Agenda 09/23/2014 Item #16K 39/23/2014 16.K.3.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners reviews and approves the
proposed FY 2014 - 2015 Action Plan for Jeffrey A. Klatzkow, County Attorney.
OBJECTIVE: Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners reviews and
approves the proposed FY 2014 -2015 Action Plan for Jeffrey A. Klatzkow, County Attorney.
CONSIDERATIONS: The County Attorney reports directly to the Board of County
Commissioners. In order to assure that the County Attorney's work performance is coordinated
with the direction of the full Board, the County Attorney's contract requires that an annual
Action Plan is developed by which the County Attorney will be evaluated throughout the fiscal
year. Specifically, the Agreement provides as follows:
"Employer and Employee shall negotiate in good faith to establish, within one
hundred and twenty (120) days after execution of the County Attorney
Employment Agreement, a performance based merit system through which
Employee shall be eligible for a merit adjustment upon the successful completion
of measurable goals and objectives to be completed or attained by the Employee
during the 2009 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter during the term of this
Agreement."
Attached to this Executive Summary is a proposed Action Plan. The intent of the Action Plan is
to establish objective performance standards in which both the County Attorney and the County
Attorney Office can be evaluated. The Plan also includes specific goals and objectives which I
hope to achieve this year.
FISCAL IMPACT: There is no fiscal impact associated with approval of this Action Plan.
GROWTH MANAGEMENT IMPACT: There is no growth management impact associated
with this item.
RECOMMENDATION: The Board of County Commissioners reviews and approves the .
proposed FY 2014 -2015 Action Plan for Jeffrey A. Klatzkow, County Attorney.
PREPARED BY: Jeffrey A. Klatzkow, County Attorney
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9/23/2014 16.K.3.
COLLIER COUNTY
Board of County Commissioners
Item Number: 16.16.K.16.K.3.
Item Summary: Recommendation that the Board of County Commissioners reviews and
approves the proposed FY 2014 - 2015 Action Plan for Jeffrey A. Klatzkow, County Attorney.
Meeting Date: 9/23/2014
Prepared By
Name: CrotteauKathynell
Title: Legal Secretary, CAO Office Administration
9/16/2014 9:47:25 AM
Approved By
Name: IsacksonMark
Title: Director -Corp Financial and Mngmt Svs, Office of Management & Budget
Date: 9/16/2014 11:46:51 AM
Name: KlatzkowJeff
Title: County Attorney,
Date: 9/16/2014 2:26:18 PM
Name: OchsLeo
Title: County Manager, County Managers Office
Date: 9/16/2014 3:11:02 PM
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The County Attorney is charged with the responsibility of planning, directing and reviewing the
activities and operations of the Office of the County Attorney. The County Attorney is the legal
advisor and counsel for the Board of County Commissioners, its advisory boards and advisory
committees. The County Attorney also provides legal counsel to and assists the County Manager
and his agencies in order to facilitate the goals and objectives established for the County
Manager by the Board of County Commissioners.
The County Attorney, through the assistant county attorneys and supporting staff, represents the
County in wide - ranging complex litigation relating to implementation of government policies
and capital projects, eminent domain, personal injury, property damage, workplace /personnel
matters, finance and land use. In addition to litigation, he is counsel to the County's divisions
and departments for their daily operations. In this regard, the County Attorney is responsible for
the review of all policy documents (resolutions), legislation (ordinances and special acts), and
the drafting, legal review and revision of all contracts, real property conveyance documents and
other Board signatory documents.
The County Attorney's Employment Agreement with the Board of County Commissioners
provides for an annual evaluation of the County Attorney's performance. By custom, this
performance has been measured against performance objectives set forth in that year's annual
Action Plan, by rating each of the performance objectives on a 1 to 3 scale, with 1 being Below
Standards; 2 being Meets Standards; and 3 being Exceeds Standards. Individual evaluations are
then totaled and averaged to determine the Board's collective position.
