Organizational Excellence

Summary of objective implementation status (achievements or progress over last year; significant delays or issues, etc.) Progress has been made in obtaining grant funding for Strategic Plan objectives and department priorities. During 2023, the County was awarded a total of $44.08 million in grant funding. Together with 2022 grant awards (totaling $28.5 million or 48%), departments have achieved over 120% of this objective within the first two years of the Strategic Plan.

While there has been substantial progress made in grants awarded, and departments continue to monitor available funding opportunities, some departments are experiencing capacity issues with respect to managing future awards and are looking at ways to proactively pursue grant opportunities that will further the County’s priorities in a more efficient manner.

Shifting to annual project development that aligns with County priorities, followed by funding alignment, will enable a more intentional, effective and manageable application process. Several employees that work on grants initiated the “Grant User Network,” an informal group of County staff that is directly involved in grant management who meet to discuss their experiences, departmental procedures and audit issues; share templates, training materials and other resources related to grants; and bring questions to the group for guidance and/or input. Currently, the group consists of over 25 staff from 10 County departments who meet on a bi-monthly basis and is continuing to grow.

Through collaboration and knowledge sharing, staff build on the expertise and experiences of others and are able to understand cross-departmental priorities and practices. 

Key milestone update (include relevant metrics, if applicable) Due to County Administrator staff vacancies in 2023, delays occurred in the key milestones identified in this Objective’s Implementation Plan, but are not expected to have a negative impact on overall Objective outcomes over the course of the Plan. Key Milestones will be reported in the next update. The County Administrator’s Grant Program has shifted to providing information to departments on grant opportunities and providing resources to assist departments in grant writing. The Policy, Grants & Special Projects division of the County Administrator’s office has, and will continue to, collect departmental grant application statuses, and report to the Board of Supervisors on a quarterly basis. 

Coordination and partnership update The Objective Implementation Plan outlined specific intersections with Climate Action and Resiliency 1-3, and Resilient Infrastructure 4-1 and 4-2, the status of which is reflected in the grant summary table above. 

Community, equity and climate update By aligning funding with the Strategic Plan, the values and principles of the plan will be upheld.  Equity is a core component of the strategic plan, and as such will be included and considered in all funding decisions. 

Funding narrative (If this objective received Strategic Plan funding in year 1 or year 2, please provide a status of expenditures to date.) There is sufficient funding within the CAO’s operational budget to support this Objective.