The City of Cape Coral, Florida
The City has initiated a “Lean Government” program for simplifying and streamlining various business processes. The goal is to reduce overall process times, increasing quality and lowering cost.
3. What other governmental entities are doing "Lean"?
In Florida, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Department uses Lean. Nationwide, the City of Fort Wayne, Indiana and the State of Iowa have been leaders in this effort.
Staff’s goal is to take this effort completely in-house within just a few years.
July 2, 2009
Cape Coral’s “Lean Government System” Program Receives International Recognition
The City of Cape Coral’s “Lean Government System” has received the Strategic Leadership and Governance Award from the International City/County Management Association. Cape Coral was one of 10 local governments receiving recognition for outstanding programs.
In August 2007, the City of Cape Coral implemented the Lean Government System. A cross-functional team of City employees is established to map and dissect existing processes, eliminate the unnecessary steps and redesign the process to allow service or information to flow more efficiently. All employees (front line, managerial and executive) are included in the evaluation, planning and implementation of the Lean processes, which ensures that all employees have a voice in the changes.
Some of the many successes include:
• Team reduced the time to obtain a permit for construction from 21 days to 8 days.
• Time required to hire a firefighter went from 66 days to 30 days.
• Lot mowing time was reduced from 52 days to 19 days to mow the grass once and send a notice of violation to the property owner.
• The cycle time for first reviews in Site Plan Development initially decreased to five days from 28 days. The time currently is eight days.
The City of Cape Coral is working with other local communities to share and assist in implementing a Lean initiative in their areas. In October 2008, the City partnered with the Florida City/County Management Association, the Center for Florida Local Government Excellence and the John Scott Dailey Florida Institute of Government to offer a Lean Government workshop to surrounding municipalities. Participants included Marco Island, Collier County, Punta Gorda and Palm Beach County.
The ICMA advances professional local government worldwide. Its mission is to create excellence in local governance by developing and advancing professional management of local government. ICMA provides member support to more than 9,000 city, town, and county experts and other individuals and organizations throughout the world. The management decisions made by ICMA's members affect 185 million individuals living in thousands of communities, from small villages and towns to large metropolitan areas.