AGENDA TITLE:
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Adopt a Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Waive the Formal Bid Process and Execute a Professional Services Agreement with CityWise Strategies, LLC, for the Development Services Operational Initiative in an Amount Not to Exceed $115,000 (CM)
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MEETING DATE:
August 5, 2026
PREPARED BY:
Kara Reddig, City Manager
recommendation
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Adopt a Resolution authorizing the City Manager to waive the formal bid process and execute a Professional Services Agreement with CityWise Strategies, LLC, for Development Services Operational Initiative in an amount not to exceed $115,000.
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The City of Lodi is entering an important period of organizational transition and opportunity. Continued development activity, implementation of the recently adopted Economic Development Strategic Plan, and planning for future growth and annexation present an ideal opportunity to evaluate and strengthen the City's development review process and organizational practices.
Development Services is one of the City's most visible and important public-facing functions. It directly influences economic development, housing opportunities, infrastructure investment, customer satisfaction, and the City's ability to respond efficiently and effectively to private investment. As development activity becomes increasingly complex, successful organizations must periodically evaluate their development review processes, organizational structure, and interdepartmental coordination to ensure they are providing timely, predictable, transparent, and high-quality customer service.
The City Council's recently adopted Economic Development Strategic Plan establishes a long-term vision for strengthening Lodi's economic competitiveness and identifies implementation strategies that emphasize improving the business climate, supporting private investment, and creating a more effective and predictable development approval process. Successfully implementing many of these initiatives will depend upon an efficient, coordinated, and customer-focused development review system supported by strong organizational leadership and collaboration.
In order to poise the City for success in these areas, Staff recommends entering into a contract with CityWise Strategies, LLC, to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the City's development approval process to identify opportunities to improve efficiency, transparency, accountability, coordination, customer service, and organizational effectiveness. The scope of services is outlined in the Exhibit A of the professional services agreement, and includes the following:
- Review existing development approval policies, procedures, ordinances, administrative practices, and service delivery expectations.
- Evaluate the current development review process from initial inquiry through entitlement, permitting, construction, and final approval.
- Document existing workflows, decision points, review timelines, handoffs, and areas where delays or inefficiencies may occur.
- Conduct confidential interviews with City leadership, department directors, staff, applicants, developers, consultants, and other stakeholders.
- Evaluate coordination among Community Development, Public Works, Utilities, Finance, City Attorney, Fire, Police, and other affected departments.
- Review staffing levels, workload indicators, organizational structure, and resource allocation compared to current and anticipated service demands.
- Assess technology systems, application processes, communication practices, and performance tracking tools.
- Evaluate customer service practices and opportunities to improve predictability and responsiveness.
- Identify best practices from comparable jurisdictions and recommend improvements appropriate for Lodi.
- Develop implementation recommendations, priorities, responsible parties, and anticipated resource needs.
This initiative is intended to support broad organizational objectives. Rather than focusing solely on permit processing timelines, the project is designed to evaluate the City's overall development review system, including organizational coordination, communication, customer service, operational effectiveness, and opportunities to improve collaboration among departments involved in the development process. The project will also benchmark leading practices from comparable California jurisdictions and develop practical recommendations that can be successfully implemented by City staff.
The timing of this effort is particularly appropriate with recent leadership transitions, continued development interest, implementation of the City's Economic Development Strategic Plan, and future annexation opportunities on the horizon, the City has a unique opportunity to proactively evaluate its current practices before additional development activity places greater demands on the organization. Conducting this work now will help position the City to respond effectively to future investment while strengthening organizational performance and supporting implementation of the City Council's adopted strategic priorities.
City staff is recommending to contract with CityWise Strategies LLC, specifically Aaron Busch, who brings more than 37 years of executive leadership and management experience in California local government, specializing in city management, community development, planning, organizational improvement, and strategic implementation. Aaron Busch has served as a City Manager, Community Development Director, Planning Director, and Permit Center Manager, providing a unique combination of executive leadership and hands-on operational expertise in Development Services. Citywide Strategies, LLC has successfully led initiatives to improve organizational performance, streamline development review processes, and enhance customer service. Due to Mr. Busch’s extensive experience, technical expertise and familiarity with the City of Lodi, staff recommends the City Council find that waiving the formal bid process and contracting directly for these services is in the best interests of the City as per Lodi Municipal Code section 3.20.070 (5).
The anticipated outcome of this initiative is a comprehensive assessment of the City's development review process accompanied by practical recommendations to improve organizational effectiveness, strengthen interdepartmental coordination, enhance customer service, support implementation of the Economic Development Strategic Plan, and better prepare the City for future growth opportunities. By aligning organizational improvements with the City's adopted strategic priorities, this initiative will provide a practical roadmap for strengthening Development Services and positioning the City of Lodi for long-term success.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The contract not-to-exceed amount is $115,000 and includes the following tasks and level of effort:
|
Phase |
Duration |
Budget |
Primary Outcome |
|
1. Project Initiation & Work Plan |
2 weeks |
$ 9,200 |
Project governance established |
|
2. Existing Conditions Assessment |
7-8 weeks |
$31,050 |
Current-state assessment |
|
3. Comparative Benchmarking |
4 weeks (overlapping) |
$17,250 |
Regional best practices |
|
4. Stakeholder Engagement & Organizational Alignment |
6-8 weeks (overlapping) |
$23,000 |
Team alignment and buy-in |
|
5. Findings & Implementation Strategy |
5 weeks |
$20,700 |
Recommendations and roadmap |
|
6. Final Report & Executive Presentation |
3 weeks |
$13,800 |
Final implementation package |
|
Total Project |
Approximately 6-8 months |
$115,000 |
|
FUNDING AVAILABLE:
Community Development Special Revenue Account 27081000.72450