News

Covington City Commission sets priorities

Policy checklist accelerates City Hall’s renewed focus on customer service

COVINGTON, Ky. - Covington City Hall’s ongoing effort to improve customer service by updating the policies, procedures, protocols, and best practices used to provide that service was formalized and given urgency Tuesday night.
 
The Covington City Commission passed an ordinance laying out its policy priorities for the coming year, specifically listing 20 items such as economic development strategy, housing goals, use of the city logo, and tax incentive guidelines.
 
The ordinance directs City Manager David Johnston to make recommendations related to items on the list to the Commission for consideration over the fiscal year.
 
“Clear, well-written policies and procedures create a framework for making consistent and fair decisions,” the ordinance reads.
 
It passed by a 5-0 vote.
 
Johnston said he welcomed the document because it assembles and ties a bow around the Commission’s vision for improving daily operations while also creating a mechanism for ensuring that pieces of that vision are implemented in a timely manner.
 
“It’s one way to provide a system of accountability to ensure that we do what we say we’re going to do,” he said. “Many of these issues are things we’ve been talking about, that we’ve been working on and that were established in the City’s new budget - now we’re telling the public about them.”
 
Johnston said he’s developing a timetable to present to Mayor Joe Meyer and City Commissioners that spells out when they would receive the various recommendations.
 
Both Meyer, who took office in January 2017, and Johnston, who arrived in August 2017, have focused on improving policies and procedures at City Hall, saying those have direct impact on services delivered to residents.
 
“Good customer service can’t occur without an efficient framework of procedures and practices,” Meyer said. “That framework flows from good policy, and policy stems from clear vision. With this ordinance, we’re setting that vision, and we’re doing it in a way that creates accountability and discipline.”
 
The issues on which the Commission wants policy-related recommendations: 
  • Private use of city­-owned computers, cell phones, and email.
  • Open Records.
  • Records retention.
  • A program to recognize and reward employees who recommend cost-saving changes in city operations.
  • Job descriptions, hiring and salary classifications.
  • Citywide Economic Development Strategy, including use of tax incentives.
  • Industrial Revenue Bonds.
  • Zoning Code revisions.
  • The Tax Increment Financing District.
  • Use of the official city seal and logo.
  • Procurement.
  • Finance Policies and Procedures, specifically issues raised in the city’s audits.
  • Financial Management, including how changes to the budget are made, RFPs, grant applications and contracts, plus status reports on capital projects and financial reporting to the commission.
  • The Fiscal Stability Ordinance.
  • A comprehensive housing policy.
  • Code Enforcement.
  • The Building Code, and investigating whether to return the process for issuing building permits to City Hall.
  • Revising the “Good Standing Ordinance” (which sets conditions on who can receive tax incentives) to make exceptions for emergency considerations.
  • Bringing customer service complaints and oversight related to waste collection back to City Hall.
  • Sidewalk repairs.
 
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