit of broader
objectives such as expressed in the One Water and Resource Recovery industry-wide initiatives.
Staff will lead implementation of this strategy, with BoD support.
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3. Develop an explicit innovation program. Many leading wastewater utilities have benefitted by
creating such a program. Examples include DCWater;the Hampton Roads Sanitation District
(HRSD),VA; Clean Water Services, Hillsboro, OR; and the Metro Wastewater District, Denver,
CO, among others. Developing and implementing such a program involves identifying and
making individual(s) specifically responsible for program development,with appropriate
funding, and implementation of enabling processes, tools, and employee education. The
program would focus efforts on those areas most beneficial to Central San. This program would
also manage external relationships with research partners.
4. Confirm understanding of relative roles of BoD and staff. The working relationship between
Central San's BoD and staff is certainly positive and constructive. While the BoD retains overall
fiduciary responsibility and responsibility for strategy and policy, its small size limits its ability to
directly participate in strategy and policy evaluation. The BoD possesses unique historical
knowledge and experience relative to both Central San and the wastewater industry overall.
Staff must play a leading role in identifying and evaluating strategic and policy issues and
presenting the results to the BoD for evaluation and decision-making. Developing mechanisms
to capitalize on BoD knowledge and experience to supplement the essential work of staff would
enhance BoD/staff interactions.
Let me conclude by offering a thought. During this assignment I learned of the historic role that Central
San played advancing no-dig wastewater collection system technologies. At the workshop,we also
talked about the need to develop alternative wastewater collection approaches as water conservation,
coupled with the implementation of distributed water management approaches, will result in significant
reductions in dry-weather wastewater flows and significantly increased wastewater strength leading to
significantly increased odor production and collection system corrosion. This is already happening in
numerous locations throughout California and other water-short locations. Given its historic strengths
in wastewater collection, Central San could play a leading role with other wastewater utilities and
relevant research and technology development partners to develop the wastewater collection
approaches needed in the future and assist with delivery of these technologies to practice.
Thank you, again,for the assistance provided by you,your staff, and the members of the BoD executing
this assignment. Please let me know if you have questions and how I can continue to be of service.
Sincerely
Glen. T. Daigger, Ph.D., P.E., BCEE, NAE
President and Founder
Professor of Engineering Practice, University of Michigan
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Attachments
Documents Reviewed
PowerPoint Entitled "10-YR CIP UPDATE, PROPOSED FY17=18 AND FY 18- 19 CIB,AND RATE
SCENARIOS", Board Workshop#4 and Dated January 27, 2017.
Central Contra Costa Sanitary District Strategic Plan, FY 2016—2018.
Central Contra Costa Sanitary District Strategic Plan, FY 2018—2020.
Central San Comprehensive Wastewater Master Plan Executive Summary.
Central Contra Costa Sanitary District Fiscal Year 2016-17 Strategic Plan Annual Report Summary of
Achievements.
Central Contra Costa Sanitary District 2017-18 Strategic Plan Annual Report; A Summary of
Achievements and Progress.
Central Contra Costa Sanitary District Optimizations Annual Report Fiscal Year 2017-18.
Central Contra Costa Sanitary District Optimizations, Innovations, and Achievements, Compiled by
Christina Gee, Senior Administrative Technician,June 30, 2017.
Meeting Agenda and Meeting Notes
Following
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Central Contra Costa Sanitary District Long-Term Vision Planning Board Workshop
McHale Room, Pleasant Hill Community Center, 320 Civic Drive, Pleasant Hill, CA
January 30, 2019, 12:00 p.m.—4:00 p.m.
Intended Outcomes
1. Improved understanding of and consensus by Board Members on the challenges and
opportunities facing water utilities.
2. Expanded vision of what Central San can become over time.
3. Understanding of some of the constraints, both external and internal (implicit)that limit Central
San's ability to achieve an expanded vision, and how these constraints can be addressed.
Agenda
Time Activity Description
12:00-12:15 Introduction and Introduction of meeting participants. Overview of agenda.
Overview Meeting particulars and logistics.
12:15— Assess Central San Each Board Member selects 3 to 5 words that reflect the current
12:45 Current and state of Central San, and another 3 to 5 words that reflect the
Future desired future status. Round robin sharing.
12:45—1:15 Facilitator The facilitator will present a vision of the challenges and
Presentation opportunities faced by water utilities, relevant to Central San.
1:15—1:45 Group Discussion What was new in the presentation? What was missing? How to
and Feedback address the missing? Takeaways for Central San.
1:45—2:00 Break
2:00—2:20 Looking Outside Each Board Member identifies 1 to 2 organizations in any sector
(public, private, governmental), but outside of the water sector,
that they want Central San to be like.
2:20—2:40 Framing the What factors most constrain Central San from becoming like the
Constraints ideal benchmark organizations?
2:40—3:00 Framing the Assessing where the Board believes Central San should ideally be
Boundaries in terms of(1) innovation, (2) rates, (3) employer of choice (4)
governance, (5) local/regional collaboration.
3:00—3:10 What's the Vision, Each Board Member takes this time to write their version of a
Part 1 vision for what Central San could become.
