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Introduction
Office of the Mayor
Office of Intergovernmental Relations
Office of the Secretary
Office of Communications
Office of the Public Advocate
Office of the City Administrator
Budget Discussion
Good morning Council Member Patterson and other distinguished members of the Committee
on Government Operations. My name is Reba Pittman Evans, and I am the Chief of Staff to
the Mayor. It is a pleasure to be here this morning to discuss the goals, organization,
and budget of the Executive Office of the Mayor of the District of Columbia.
I'd like to begin our discussion today by articulating four primary goals of the Mayor:
- to educate our children,
- to expand our economy,
- to improve government services,
- and to fix the human services safety net.
To achieve these goals, the Mayor has assembled a strong and committed team. At this
point, I will present the organization structure and key staff in the Executive Office of
the Mayor. You may follow along if you wish on the organization
charts provided in your packets
There are seven key team members who support the Mayor. They represent the central
points of leadership, management, and accountability for the executive branch of the
District government, and they are:
- the Chief of Staff;
- the Legal Counsel;
- the Chief Financial Officer,
- the City Administrator;
- the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development.
- the Corporation Counsel; and
- the Inspector General;
Based on a budgetary definition, however, EOM is composed of the following offices:
- the Office of the Mayor;
- the Office of the Secretary,
- the Office of Intergovernmental Relations,
- the Office of Communications,
For each of these departments, I will present goals, an organization chart, and
budgetary information. Also, to honor your request, I will discuss the goals of the City
Administrator, and Public Advocate.
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The Of fice of the Mayor is responsible for providing high level direction to the
government. In addition to the Mayor, there are five primary people who carry out this
work:
- I, the Chief of Staff, am responsible for overseeing all staff within the Executive
Office of the Mayor. To summarize, it is my goal to ensure the highest caliber of
efficiency, professionalism, and quality in all functions of this of fice I also stand in
for the Mayor in key internal and external roles.
- Noel Bravo, the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, is responsible for overseeing the
internal operations of the Executive Office of the Mayor. Specifically, Mr. Bravo is
tasked with achieving the following goals:
- Manage all personnel matters within EOM to uphold the highest standards of
professionalism, accountability, and fairness; and
- Manage all budgetary matters within EOM to uphold the highest standards of efficiency
and trust in the use of public funds.
In addition, Mr. Bravo oversees the following agencies:
- Office of the Secretary
- Office of Policy and Evaluation
- Office of Planning
- Office of Boards and Commissions
- Office of Employee Relations and Collective Bargaining
- Office of Intergovernmental Affairs
- Sandy McCall, the Deputy Chief of Staff for External Affairs, is responsible for serving
as the Mayor's liaison to the public. In this role, his goals include the following:
- Develop and execute a structured mechanism for collecting public feedback on Mayoral
initiatives, and
- Develop and execute a plan for regular communication between the Mayor and Advisory
Neighborhood Commissions.
In addition, Mr. McCall oversees the following agencies
- Office of Asian/Pacific Islander Affairs
- Office of Latino Affairs
- Commission on Women
- Office of Diversity
- Office of Religious Affairs
- Commission on Arts and Humanities
- Office of Human Rights
- Office of the Public Advocate
- Office on Aging
- Norman Dong, the Deputy Chief of Staff for Management, is primarily responsible for
assisting the Mayor in his role as Interim City Administrator. Specifically, Mr. Dong is
tasked with meeting the following goals:
- Building a viable organizational structure under the Chief of Staff that can be
transferred to the City Administrator when the position is filled permanently;
- Facilitating resolution of daily operational impediments to efficient service delivery
within the agencies and integrating them into medium- and long-term process improvements;
- Ensuring that the Mayor is successful in fulfilling his short-term action priorities;
and
- Instilling a customer focused orientation into operations throughout the District.
- And finally, Max Brown, Legal Counsel to the Mayor, is tasked with the following goals:
- Provide legal counsel to the Mayor on key policy and operational issues
- Serve as the lead manager for developing and implementing a managed competition program
for the District and forging a Public Private Partnership program
- Serve as the lead manager for developing and implementing a labor strategy
- Serve as the policy coordinator for the Mayor's strategic policy objectives
Together, these individuals and I will be fully accountable for maintaining an
effective, responsive, and accountable Office of the Mayor. At this time, I will not
discuss the budget because I believe that discussion will be more productive if we first
discuss the goals and organization of the other departments within the Executive Office of
the Mayor.
