December 1, 2006
Harvey Rose
Budget Analyst
San Francisco Board of Supervisors
1390 Market Street, Ste. 1390
San Francisco, CA 94102

Dear Mr. Rose,

This is the Department of Public Works' (DPW) official response to your management audit that was conducted between January-November 2006.

I came to DPW after your audit had begun. Your report's recommendations will prove useful to me as I continue to reengineer parts of the Department. My managers are also looking forward to implementing most of the recommendations recommended in the audit. There are a very small number of recommendations with which we do not concur. We look forward to discussing the entire audit with the Board of Supervisors in early 2007.

Attached are our specific responses to each audit recommendation. We thank you for the opportunity to include these with your audit report.

Sincerely,

Fred V. Abadi, Ph.D.
Director of Public Works

Section 1: Street Resurfacing and Pothole Repair Projects

The Bureau of Engineering Manager should:

1.1 Assess and revise as appropriate the Bureau of Engineering's street design project quality controls to ensure that street project designs meet the project needs and site requirements. 1

DPW Response: Agree. BOE will be implementing new quality control procedures developed over the last year and a half by the end of Calendar Year 2006.

1.2 Revise or enhance the Bureau of Engineering's existing street project design and drafting procedures, to ensure that project plans and specifications correspond to actual site conditions. 2

DPW Response: Agree. BOE will review and revise their Design and Drafting Procedures to ensure that the design and planning process is timely, including site visits late in the design process. Even with site visits during design, certain site conditions cannot be fully know until pavement is removed during construction.

1.3 Identify major causes of street project delays and develop procedures to reduce common causes, including quality control and project scheduling procedures. 2

DPW Response: Agree. One major delay in delivering the street projects on time relates to conflicted schedules and priorities to complete underground utility work such as PG&E, sewer, water, MUNI and DPT. Streets cannot be repaved if utility work is not completed on time. DPW is forced to delay work until the utility work is completed on time ahead of paving. DPW is working on developing a new reporting system and a checklist to improve coordination and minimize paving delays. The aim of this new procedure is to ask other City departments and utility companies to commit to maintain their schedules and priorities to allow DPW to move forward with paving work on time.

The Bureau of Sewer and Street Repair Manager should:

1.4 Develop systems to better capture and report patching and pothole activities and the cost-effectiveness of performing the work. 2

DPW Response: Agree. We are making modifications to our existing system that will improve reporting. Further improvements will come when our management information systems at the yard are upgraded. We will request funds for this for this upgrade in the FY 2007-08 budget.

1.5 Evaluate the labor hours, labor costs, and productivity of street resurfacing projects to ensure that these projects are delivered cost-effectively. 1

DPW Response: Agree.

1.6 Present cost data and analysis of pothole, patching, and street resurfacing costs to the Board of Supervisors as part of the FY 2007-2008 budget review. 1

DPW Response: Agree. We will present data on number of potholes repaired, square feet patched, blocks repaved and the cost of each function.

1.7 Work with the Human Resources and the Health and Safety Division to identify causes of paid and unpaid sick and disability leave and actions that the Bureau can take to reduce the incidence of unpaid leave and increase the number of productive hours. 2

DPW Response: Agree. We plan to work with Human Resources and Health and Safety Division to analyze causes of paid/unpaid sick and disability leaves and determine actions, if necessary, to improve performance. We currently employ an aggressive workers comp management process. Our Paid Leave percent is below average and unpaid leave slightly above average.

1.8 Continue to report hours worked and not worked as part of the Department of Public Works' SF Stat measures. 1

DPW Response: Agree.

Section 2: Cleaning and Maintaining the City's Streets and Public Right-of-Ways

The Director of Public Works should:

2.1 Work with the Mayor and with Homeless Connect to set up a Homeless Connect team to address some of the public right-of-way areas with the most severe homeless encampments, and to coordinate City departments' resources and services to these areas. 2

DPW Response: Partially Agree. DPW is currently working with the Mayor's Homeless Connect on homeless issues. However, the main concern of homeless in the right-of-way areas is people move and return within minutes to the same area. Social services issues should be addressed by the program agencies with such resources.

The Deputy Director for Operations should:

2.2 Investigate the potential cost-savings and efficiency gains of using satellite staff reporting and equipment storage locations. 3

DPW Response: Agree. This is an ongoing project, which will require additional funding for lease and/or purchase of space for satellite locations. We have not been successful so far but are continuing the search.

2.3 Develop a streamlined and uniform method for other City departments to report resolution of their 28-Clean service requests so the requests can be closed out in a timely fashion in conjunction with the Computer Services Division. 2

DPW Response: Agree. The implementation of 311 in March 2007 will streamline the reporting of service requests.

2.4 Develop and implement a policy and methodology for the Bureau of Street Environmental Services to prioritize among competing immediate service requests and ongoing maintenance needs. 2

DPW Response: Agree.

