Title
Presentation of Accreditation Award to the Public Works Department from the American Public Works Association. (Public Works 4205)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jill Keimach, City Manager
Re: Presentation of Accreditation Award to Public Works from the American Public Works Association.
BACKGROUND
In both 2015 and 2016, the Public Works Department reported to City Council on its goal and progress toward gaining agency accreditation from the American Public Works Association (APWA). In the first week of August, 2016, a four-person evaluation team consisting of the Director of Accreditation for APWA and three Public Works officials from other accredited agencies visited the city to perform an on-site peer review. The evaluators reviewed more than 400 of our department's practices covering the broad range of our work.
DISCUSSION
On September 30, 2016, APWA's Accreditation Council voted to award full accreditation to Alameda's Public Works Department (see Exhibit 1).
Alameda is the 115th agency to gain accreditation out of more than 15,000 Public Works agencies throughout North America. In the San Francisco Bay Area, we are only the second city of equivalent size to gain accreditation (Palo Alto is the other). Larger agencies such as San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, and counties such as Alameda and Contra Costa, have gained accreditation as well.
In Public Works' strategic plan, APWA agency accreditation is identified as a top initiative. Our progress on this and our other initiatives, including founding of the project management unit, implementing a computerized maintenance management system, and our staff gaining more trainings and certifications, is moving the Department toward its goal of becoming the best Public Works Department in the Bay Area.
A representative from APWA's Northern California chapter will attend the City Council's award presentation.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
There is no impact to the General Fund.
MU...
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