In so doing, I will now discuss the Office of Intergovernmental Relations.
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The Office of Intergovernmental Relations is led by Mr. Warren Graves. This office is
the liaison between the Executive Office of the Mayor (EOM), and the following entities:
- the Council of the District of Columbia;
- the Congress of the United States;
- Federal Departments and agencies;
- local and state governments;
- regional authorities and planning bodies; and
- other related organizations.
The goals of this of fice are as follows:
- Establish a computerized legislative tracking system
- Coordinate the Mayor's legislative agenda for transmittal to the Council of the District
of Columbia
- Track and monitor the movement of legislation through the Council Ensure participation
of appropriate executive branch officials in Council proceedings
- Ensure the execution of Mayoral decisions on bills passed by the Council within
specified time limits Respect the Rules and Procedures of the Council regarding timely
submission of legislation
- Monitor and evaluate Congressional legislation and federal regulations that affect the
District
- Initiate Congressional legislation and federal regulations reform that positively impact
the District
- Respond to Congressional inquires in timely manner
- Establish and maintain liaison with all appropriate metropolitan and regional
organizations, local county and city governments, and the state offices of Maryland,
Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania
To fulfill these goals, the Office of Intergovernmental Relations is organized as
follows:
- Office of the Director
- Council Affairs Unit
- Congressional and Federal Affairs Unit
- Metropolitan, Regional and National Affairs Unit
- Office of Planning and Evaluation
I will now discuss the Office of the Secretary.
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This office is led my Ms. Beverly Rivers, who serves as the Acting Secretary of the
District of Columbia. The goal of this office is to effectively execute the following
functions:
- ensure administrative support to the Executive Office of the Mayor,
- commission notaries public,
- authenticate documents for foreign and domestic use,
- publish and sell regulations,
- prepare ceremonial documents,
- respond to mayoral correspondence,
- preserve and maintain historical records of government, and
- liaison with the international community for both government and the private sector.
The Office of the Secretary of the District of Columbia has four major functional
service areas. Those service areas are as follows:
- The Office of Public Records Management, Archival Administration and Library of
Governmental Information
- Office of Documents and Administrative Issuances
- The Notary Commissions and Authentications Section
- Mayor's Correspondence Unit
I will now discuss the Office of Communications.
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The Office of Communications is led by Ms. Peggy Armstrong, who serves as Director of
Communications and Press Secretary. This of fice supports the program and policy
priorities of the Mayor through effective dissemination of information to the public,
stakeholders and employees. The goals of this of fice are:
- To inform and educate the citizens and the public about the policy priorities,
initiatives, and accomplishments of the Administration;
- To promote the public view of a unified municipal government;
- To support agency directors, manager, and public information officers as they implement
priorities; and
- To promote the District of Columbia locally and nationally.
To accomplish these goals, the Office of Communications will:
- Develop and implement a customer-service oriented press operation that provides timely
and accurate responses to news inquires.
- Promote policies and initiatives that support the goals of the Mayor through a proactive
press strategy and operation.
- Gather, develop and disseminate information and materials to agency directors, managers
and public information officers that support our policies and priorities.
- Develop and implement public relations strategies to support all major initiatives.
- Provide technical assistance with new media (websites, live screen programs, etc.) and
publication development.
- Provide public relations support to the Mayor by writing speeches, greetings and service
as official spokesperson.
To fulfill these goals, this office is structured in three primary units:
- Press operations;
- Public Affairs; and
- Publications and New Media.
Next, I will discuss the Office of the Public Advocate.
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The Office of the Public Advocate provides a critical point of contact between the
Mayor and the public. Beginning next week, this office will be headed by Ms. Carlene
Cheatam, who is a longtime public servant and community activist, and is well qualified to
boldly advocate on behalf of the public. Her goal is to establish an effective system
whereby public comments, complaints, requests, and compliments will be:
- Heard effectively;
- Routed to the appropriate government entity;
- Responded to quickly;
- Tracked carefully; and
- Reported accurately.
As Ms. Cheatam assumes this role, she will develop specific operational plans and
performance measures for these goals.