2.5 Direct the Bureau of Street Environmental Services Manager to develop formal productivity standards for street and graffiti maintenance personnel, and direct supervisors to allocate staff according to these standards. 2

DPW Response: Agree.

2.6 Evaluate the potential of using non-managerial staff or an outside contract to perform the Proposition C inspections, instead of more costly managerial staff. 2

DPW Response: Agree. The Department is seeking outside contract assistance for data collection.

2.7 Use the data from the Proposition C inspections to reallocate resources where prudent, such as to alter the frequency of certain street cleaning schedules. 2

DPW Response: Agree. DPW has entered into a consulting contract to evaluate its street cleaning program, including an evaluation of its routes, schedules and geographic coverage. The consultant will be provided with the Prop. C data.

2.8 Report the Bureau of Street Environmental Services compliance with Proposition C maintenance schedules. 2

DPW Response: Agree.

2.9 Standardize the format and information content of the weekly reports submitted by Bureau of Street Environmental Services supervisors. 2

DPW Response: Agree.

2.10 Work with the Mayor's Office, Police Department, and Director of Public Works to aggressively pursue other litter enforcement staffing models. 3

DPW Response: Agree. We are currently awaiting an arbitration decision on this matter.

2.11 Investigate and implement procedural changes to litter enforcement, such as streamlining the procedures involved in processing citations. 2

DPW Response: Agree. Currently we are using the Administration Hearing process because we were unable to collect on more than 90% of the citations issued. The process is time consuming, but we will investigate whether it could be implemented more efficiently, while still achieving the high level of rulings that are favorable to the City.

2.12 Direct the Bureau of Street Environmental Services Manager to set-up work order agreements and billing procedures to accurately reflect any graffiti abatement work it does for other agencies and departments. 1

DPW Response: Agree. BSES has agreements with the PUC and MTA for some of their property this fiscal year and a tracking system and billing system is in place.

2.13 Ensure the allocation of Bureau of Street Environmental Services resources to the measurement and evaluation of the new corridor approach, and utilize this information to inform future changes in the program structure. 1

DPW Response: Agree. We have collected information on baseline conditions and will continue to collect data to evaluate the program.

2.14 Work with the Human Resources and the Health and Safety Division to identify causes of paid and unpaid sick and disability leave and actions that the Bureau can take to reduce the incidence of unpaid leave and increase the number of productive hours. 2

DPW Response: Agree. We plan to work with Human Resources to analyze cause of work absences. We have implemented a stricter sick leave policy in SES. We will continue to use temporary transitional work assignments and ADA when appropriate.

The Director of Finance and Administration should:

2.15 Develop procedures to ensure timely collection of litter citation fines. 2

DPW Response: Agree. We will continue to work with the Bureau of Delinquent Revenue to ensure timely collection and/or disposition of litter citation fines.

Section 3: Urban Forestry

The Director of Public Works should:

3.1 Submit a tree planting permit application fee schedule to the Board of Supervisors for approval that sets a fee schedules that charges charging full permit processing costs to property owners that are required to plant new street trees in accordance with Section 143 of the Planning Code. 1

DPW Response: Agree.

3.2 Work with the Mayor's Office and Board of Supervisors to align proposed planting of new trees with ongoing funding for maintenance of street trees. 1

DPW Response: Agree. Ongoing funding needs to be considered are not limited to watering for new trees, but also includes maintenance of established trees, which requires special equipment and qualified staff to care for often large, mature trees. We will request additional maintenance funding in the FY 2007-08 budget, and have included establishment and maintenance costs in our ten-year capital plan submission.

The Deputy Director for Operations should:

3.3 Develop performance measures specific to the mission, goals, and objectives of the Bureau of Urban Forestry. 1

DPW Response: Agree.

3.4 Develop a work plan and schedule to evaluate, identify, and implement improvements to the Bureau of Urban Forestry's databases, including assessing the feasibility and potential costs of integrating the forestry databases with 28-Clean, in conjunction with the Director of Finance and Administration. 2

DPW Response: Agree. As with other Information System improvement recommendations, resources will be required to evaluate, make recommendations and implement changes to the Department's databases. We will request funds for this for this upgrade in the FY 2007-08 budget.

The Bureau of Urban Forestry Manager should:

3.5 Develop an annual work plan and schedule to inventory non-Department maintained street trees, including setting inventory priorities based on geographical location and responsibility for trees. 3

DPW Response: Partially Agree. Urban Forestry inspectors currently inspect 100% of DPW-maintained street trees within a range of 1 to 5 years, depending on workload and assistance from staff assigned to modified work duty. Inventorying non DPW-maintained trees would require significant resources.

3.6 Develop a volunteer program or partnership with nonprofit organizations to assist in the inventory of non-Department maintained street trees. 3

DPW Response: Partially Agree. Volunteers are not needed for inspection of DPW-maintained trees as they are regularly inspected by staff. Volunteers can help to inventory trees not maintained by DPW, but significant resources would be required to provide training, supervision, quality control, and database upgrades.