The following is the County Attorney's Action Plan for the 2014 -2015 Fiscal Year. The Action
Plan is based on the broad areas generally expected to be performed by the Managing Partner of
a significant law firm, including: legal advice; leadership and organizational direction;
communications; fiscal management; and personnel management.
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Goals for Fiscal Year 2014 -15:
I will continue to initiate changes to create a more efficient work environment. This will include
hiring and retaining the best employees, focusing on how to conduct business with better
customer service results, and making internal changes that result in a more efficient and effective
work product. The County Attorney Office has completed its restructuring to assure that
Requests for Legal Services are completed promptly, and that there will be overlapping areas of
expertise within the Office. To increase our efficiency, this effort will require further
improvements in our planning, assignment of responsibilities, and establishment of
accountability to assure continued enhancement within the Office.
Specific areas that I propose as part of next year's action plan are:
1. Oral Presentations at Meetinas. I will continue to work to assure that both the County
Attorney's and the County Attorney Office's presentations at Board of County
Commissioners' meetings, advisory board meetings, and workshops are clear, concise and
effective. All presenters will be charged with making presentations that avoid legalese and
focus on the legal issue in a simple, understandable and brief manner.
2. Written Legal Advice. Both the County Attorney and the County Attorney Office will
provide professional, objective, unbiased legal advice to the Board of County
Commissioners, its advisory boards and committees, the County Manager and his agencies
and employees as necessary for formulation and implementation of legislative policies and
projects. Responses will avoid legalese and focus on the legal issue in a simple,
understandable and brief manner.
3. Processing Requests for Legal Services. This year, this Office's response time to Requests
for Legal Services (RLS's) continued to exceed 90% of all RLS's being processed within 48
hours. There will always be a number of legal assignments, due to their complex nature, that
take weeks and even months to complete. Accordingly, this Office will continue to achieve a
48 -hour (or less) turnaround time on 90% of all future Requests for Legal Services received
from the Board of County Commissioners and County Manager agencies. A report will be
run from Client Profiles (this Office's data management system) to determine turnaround
time. This will include preparation and review of documents for legal sufficiency prior to
consideration by the Board of County Commissioners for Board action, including, but not
limited to, agreements, contracts, deeds, leases, bonds, ordinances, resolutions, and other
legal documents requested by County Commissioners, the County Manager, or the staff.
4. Client Satisfaction/Peer Review. Client satisfaction continues to be a major goal of this
Office. In furtherance of this goal, I have instituted a practice in which performance
evaluation reports are sent to the various Division Administrators and Managers each year to
assess the performance of each attorney in the Office. The reports rate the attorneys on a 1 to
3 scale, with 1 being Below Standards; 2 being Meets Standards; and 3 being Exceeds
Standards. Individual evaluations are then totaled and averaged to determine this Office's
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collective score, with a goal of 75% rating level for exceeding expectations. Client reviews
will factor into each of the Assistant County Attorney's performance evaluations.
5. Fiscal Management. I will continue to develop and effectively administer an annual budget
for the Office of the County Attorney in conformance with policies adopted by the Board of
County Commissioners, while at the same time improving the quality of this Office.
6. Public Records and Sunshine Law. This Office will continue to educate and update County
staff, and advisory board members through periodic workshops /seminars, (e.g. Sunshine
Law, Public Records Act, State and local ethics law). This Office will also conduct seminars
with staff on various topics of interest.
7. Litigation. We will continue to effectively and efficiently manage litigation using primarily
in -house counsel and secondarily through the use of outside counsel as needed. We will keep
the Board abreast of the County's litigation through quarterly reports for the Board with
respect to current litigation, including potential or anticipated legal issues that may come
before the Board of County Commissioners.
8. Advertising. We will continue to ensure that all Public Hearings and ordinances are properly
advertised.
9. Agenda Items. We will continue to ensure that all Board approved contracts, ordinances,
plats and other documents are properly processed, recorded, and codified with Municode.
10. Advisory Boards. This past year the Board tasked this Office to manage its Advisory
Boards. We continue to advertise new openings and bring appropriate Executive Summaries
to the Board.
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