City of WDM Quality Initiative

I'd like to talk a little about one of our best avenues for ensuring your services meet or exceed your expectations in the City. In 2000, we implemented a quality initiative throughout the entire organization. This initiative was created in order to address concerns relating to improvements in service, meet customer requirements, develop a process to make work more efficient and effective, and receive input from employees in the decision-making process.

There are many different types of "quality" programs you've probably heard of and can read about in MUCH detail in the business section of Barnes and Noble. As a City, there are many unique aspects to our working environment and service delivery. For that reason, we worked extra hard to tailor this program specificially to our organization during its initial phases.

The quality initiative is self-governed by a citywide team that meets monthly. This team examines areas for improvement in processes and systems across organizational boundaries. Each City department also has a Quality Team that address process improvement within their own area.

When areas for improvement are identified, Process Actions Teams (PATs) are formed to research and recommend solutions to processes. A PAT is a small group of employees that are stakeholders in the process being evaluated. Serving on a PAT is voluntary and all members are trained in problem identification and data collection methods.

Since the inception of the City of West Des Moines Quality initiative, there have been over twenty citywide PATs and nearly 30 departmental PATs chartered. These PATs have studied internal processes, like new hire orientation, and processes that more directly affect the public, like code enforcement, development review, and special events. Recommendations that have been implemented from the Citywide and departmental PATs have tremendously improved and streamlined service delivery. The Quality Process is truly a way of life for the employees of West Des Moines and a benefit to our citizens as we work more efficiently and effectively for you!

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A Night at the Homeless Shelter

I read a very interesting report (journal) lately by Polk County Supervisor Bob Brownell. Bob wrote this report after attending the October 9th Des Moines City Council meeting. Although he was there to represent a new Civic Center initiative, the issue that really struck a chord with him was a discussion item relating to the relocation of the Central Iowa Homeless Shelter. Bob was aware of the issue because Polk County had been asked for financial support, but he was engaged by the number of people who came out to speak against the relocation.

The discussion raised several questions in Bob’s mind, and the most effective way he could see to answer those questions was to live in the shoes of someone at the shelter for a night. He referred to it as “a very imperfect human trying to understand what a homeless person sees."

Bob had several questions about the Central Iowa Shelter (CIS). What is it like to check in there? What’s the atmosphere like? Is it dangerous? Is it hopeless? What’s it like? What’s it like to be there and know that’s your new place? Are there any services? Do the homeless take them seriously? He knew he could not get those answers as a County Supervisor.

Although somewhat intimidated by the idea, which ran against the advice of several friends and colleagues, Bob was curious about the myths of homelessness. So he decided to spend a night at the Central Iowa Shelter, stopping at the Bethel Mission on 6th Avenue first. Dressed in an old San Francisco 49ers sweatshirt, a ragged beard, and a coat he received from West Des Moines Human Services, Bob was on his way.

I won’t go into significant detail about Bob’s experience with the food, the staff, the accommodations, or the procedures at these shelters. Bob’s report provides an interesting narrative that illustrates all of that (see bottom of entry for link). The most important things I took away from the report were his conclusions. He says, regarding shelter dwellers:

“These guys were not in the devil’s workshop…In looking at these guys, it occurred to me that I was worst looking guy in the place. My clothes were worse, my grooming was substantially worse and I’m sure I wasn’t as clean. Some of those guys had just showered, I imagined, after getting home from work. Maybe not, but in any event, they looked a lot less threatening than I did. So, how is that, I wondered? As I thought it through, it occurred to me that there are many outlets for clothes and a lot of drives, mainly by churches, for toothbrushes, clothing, shaving kits and the like for ‘the homeless.’”

“So, if your church has been conducting clothing drives for ‘the homeless,’ rest assured it’s getting to the right places. All those donations people have made through the years but maybe wondered, like me, what ever happens to it; was being made clear to me at that time. The homeless are apparently getting that stuff and it looks pretty good on them. They’re using it. That’s what you want, right? It’s one of life’s few examples, I think, where things are working just like we hoped they would.”

This issue is particularly salient to me as Human Services wraps up all of their holiday giving, auctions, Toyland, and other assistance programs for the year. They receive so many nice items from our generous residents, and they do get put to good use. I’ve seen it.

“Should we build a new shelter at Keo Way and I235? I don’t know the answer to that one…yet. I do know that the staff at CIS is not incompetent, lazy or just doesn’t get it. They are hard working honest people in a job that has got to be demanding and with a really high burn-out ratio. God bless them, they’re doing great work. As are the pastors and the Board at the Bethel. I also know that the homeless are not seeking out good citizens to harass or bother during the day. They are simply turned out of a too-small building and have literally no where else to go.”