3.7 Report the actual pruning and tree maintenance schedule on the City's web site. 2

DPW Response: Agree. Routes pruned can be reported. Various tree species have different pruning schedules, many of them requiring pruning only once every 2-3 years. We can post precise schedules on the web site as they are set.

3.8 Develop median and other landscape maintenance standards and schedules and publish these standards and schedules on the City's web site. 2

DPW Response: Agree. Scheduled landscape maintenance can be reported,. Mowing and certain other scheduled maintenance work can be affected by weather, so schedules are somewhat dynamic.

3.9 Develop methods for tracking all of the routine and non-routine work done on landscape properties in order to best allocate resources in the future. 2

DPW Response: Agree. Tracking completed landscape work in order to evaluate allocation of resources would require an investment to upgrade the Department's databases. We will request funds for this for this upgrade in the FY 2007-08 budget.

3.10 Evaluate procedures to include street tree inspections in routine activities, including streamlining reporting and documentation procedures and training staff in street tree regulations and procedures. 2

DPW Response: Agree. While some inspections can be conducted during routine activities, additional staff are required to investigate code violations, submit fines and follow through administrative review process.

3.11 Develop procedures to revisit sites where removal permits have been denied, including (a) utilizing Bureau of Urban Forestry tree, landscape, and watering crews or Bureau of Street Environmental Services crews to conduct preliminary checks while performing other work in the vicinity, and (b) streamlining procedures and documentation. 2

DPW Response: Partially Agree. While some inspections of locations where removals have been denied can be conducted during routine activities, it can also negatively impact productivity of a staff person's primary work assignment, whether mowing turf or cleaning streets.

3.12 Develop a methodology for prioritizing routine tree maintenance and service requests. 2

DPW Response: Agree. The Department already makes daily adjustments to work schedules based on public safety issues, high profile projects, and routine work schedules.

3.13 Assess staffing alternatives, including dedicating one of its landscape crews to only routine maintenance, and allow other staff to respond to service requests. 2

DPW Response: Agree.

3.14 Work with the Human Resources and the Health and Safety Division to identify causes of paid and unpaid sick and disability leave and actions that the Bureau can take to reduce the incidence of unpaid leave and increase the number of productive hours. 2

DPW Response: Agree. We plan to work with Human Resources to analyze cause of work absences. Initial analysis indicates signs of an aging workforce - repetitive motion and back sprain injuries make up a large number of injuries. We are developing training to attempt to mitigate some of these injury types. We will continue to use temporary transitional work assignments and ADA when appropriate to bring back employees to work in different assignments.

The Director of Finance and Administration should:

3.15 Review and track fee revenues against expenditures each year to ensure that the Bureau of Urban Forestry is recovering service costs overall and recommend fee increases, in addition to the Consumer Price Index increases, to the Board of Supervisors as necessary. 1

DPW Response: Agree. This will be done as part of Department's FY 2007-08 Budget. Where fees are not cost recovering, for instance when a permitted activity enhances a public good, we will include this information in our report to the Board of Supervisors.

3.16 Develop procedures to ensure timely collection of fines. 1

DPW Response: Agree. We will develop procedures for the timely collection and/or disposition of fines.

Section 4: Permit and Inspection Revenues and Performance

The Director of Finance and Administration should:

4.1 Evaluate the Bureau of Street Use and Mapping's administrative costs to process the street improvement fee for property owners issued a notice to repair sidewalks and streets fronting their properties and submit a fee proposal to the Board of Supervisors for approval during the FY 2007-2008 budget review. 1

DPW Response: Agree. DPW will prepare legislation to allow the Board of Supervisors to review this policy and adopt it as their own. The Bureau of Street Use and Mapping's intent is to provide incentives for property owners to repair their sidewalks. We believe that charging the full fee for sidewalk repair permits would lead to more property owners not making necessary repairs to the sidewalks, lengthening the time for repair, and increasing costs to BSM to get property owners to comply with the Code and make sidewalks safe.

4.2 Identify obsolete fee provisions in the Public Works Code and submit revised or updated language to the Board of Supervisors for approval during the FY 2007-2008, including ensuring that fees under outdated Code provisions are calculated to fully recover costs. 2

DPW Response: Agree. There may be fee sections within the Public Works Code which do not provide for full cost recovery. Fees will be reviewed in the context of the current Code. If the Code does not provide for such adjustments or additions, proposals to revise the Public Works Code will be presented to the Board.

4.3 Post the same fee schedule on the Department's web site as the fee schedule used by the Bureau of Street Use and Mapping to calculate permit fees. 1

DPW Response: Agree. DPW will revise the website to provide current fee schedule.

4.4 Establish procedures to calculate street improvement permit inspection fees based on the Bureau of Street Use and Mapping's actual costs to conduct additional inspections under the street improvement permit, in accordance with Public Works Code Section 2.1.3. 3

DPW Response: Partially agree. In FY 2005-06 the Bureau began evaluating and upgrading its computer-based systems to integrate all of its databases to fully coordinate, track and manage all Bureau responsibilities. This process is likely to take 12 more months to complete evaluation, programming, testing and integration with DBI's databases before implementation.