And last, but certainly not least, I will now discuss the Office of the City
Administrator.
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At present, the Office of the City Administrator is led by the Mayor, who is assisted
by myself and Norman Dong, Deputy Chief of Staff for Management.
The Office of the City Administrator provides direction and coordination to agencies as
they strive to provide effective management and services. As mentioned before, the goals
of the Office of the City Administrator are concentrated into four interconnected areas:
- Building a viable organizational structure under the Chief of Staff that can be
transferred to the City Administrator when the position is filled permanently. The
organizational structure (attached) is the result of this effort, although some transition
in both personnel and design may still occur
- Facilitating resolution of daily operational impediments to efficient service delivery
within the agencies and integrating them into medium- and long-term process improvements
- Ensuring that the Mayor is deemed successful in fulfilling his short-term action
priorities
- Instilling a customer focused orientation into operations throughout the District.
The Office is organized to perform these activities as described below.
1. Operating Support
The key functions of the Office of the City Administrator are performed by three
special assistants who provide daily operating support to the agencies under the purview
of the City Administrator. The special assistants are each responsible for a
"cluster" of agencies Health and Human Services, Governmental Direction
and Support, and Public Safety and Justice and will operate as extensions of the City
Administrator to solve problems and promulgate the Mayor's agenda. These special
assistants will:
- Establish new process flows within the Executive Office of the Mayor to streamline the
process of obtaining input and approval on key operating and policy issues from the Office
City Administrator and the Executive Office of the Mayor;
- Facilitate day-to-day problem resolution with agency directors including front burner
issues;
- Implement a performance management framework that tracks and refines performance
expectations for each agency based upon performance contracts, short-term action agenda
items, and concrete indicators of organizational effectiveness;
2. Short Term Action Team
A Short Term Action Team of 8-10 staff has been created to ensure the Mayor's success
in fulfilling his short-term action agenda. These actions include coordinating rat
abatement efforts in major areas of infestation, reopening Thomas Circle underpass, and
establishing a satellite one-stop career center at the Latin American Youth Center in
Adams Morgan, among many others. To do this, the Team provides exclusive attention to the
Mayor's immediate priorities.
3. Customer Service Management
The Customer Service Manager will:
- Lead the instillation of customer focused operations throughout the District
- Develop a concerted and unified approach for customer service to ensure that all
agencies are meeting the same goal.
Examples of customer focused priorities include:
- Improving the 727-1000 telephone help center listed on the Mayor's short term action
agenda
- Extending the hours of operations one day a week for service centers such as DHS, DOES,
DMV and DCRA
- Establishing a referral system that allows customers to obtain accurate and timely
information on service providers throughout the city, and improving the look and feel of
our service centers.
This concludes the discussion of the Office of the City Administrator.
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As you have seen today, the Mayor has assembled a strong team to carry out the
functions of his of fice To provide this team the necessary resources, we have developed a
revised budget for Fiscal Year 1999. The need for a revised budget arose from three key
factors:
- The departure of the Chief Management Officer created the need for the Mayor to reunify
the government and the associated resources under his office.
- The severance costs associated with the departure of the former Mayor's staff created a
substantial projected deficit in our budget; and
- Any new administration must have the opportunity to reassess resource needs and redeploy
those resources to support new priorities
Most important among these is the fact that the Executive Office of the Mayor and the
Office of the City Administrator must now take on the functions of the former CMO. As
such, it is appropriate that these budgets be supplemented with the operating funds that
otherwise would have supported the CMO's office.
Specifically, we are in discussion with the Authority to arrange a transfer of $1.1
million in "other revenue" to help rebuild the Executive Office of the Mayor and
the Office of the City Administrator. These funds would be accompanied by the approval of
24 additional FTEs.
With the addition of these funds, the Mayor and City Administrator's combined budget
will be $10,680,000. This amount is $9,000 less than the budgets of the former
Mayor, City Administrator and CMO.
Likewise, the Mayor's revised FTE authorization will be 134, which is one FTE fewer
than that of the previous administration.
So, in summary, the Mayor is fulfilling his commitment to do more with less.
To rebuild this government while protecting the public purse. To restore one
government, good government, and self government to the District of Columbia.
And with that, I thank you for this opportunity to speak with you today. My colleagues
and I will be happy to take any questions you may have at this time. |