“Some of them will never make it back to the mainstream. Not ever. But, some will and some want to and some are working hard to do that. We, as a society have to remember not to discourage those numbers of homeless. They have a pretty steep hill to climb even with people encouraging them.”

“And we have to remember that there are people out there trying to help. They’re donating money, lockers, TVs, books, clothing and tables and chairs. All kinds of things. They need to be encouraged, too.” The Central Iowa Shelter had an open house for the neighborhoods, and anyone else, the weekend before Thanksgiving. Nobody came. I think that attitude, among others, is something Bob is working to change. Thanks to Bob for this interesting perspective.

You can read the full report here.

2006 Citizen Survey Shows Excellent Progress!

Our third Citizen Survey with ETC Institute has been completed and a draft will soon be available on the Wire. After calling 400 residents of West Des Moines, ETC identified some interesting characteristics. For instance, 33% of those surveyed who now live in West Des Moines moved here from outside the state; 20% came from the City of Des Moines. One survey question that relates to us all in particular is a question regarding customer service. This year, overall satisfaction with the quality of customer service from City employees rose 5%, from 83% in 2004 to 87% in 2006. We scored the highest of any of the twenty cities we are benchmarked against in this category. This is also one of our Balanced Scorecard measures; see the graphic below.



This speaks well of our interaction with citizens—of course, we can always aim higher, but it is good to know we are at the top. We had the highest score in 38% of the benchmarked ratings, and we scored in the top quarter of cities in all but one of the 29 categories. You can view the final report's executive summary here or read through some analysis of the results here.

CrimeView

Every month the Police Department submits a territory report, the purpose of which is to provide a concise report of calls for service and reports made by territory in West Des Moines. There are 5 territories for which data are reported. This report can be used to identify the most common call for service and what locations generate the most activity.

During October there were a total of 2704 calls for service and 569 case reports in West Des Moines. During this same time period in 2005, there were 2794 calls for service and 642 case reports. Activity in 2006 indicates a decrease of 90 (-3%) calls for service and a decrease of 73 case reports (-11%).

To get more comprehensive statistics about crime in the City of West Des Moines, take a look at CrimeView. This is a site we are providing in conjunction with the Clive and Urbandale Police Departments to make crime data available to the public. You are able to search for crimes in your community and produce maps and reports of this information.

You can search for crime data according to crime type, time period, geographic boundary or proximity to an address or known location, such as a school. Geographic boundaries include city boundaries and police territories. You can search for arson, assault, auto theft, commercial and residential burglary, criminal mischief, homicide, indecent exposure, larceny, robbery, and theft from auto incidents as well as traffic accidents occurring in your community within the past 90 days.

For example, if I go to Crime View, and select "traffic accidents," I can search an address or intersection for detailed information. If I input "50th and Mills Civic Parkway" as an intersection, and choose the last 60 days as the time period, I am shown a map that identifies any accidents that took place 1/2 mile or less from that vicinity in the last couple months. If I click on the "report" button and then "view detail" on the screen that pops up, I can see there were eight accidents in that 1/2 mile radius, one involving a deer and the rest property damage. This is a neat tool I hope the curious take advantage of. In addition to the above link, it can also be found on the Police Department's homepage accessed via www.wdm-ia.com.

Human Services Silent Auction

Last Thursday, November 30, I attended the 7th Annual Silent Auction and Chili Supper at the Human Services building. I was pleased to see a great turnout at the auction and a number of impressive items up for bid. A few items auctioned off to raise money included dinners; several festive holiday Santa collections; a Tickle Me Elmo Extreme; two remote control sailboats; and dozens of other great gift baskets/retail packages. A live auction was conducted near the end of the night by Council members Loretta Sieman and Bob Parks--a fun and entertaining event for a good cause.

Proceeds from the auction will be used to help low-income families in the West Des Moines area with emergencies such as homeless prevention, medical assistance, and other critical needs. In addition to the auction, a Chili Supper featuring Human Services Director Sue Paterson-Nielsen’s delicious chili gave the attendees a little warmth on a very cold night! It was a beautiful time to be in Valley Junction given the lighted trees, numerous groups of carolers on the street, and residents perusing the shops and enjoying a chilly but pleasant stroll down 5th.

With donations still coming in, the 2006 auction/supper raised over $6500 to assist families in crisis during the upcoming year. Thanks to the community support and participation, over 100 individuals braved the cold bitter wind of an Iowa winter night in Valley Junction to support Human Services in their mission to help those in need. I know that Human Services appreciates this support as they work to make a difference each day in the lives of our citizens. Thanks on their behalf to everyone involved.