4.5 Review and track fee revenues against expenditures each year to ensure that the Department of Public Works is recovering service costs overall and recommend fee increases, in addition to the Consumer Price Index increases, to the Board of Supervisors as necessary.

(a) Evaluate General Fund fees to ensure cost recovery 1

(b) Evaluate Special Fund fees to ensure cost recovery 3

DPW Response: Agree. The Department has recently conducted extensive reviews of nearly all fees charged by BSM, and taken these fees to the Board of Supervisors for revision. DPW intends to evaluate its Excavation fees in early 2007, and will evaluate General Fund fees in time for the FY 2007-08 budget submission.

The Bureau of Street Use and Mapping Manager should:

4.6 Evaluate actual inspection time allotted to permitted projects and ensure that Bureau staff are accurately recording their project hours. 3

DPW Response: Partially agree. As stated in our response to Recommendation 4.4, the Bureau has undertaken an extensive system integration process to tie the permitting system with the inspection system. Our current systems are cumbersome and do not facilitate tracking inspection time against specific permits. The Bureau will continue its progress on the system integration and provide the tools necessary for the inspection staff to track time spent against permitted work. We will look to the Controller's Office and other permitting/inspection agencies for examples of integrated tracking systems that we could modify for our needs.

4.7 Review the permit fee list and written guide and include all fee and permit requirements and applications not currently included. 1

DPW Response: Agree. The Bureau will evaluate and modify guidelines for permit applications, and fee schedule as necessary.

4.8 Provide a report on the outcome of each district focus inspection to the Board of Supervisors City Operations and Neighborhood Services Committee, including notifying the appropriate Board of Supervisors' member of the district focus inspection conducted in his or her district and the report on the outcomes. 1

DPW Response: Agree.

4.9 Provide an update to the Budget Analyst, as part of the Budget Analyst's review of the FY 2007-2008 Department budget, regarding (a) the number of inspections by permit type per district, and (b) how this data has affected inspector assignments by permit type and geographic area. 1

DPW Response: Agree.

4.10 Provide an update to the Budget Analyst, as part of the Budget Analyst's review of the FY 2007-2008 Department budget, on the integration of the Task Management, permit and Inspect-o-matic systems, including the status and goals of the project and how the integration will allow the Bureau of Streets and Management to more efficiently allocate inspectors' time by permit type and geographic area. 1

DPW Response: Agree. The beta version of the software integration is expected to take at least 12 months to complete but we will provide a status report as requested.

4.11 Provide an update to the Budget Analyst, as part of the Budget Analyst's review of the FY 2007-2008 Department budget, on the Bureau's activities to increase inspectors' accountability for inspecting or reporting all permit violations within their geographic area of responsibility, including (a) result of employees' performance evaluations, and (b) actions taken by the Bureau and the results of these actions. 1

DPW Response: Agree. We will report in aggregate on how this issue was addressed in performance evaluations of inspectors. In addition, we will identify actions taken and associated results regarding inspectors' accountability.

Section 5: The Impact of Claims in the Public Right of Way

The Deputy Director for Operations should:

5.1 Complete an annual evaluation of all sidewalks for which the Department of Public Works is responsible and record these findings in their computer tracking system. 3

DPW Response: Agree. It is estimated that the City is responsible for 3.6 million square feet of sidewalk area. We are initiating a new program to support this effort, and will be seeking funds to repair sidewalks. Because of the volume of damaged sidewalks in the City, and the corresponding inspection hours and construction costs associated with it, this will be a multi-year program.

5.2 Assess common causes of tree-related claims, such as specific types of trees, locations, and sidewalk structures, to determine which factors contribute to claims. 2

DPW Response: Agree. Some analysis of tree species relationship to actual claims and sidewalk structures may require additional resources to upgrade databases.

5.3 Include the claims assessment data in setting sidewalk repair priorities. 2

DPW Response: Agree. Already claims are our highest priority repairs. The assessment of claims data may instead be useful in selecting tree species and tree basin locations and configurations.

5.4 Track and analyze sidewalk repair funding, sidewalk repairs, and sidewalk-related claims costs to determine if targeted sidewalk repairs contribute to reduced claims costs. 2

DPW Response: Agree. The department will be initiating a broader public and private sidewalk repair program this fiscal year and will track the programs impact on both complaints and claims

5.5 Present this information to the Board of Supervisors each year during the annual budget review. 3

DPW Response: Agree.

Section 6: Capital Project Design Costs

The Deputy Director for Engineering should:

6.1 Establish a common performance goal for the Bureau of Engineering and Bureau of Architecture that measures the impact of design errors and omissions on construction costs and report the outcomes annually. 1

DPW Response: Agree. The Department does identify and track changes due to errors and omissions and would benefit from a structured annual review of the origins and impact of these changes. We have incorporated a performance measure of errors and omissions into our Local 21 incentive pay program, and we will evaluate its suitability as a departmental performance measure.