3:10—3:30 What's the Vision, Each Board Member reads their vision to the rest of the
Part 2 participants. Through group discussion,we identify common
threads and separate directions.
3:30—3:45 Potential Paths Board brainstorms steps that Central San could take over the next
Forward few years (say 2-year and 5-year timeframes)to move toward an
ideal vision.
3:45—4:00 Summary and Facilitator summarizes results of day's work and the path
Wrap-up forward.
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January 30, 2019 Long-Term Vision Board Meeting Notes
1. Overall Process of Visioning
1) What to keep?
2) What to add?
3) What to leave behind?
2. Assess Central San Current and Future
Today
(All of the below lists are not necessarily chronological in the order in which they were
stated but grouped by similar themes for your convenience.)
Positive characteristics Central San currently possesses
• Efficient
• Cost-effective
• Customer-oriented
• Financially sound
• Regulatory compliant
• Implementing, partially in reference to our ambitious capital plan
• Dedicated
• Reliable
• Regarded as an Industry Leader (not self-proclaiming)
• Reputation as an employer
Characteristics indicating a positive outlook toward the future
• An intent to Lead
• Growing / Learning
• Seeking new technologies
• Planning intensive in that Central San performs many studies
• Rebuilding the organization's infrastructure, institutional knowledge, and
workforce
• Recovering
Challenges for the future
• Conservative, firmly stuck to "the way we have always done it"
• Sheltered from the challenges of the private sector
• Entitled workforce
o Believe they deserve more than the norm in terms of compensation (Some
background for you, Glen: a compensation study was done during the
recent labor negotiations, which has caused some tension between the
employees and the Board. The study included cities, which the unions
have disputed as not being a fair comparison.)
o Also, some have the feeling of "this is the way we have always done it,
and we are good; we are the best."
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Future
Characteristics continued from Today list
• Financially sound
• Cost-effective innovation
• Planning for the future
• Favorable workplace reputation
• Regulatory compliance, protecting public health and the environment
• Highest customer value
Characteristics in direct contrast to Today list (contrasted word in brackets)
• Flexible, looking at where the technology is going and being adaptable to
change [Conservative]
• Progressive in many avenues, including science, technology, and legally
[Conservative]
• Kobayashi Maru, meaning to break the rules in order to achieve a solution
[Conservative]
• Simplified / action-oriented, performing fewer studies and just doing the job,
especially when staff knows how to do it, instead of "consulting it to death."
[Planning intensive]
• Compassionate as an employer/workplace, getting back to the "old days" where
it felt like a family [Entitled]
Other characteristics
• Consolidated (CCWD, MVSD, other nearby agencies), to aid in customer
understanding of the concept of "one water." Roger posed the question of what
problem this would solve (e.g., would this be to reduce costs? enhance the water
supply?), but Member Causey did not have a clarification at the time.
• Collaboration / Partnerships
• Facilitating interagency projects (e.g., the proposed Recycled Water Exchange
with Santa Clara Valley Water District and Contra Costa Water District)
• Directing because we are too fragmented in California, so to be able to get
things done, Central San will have to get involved and/or take the lead.
• Engaging everyone from public agencies, to private companies, to our
customers, etc. with the goal to break down silos.
• Fully sustainable with regard to energy, rates, and finances. Roger posed that
this could be a zero-sum game.
• Zero discharge
• Use of big data to change how we do business
• Proactive, particularly with regulations
3. Discussion Resulting from PowerPoint Presentation
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Potential for litigation for lack of low-income assistance to reach Contra Costa County
due to sanitation being proclaimed as a human right. There are multiple bills every year
to provide adequate water in less fortunate areas such as the Central Valley (re: migrant
farmers); however, this has not yet reached Central San's area due to the non-scarcity
of water in Central San's service area.
4. Framing the Constraints
Against our daily operations
• Regulations concerning nutrients, CECs, etc.
• Laws
• Resources
• History/ Culture and the resistance to change with the reasoning of "that's not
how we've always done it"
• Engineers perceived to be belaboring and always planning, which delays
projects
• Labor agreements creating roadblocks
• Ability to accumulate financial reserves and how to prudently and proactively
fund the agency's needs with optics in mind
Against ability to gain public buy-in
• Customer understanding / Customer confidence, as indicated by the lack of
traction in "wipes clog pipes" campaign. Customers generally have a "me first,
me now" attitude and do not have an interest to learn if it does not impact them
directly, and are even more disinclined to listen when the lesson takes away a
convenience ("flushable" wipes). Central San also struggles to a point with its
anonymity to its customers as a result of its success.