6.2 Develop a plan and timeline to evaluate, implement, or further develop and revise the findings and recommendations of the Department of Public Works' capital project quality assurance task force. 2

DPW Response: Agree. These recommendations will be included in the Department's next steps in improving our Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) procedures.

6.3 Identify commonly occurring problems in design projects provided by consultants and develop protocols to address these problems. 2

DPW Response: Agree.

6.4 Coordinate with the Mayor's Office of Disability and the Department of Building Inspection, among other agencies, to ensure that policies, procedures, and regulations are both well-understood and consistently applied. 2

DPW Response: Agree. DPW and MOD work together closely and in FY 2005-06 established procedures for joint review of differences in interpretation of regulations. The Department is currently planning expanded training for design, construction and permitting staff on ADA policies and regulations.

6.5 Assess the cost of physical site visits during the planning and design of construction projects compared to the potential costs of construction contract change orders due to design errors and omissions and unforeseen site conditions, and implement site visit procedures based upon the assessment. 2

DPW Response: Agree. The Department will review existing site review procedures for adequacy and completeness and will work to ensure that designers are following those procedures.

6.6 Assess the cost of site testing for different commonly-occurring site conditions and tests compared to the potential costs of construction contract change orders due to unforeseen site conditions, and implement site testing procedures based upon the assessment. 2

DPW Response: Agree. In FY 2004-05, the Department hired its first geotechnical engineer and hired a second in FY 2005-06. Having this capability in-house greatly enhances the Department's ability to conduct cost-effective review of geotechnical conditions which could result in significant additional costs if not thoroughly evaluated. The Department will modify design procedures to include geotechnical review on all appropriate projects.

6.7 Assess the costs of additional construction document reviews for projects at different phases of the design process compared to the potential costs of construction contract change orders and delays and implement procedures based upon the assessment. 2

DPW Response: Agree. This will be incorporated into our continuing review and enhancement of our Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) procedures. See also 6.1

Section 7: Construction Contract Bids and Awards

The Deputy Director for Engineering should:

7.1 Determine the best measure of cost estimation performance and standardize measuring and reporting of cost estimates and contract award amounts for the Bureaus of Architecture and Engineering. 1

DPW Response: Agree. The Director of Public Works has identified improving our cost estimating practices, procedures and skills as a Department priority. Evaluation of reporting practices, measures and criteria for will be included in our complete review of cost estimation practices.

7.2 Continue to evaluate the components of construction cost estimates and the construction cost estimate process to identify areas for improvement or increased efficiency. 2

DPW Response: Agree. See 7.1

7.3 Develop a plan and formal process to review, consider, and implement appropriate task force recommendations once the City Attorney's Office releases the construction contracting task force report.

(a) Develop a plan and formal process to review 2

(b) Consideration and implementation of recommendations 3

DPW Response: Agree. We are actively reviewing the recommendations in the report to identify recommendations that the Department can pursue independently and goals that will require inter-departmental coordination.

7.4 Work with the City Attorney's Office to develop risk management protocols, allowing the Department to promptly identify and address potential problems with contractors, and make decisions on the best course of action. 2

DPW Response: Agree. We will attempt to include the other construction contracting departments in these discussions.

Section 8. Construction Management Costs and Construction Project Timelines

The Bureau of Construction Management Manager should:

8.1 Implement procedures to (a) ensure accurate and complete entry of change order information into the Bureau of Construction Management's change order tracking system and (b) tracking and monitoring of change order information. 2

DPW Response: Agree. A procedure is being drafted to ensure accurate data entry.

8.2 Re-evaluate time extension approval and documentation procedures, including change order policies, procedures, and practices, to ensure that the written procedures provide sufficient project control over project timelines and that actual practices comply with procedures. 2

DPW Response: We have established a task force to review change order procedures and practices.

Section 9: Capital Project Accounting and Closeout

The Director of Public Works should:

9.1 Establish a task force with representatives from the Department of Public Works, the Controller's Office and client departments to develop and implement a plan to address capital project accounting process issues as well as current reconciliation and closeout of inactive projects. 1

DPW Response: Agree. During the later half of fiscal year 2005/2006 DPW met quarterly with the Controller's Office to review project balances and project closeout priorities. A number of inactive projects/inactive grants have been analyzed, reviewed by the Controller and entries are being processed. DPW will continue to meet with the Controllers office and client departments to develop a citywide capital project accounting policies and procedures.

9.2 Report back to the Board of Supervisors during the FY 2007-2008 budget hearing on the status of the implementation of the task force findings and plan. 1

DPW Response: Agree. We will report back on the results of 9.1.

Section 10: Engineering and Architecture Staff Resources

The Deputy Director for Engineering should:

10.1 Standardize work load planning and reporting to allow executive managers to better assess overall funding and staffing needs. 3

DPW Response: Agree.

10.2 Evaluate short-term and long-term engineer and architect staffing to ensure that high staff costs compared to project funding do not lead to increased overhead rates. 2

DPW Response: Agree. The evaluation of staffing levels and the amounts and types of future design and construction work are an on-going effort to ensure that we have an adequate workload to support staff. Also, our annual review of overhead rates includes comparing our rates with outside consultants and other capital project departments.

The City Administrator should:

10.3 Assist City departments, including the Department of Public Works, in planning capital project staff resources as part of the capital planning process. 2

DPW Response: Agree. A solid foundation was established with the publication of the 10-Year Capital Plan in FY 2005-06. The City Administrator, with the assistance of staff from the Department of Public Works, will continue to work with all City agencies to refine and improve the City's capital plan.

Section 11: The Bureau of Building Repair's Performance and Customer Service

The Director of Public Works should:

11.1 Establish budgetary and financial controls to ensure that the Controller authorizes re-allocation of facilities maintenance and other designated appropriations to other uses in accordance with the Administrative Provisions of the Annual Appropriation Ordinance. 2

DPW Response: Agree. DPW will establish controls that will allow the Controller to approve the reallocation of facilities maintenance appropriations in accordance with the Administrative Provisions of the Annual Appropriation Ordinance.

11.2 Direct the Director of Finance and Administration, in conjunction with the Bureau of Building Repair Manager, to evaluate and re-engineer the Bureau of Building Repair's business processes. 2

DPW Response: Agree. DPW is in the process of re-engineering BBR business processes, bringing in new Bureau leadership, developing and upgrading information systems, and establishing performance measurements to improve management reporting, client services, work order request monitoring and control, and internal communications. Funding for system upgrades will be requested in the FY 2007/08 budget.

The Bureau of Building Repair Manager should:

11.3 Revise the existing Bureau of Building Repair mission statement to reflect clearly the Bureau's reason for existence and the contribution that the Bureau can make to the City's quality of life. 1

DPW Response: Agree.

11.4 Develop performance measures, standards, and objectives that will serve to provide direction, accountability, and control for the Bureau of Building Repair's operations. 2

DPW Response: Agree. See response to Recommendation 11.2.

11.5 Oversee the process of re-engineering the processes and systems that the Bureau of Building Repair employs to receive, approve, monitor, control, and report on its work requests. 2

DPW Response: Agree. See response to Recommendation 11.2.

11.6 Establish a timeline for the development of an Operational Policies and Procedures Manual and report on the status of the manual's development to the Deputy Director, Operations, prior to May 31, 2007. 1

DPW Response: Agree. See response to Recommendation 11.2.

11.7 Develop and consistently administer a customer survey that captures measurable information on all of the Bureau of Building Repair's key results areas of service. 2

DPW Response: Agree.

11.8 Work to improve communications within the Bureau of Building Repair in order to improve morale and thus the performance of the Bureau. 2

DPW Response: Agree. See response to Recommendation 11.2.

11.9 Develop and implement a process for addressing the suggestions and concerns of the Bureau's supervisors, on a continuing basis. 2

DPW Response: Agree.

11.10 In accordance with the City's construction codes, ensure that the Bureau of Building Repair obtains permits and inspections, as required. 1

DPW Response: Agree. We will review and determine what work requires permits and comply with these requirements. We will determine if additional costs will be required, and seek these additional funds in the FY 2007-08 budget.

11.11 In cooperation with the Department of Building Inspection, ensure that the Bureau of Building Repair obtains priority assignment for plan review and issuance of its permit applications, as provided for in the Department of Building Inspection's Administrative Bulletin No. AB-004, Priority Permit Processing Guidelines. 2

DPW Response: Agree. We will work with DBI to implement this recommendation and will ask that a point person on the DBI side be identified to help facilitate the process.

12: Bureau of Building Repair Annual and Continuing Project Management

The Deputy Director of Finance and Administration, in conjunction with the Manager of the Bureau of Building Repair, should:

12.1 Establish a timeline and completion date for each of its Bureau of Building Repair initiatives. 1

DPW Response: Agree. Expected completion 6/30/07.

12.2 Include as one of its initiatives a business process review of project and job order management. 1

DPW Response: Agree. Expected completion 6/30/07.

12.3 Establish appropriate controls over job order creation, management and closeout and document such controls in written policies and procedures. 1

DPW Response: Partially Agree. The creation, management and closeout of job orders are the responsibility of the Deputy Direction of Operations and Bureau Management. OFFMA provides reports and follows up but the initiation of the process lies at the Bureau level because the Bureaus are more aware of the client needs and schedule.

The Deputy Director of Operations, in conjunction with the Deputy Director of Finance and Administration, should:

12.4 Establish a formal computerized maintenance management system project structure with timelines, deliverables, and a project team that includes representatives from accounting, administrative, information technology, and client departments. 2

DPW Response: Agree. A proposal will bemade with the Budget for FY 2007-08.