• Awareness of "one water"
• Conflicting desires of the public
Against interagency relationships
• Institutional alignment, more collaboration with other agencies
• Lack of common vision
• Narrowness of our mission of wastewater and not potable water or stormwater
• Service area boundaries
• Water rights
• Governing bodies' self interest
• Perceptions / motives / distrust, overcoming preconceived notions of a utility's
intent when trying to broker a partnership
5. Looking Outside
Admired companies
• Amazon for the convenience of its Prime product
• Apple as a leader in technology
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• Microsoft as a leader in technology
• Facebook for its constant search for ways to monetize their operations
• Google for its "don't be evil" code of conduct
• McDonald's for its consistency
• Southwest Airlines for making flights accessible to everyone, its efficient
operation, flexibility provided to its customers, empowered workforce, and sense
of humor
• Santa Clara University for listening to and delivering on the desires of its
students, going beyond the scope of education to provide enriching experiences
like study-abroad programs to its students during their breaks
Common characteristics among the chosen companies
• Predictability
• Customer focus
• Good value
• Direct impact to the general public
6. What Does the Board Represent? / What Does the Board Want to Be?
• Provide reliable service with no surprises
• Innovate when it makes sense
• Collaborate with the entire Central San organization
• Enable staff to do their jobs well
• Be out of sight and out of mind to customers
7. Vision for the Future of Central San
• Recycling and making beneficial reuse of everything
• Scalping plants more prevalent
• Refineries are being served
• Reputation as environmental stewards
• Reasonable rates
8. Risks and Opportunities
Risks
• Ever increasing water conservation
• Oversized pipes for the reduced flows and other stranded assets
• Market volatility possibly leading to Unfunded Actuarial Accrued Liability
(UAAL) increase
• Demand for recycled water
• Unrealistic regulations
• Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and legislation promoting their development
and modifying the fees collectable by Central San
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• Communities could determine their own water treatment, meaning that more
wastewater could be treated on site and Central San could receive more
concentrated solids
• Stranded costs
• Solids deposition and odors from diminished flows due to water conservation
and greywater recycling
• Shrinking workforce
• Inability to attract quality replacements for departing employees
Opportunities
• Bay Area Biosolids Coalition is looking for solutions to diversify biosolids
management options, so there is the possibility that Central San could receive
revenue or be grandfathered into a facility
• Market career opportunities in wastewater to younger people, possibly through
our existing elementary school programming
• Home grow future staff through intern program and hire externally for a fresh
viewpoint
• Embrace our culture but modernize it by continuing to produce more papers
and regain reputation as a contributor to industry conversations
• Mt. View Sanitary District's General Manager vacancy may provide a window
to open the conversation for consolidation (by consensus, the Board granted
permission to Board President Williams to contact Mt. View Sanitary District
Board President Stanley Caldwell)
• Concord residents are charged higher sewer fees on their property tax,
signaling a potential opportunity to collaborate to reduce costs
• Maximize the flow from the Concord Community Reuse Project to obtain
revenues
• Market in-house laboratory services to other agencies in the wake of
increasing regulations
9. Employer of Choice Discussion
Characteristics of an employer of choice
• Favorable workplace reputation
• Motivated / dedicated / happy workforce
• High morale
• Incentive beyond money, employees do not come to work solely for the
paycheck
• Productive
How to be an employer of choice
• Staff development
o Training opportunities
o Challenges and adequate responsibility
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o Involvement in professional organizations
o Continuous improvement and education
• Build strong supervisor-employee relationships
• Bring back the extracurricular bonding activities that staff used to have, such
as bowling night and basketball
• Create an environment for success
• Deal with staff's sense of entitlement
• Statement of respect and appreciation. Roger suggested that perhaps this
may be something the Board may want to consider in light of staff's feedback to
him regarding the perception that the Board does not respect its employees.
o Must earn trust back
o Must both state and demonstrate respect
o The Board was open to creating the statement. Roger has provided them
examples from John Muir Health and Southwest Airlines and will begin
working on a proposed statement for their consideration.
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Io • - Water TIVII
Solutions
Feedback •
• • -Term Vision Planning
Board • • •
Professor
President and Founder,One Water Solutions
Presented to the Board of Directors,Central Contra Costa Sanitary District
March 7,2019
Observations ( 1 of
• Agreement on the general vision of Central San as a leading
wastewater utility.
• BoD assessment that Central San is undergoing a transition. But,
nature of transition to be defined. Retain and reinvigorate historic
strengths but in a modern and forward-looking context.
• What will the culture of Central San be going forward?
• Comfortable and challenging.
• Retention and professional growth.
• First priority is to continue to provide outstanding wastewater service
to its customers.
• Strong support for "One Water" and "Resource Recovery", lack of
consensus on role that Central San should play.
@'
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• • • •
• Apparent lack of consensus on external relations with both customers
and other potential partners and collaborators. Central San staff may
be well positioned to work with the BoD to develop a more proactive
strategy.
• Innovation is a core strategy, but clarity on which topics to focus on
and development of processes and skills will improve effectiveness.
• Developing approaches to leverage knowledge and experience of BoD
while respecting limited time can improve BoD/staff interactions.
@,O,.
Suggestions
• Accelerate the cultural change process currently underway.
• Clearly articulating the characteristics of the desired culture.
• Define operating model concerning staff development and retention.
• Innovation (see below).
• Continue to develop working relationships with direct customers and
potential external partners.
• Build on existing good relationships with direct customers.
• Develop explicit strategy to expand relationships with external partners.
• Develop an explicit innovation program.
• Assign responsibility.
• Provide funding and implement enabling processes, tools, and employee
education.
• Confirm understanding of relative roles of BoD and staff.
i}'
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