Section 13: Materials Management Controls and Procedures

The City Administrator should:

13.1 Direct the Office of Contract Administration to develop a City-wide set of guidelines and procedures and a training program on storeroom operation and management as recommended in Section 2.2 of the 1991 audit report of Purchasing and Storekeeping Functions as Administered by the Purchasing Department. 2

The City Services Auditor should:

13.2 As part of reviews or audits that it performs of City materials storerooms, recommend guidelines and procedures for City internal controls in this area. Guidelines and procedures recommended for the Department of Public Works may also be extended to other City agencies.

13.3 Develop an audit schedule for periodic reviews of City materials storeroom subject to the City Services Auditor's risk analysis and scheduling process.

The Director of Public Works should:

13.4 Work with the City Services Auditor to develop guidelines and procedures for City storeroom internal control, which may then be extended to other City agencies. 2

DPW Response: Agree. We will request a contact person in the Controller's Office to work with us on implementing this recommendation.

13.5 Work with the City Services Auditor to develop an audit schedule for periodic reviews of the Department of Public Works storerooms. 2

DPW Response: Agree.

The Deputy Director, Operations, should:

13.6 Continue to expand the inventory of items under the storeroom's responsibility commensurate with economical and efficient operations. 2

DPW Response: Agree.

13.7 Ensure that storeroom staff receives the training and understands the guidelines and procedures that we recommend that the Office of Contract Compliance develop. 2

DPW Response: Agree.

The Deputy Director, Finance and Administration, should:

13.8 Comply with the requirements of Section 21.03(a) of the Rules and Regulations Pertaining to the San Francisco Administrative Code, Chapter 21, promulgated by the Purchaser, concerning delegated departmental procurements. 1

DPW Response: Agree. We are now addressing and resolving this compliance requirement.

Section 14: Automotive and Mobile Equipment Management

The Director of Public Works should:

14.1 Emphasize the importance of complying with preventive maintenance inspection schedules. 2

DPW Response: Agree.

14.2 In accordance with Section 4.11 (b) (4) of the Administrative Code, ensure that the Department of Public Works maintains detailed records on all City vehicles used to commute to and from home. 1

DPW Response: Agree.

14.3 In accordance with Section 4.11 (b) (6) of the Administrative Code, obtain the approval of the Board of Supervisors, by resolution, prior to authorizing employees to garage City vehicles at their residences. 1

DPW Response: Agree.

14.4 In accordance with the State driver license EPN (Employer Pull Notice) Program, ensure that all required employees are enrolled in the Program and that the required individual Driver Record Information is available and current. 1

DPW Response: Agree.

The Manager, Central Shops, should:

14.5 Ensure that all vehicles released for service by Central Shops meet the safety requirements of the California Vehicle Code. 2

14.6 Ensure that required maintenance inspections are accomplished within the 90 days, as mandated by Section 34505.5 of the California Vehicle Code. 2

Section 15: Health, Safety, and Environmental Issues

The Director of Public Works should:

15.1 Fully support the Department of Public Works' Health and Safety Program including developing and disseminating a Department of Public Works' Safety Policy Statement. 1

DPW Response: Agree.

The Operations Division Manager should:

15.2 Continue to improve the housekeeping and physical condition of the Operations Division Yard and the Asphalt Plant and implement specific corrections to address deficiencies noted by the Public Utilities Commission and Airport health and safety staff. 2

DPW Response: Agree.

15.3 Evaluate the costs and obtain funding to install a multi-chambered oil-grit separator to treat the effluent from the catch basins, or remove the catch basin entirely and install a drainage grate that is plumbed directly to the separator. 1

DPW Response: Agree.

15.4 In conjunction with the Environment, Health and Safety Manager, analyze the causes of the increased severity of workplace injury and illness in the operating bureaus and develop and implement a plan to significantly reduce the incidence of workplace illness or injuries in the Operations Division. 2

DPW Response: Agree. The Deputy Director of Operations is working with Health and Safety to analyze causes of increased severity of workplace injuries and illnesses. We are currently implementing a pilot in the BUF cement shop as part of a larger plan to reduce incidents of workplace injuries and illnesses in Operations. The Cement shop pilot includes body mechanics training, improving jackhammer equipment, training safe use of tool, and pre-job stretching training.

Section 16: Interdepartmental Work Order Funds

The Director of Finance and Administration should:

16.1 Work with the Director of Operations and the superintendents of the four operating bureaus to ensure that the operating bureaus' procedures for managing work orders and recoveries are consistent and comply with the Department's policies and procedures.

(a) Bureau of Building Repair 1

(b) Bureaus of Street and Sewer Repair, Urban Forestry, and Street Environmental Services 2

DPW Response: Agree. OFFMA staff meet with bureaus on a bi-weekly basis to review financial status, including revenues, expenditures and recoveries to budget. We are developing reports that Operations management can use for monitoring expenditures and recoveries to budgets.

16.2 Develop a mechanism to facilitate client departments' access to project expenditure data, including developing routine reports that allow client departments to track project expenditures. 2

DPW Response: Agree. Because BBR has a significant number of Interdepartmental Work Orders compared to the other DPW bureaus, DPW has begun developing BBR reports to provide clients with this information. These BBR reports will be completed by June 30, 2007. Full implementation of client reports DPW-wide will be completed by June 30, 2008 assuming we obtain the required system upgrades and staff resources.

16.3 Implement a process to work with client departments to develop quarterly reports that allow client departments and bureau superintendents to track work order expenditures. 2

DPW Response: Agree. See response to 16.2.

16.4 In conjunction with the Director of Operations, develop an annual interdepartmental work order fund budget for the operating bureaus that includes the salary and non-salary budget details in the individual work orders and the associated overhead expenditures. 3

DPW Response: Disagree. The Department manages work order budgets by the specific work order, not by all work orders combined. A significant number of our work orders are for projects that we cannot anticipate which job classes will be performing the work, or the level non-labor resources that will be needed at the beginning of the year. For example, the facilities maintenance work order from general hospital may include plumbing work one year, (which is almost all labor) and a roof patching contract in another year (which is almost all non-labor as it would be provided through a contract).

16.5 Develop procedures that allow bureau superintendents to track interdepartmental work order fund budgets at a summary level. 3

DPW Response: Disagree. As stated above, bureau superintendents are responsible for managing each individual work order budget. In addition, they must manage the work load of the bureau, which involves managing position counts and not budgets. There is nothing for them to manage at a summary budget level in their ID budgets.

16.6 Develop and provide an annual summary report as part of the Board of Supervisors' annual budget review for each bureau's interdepartmental work order fund, showing actual salary and non-salary expenditures by fund. 1

DPW Response: Agree. We can provide a summary of actual spending on Work Order funding in the ID budgets through month 10 at the time the budget is submitted to the Board in June. However, we do have the resources to provide reports on spending on all ID budget fund sources (including grants, bonds and various special funds).

16.7 Transfer the revenues and expenditures associated with cement work in the annual budget from the Bureau of Building Repair to the Bureau of Urban Forestry. 1

DPW Response: Agree. This budget transfer will be made in the FY 2007-08 budget.

16.8 Reconcile the Special Engineering, Excavation and Subdivision Funds annually. 1

DPW Response: Agree. We have reconciled this as part of our FY06 goals and we continue to monitor.

The Manager of the Bureau of Street Use and Mapping:

16.9 Provide annual summary reports as part of the Board of Supervisors' annual budget review, showing actual salary and non-salary expenditures by fund. 1

DPW Response: Agree. We can provide a summary of actual spending on the three major funds in the ID budget through month 10 at the time the budget is submitted to the Board in June.

Section 17: Allocation of Overhead Costs

The City Administrator should:

17.1 Work with the City's Department of Human Resources to assess and revise the existing human resources position classifications and job descriptions within the General Services Agency to allow increased cross-training and flexibility in staffing. 1

DPW Response: Agree. GSA HR will provide opportunities for cross-training and broader more flexible job descriptions as it adds new departments to it's organization, absorbs additional responsibilities and implements new programs.

The Director of Public Works should:

17.2 Work with the City Administrator to identify ways to consolidate the Department's payroll processing functions within the larger General Services Agency, including developing a work plan, time frame, and cost analysis. As part of the work plan, the Department needs to work with the Controller's Office on the Controller's future acquisition of a human resources and payroll system package. 3

DPW Response: Agree. We are working with the Controller and the Department of Human Resources on their project to acquire and implement a new human resource and payroll system that DPW can benefit from.

17.3 Work with the City Administrator to evaluate the Department's human resource processes, performance, and productivity; implement a work plan to streamline processes and improve performance and productivity; and recommend cost savings, including staff reductions or reallocation within the General Service Agency. 1

DPW Response: Agree. Process improvement initiatives will be implemented to streamline processes, improve performance and customer service.

17.4 Submit proposed reductions or reallocation of human resource staffing within the General Services Agency as part of the human resource function evaluation to the Board of Supervisors during the FY 2007-2008 budget review. 1

DPW Response: Disagree. GSA HR is attempting to improve service quality, improve service timeliness, and streamline processes while absorbing additional responsibilities from DHR, serving additional departments and implementing new programs. GSA HR staffing ratios are comparable to other City HR departments.

17.5 Direct the Bureaus of Engineering, Architecture, and Construction Management to evaluate the integration of their information technology activities, including consolidating information technology positions. Present an information technology staffing plan during the FY 2007-2008 budget review that defines the Department's information systems and support requirements, as well as information technology staff skills and time needed to support the information systems, This plan should also generally identify areas of redundancy and opportunities for improved efficiency and productivity, and recommend staff reductions. 1

DPW Response: Partially agree. The Capital Engineering Bureaus have a number of shared information management needs and objectives, particularly in the management and reporting of project information. Improving the coordination and integration of the efforts of the IT efforts of the three capital bureaus will improve their overall effectiveness. Due to the multiple office sites, systems, management tools, and hardware maintenance needs, we do not believe that position consolidation is warranted.