Project # 1  
Miami-Dade County's Energy Conservation Plan

Project Manager:
Jerry S. Hall, Division Director, Facilities and Utilities Management Division, General Services Administration

Description:
The County's General Services Administration (GSA) provides essential support to all of the County's departmental operations. The Department's Facilities and Utilities Management Division oversees and maintains facilities totaling in excess of 4 million square feet, which house over 11,000 employees and 30,000 daily visitors, including multi-tenant office high-rises, court facilities, parking garages, cultural facilities, utility plants, and the county morgue. This division also administers the Energy Performance Contracting Program to identify and replace inefficient lighting, water fixtures, large HVAC and power equipment in facilities throughout the County. Under the leadership of the County Manager's Office, GSA is developing a comprehensive energy conservation plan that will guide Miami-Dade County's future efforts to facilitate and maintain a sustainable community. This planning effort will result in: (1) policies and procedures for incorporating sustainable or "green" building measures into the design, construction, renovation and maintenance of County facilities, and (2) a fuel and energy consumption reduction plan for County operations.  Fellows will work directly with GSA, the County Manager's Office, operational departments and community stakeholders to develop and implement this plan.

Project # 2
Reengineer Human Resource Staff Roles

Project Manager:
Donald S. Allen, Division Director, Labor Management and Employee Appeals Division (Human Resources Department)

Description:
The Labor Management and Employee Appeals Division  is in the process of implementing an online application process which will dramatically alter the way Miami-Dade County handles its recruitment process.  Stringent eligible list requirements for non-tested positions will be eliminated and there will be significant opportunity to reengineer business processes.  As we prepare for this ambitious endeavor, we are designing new roles for our recruitment personnel as recruitment consultants, best practices researchers, county brand marketers and customer service assistants.  This project will focus on researching best practices for modern Human Resource service delivery and making recommendations on how to best utilize recruitment resources to bring maximum creativity and value to the organization.
 

Project # 3
Countywide Strategic Plan Update

Project Manager:
Jennifer Glazer Moon, Office of Strategic Business Management  

Description:
The Office of Strategic Business Management (OSBM) leads in the implementation and continuation of the Miami-Dade County Strategic Plan which is the cornerstone of the County's shift to become more results-oriented. Strategic planning helps Miami-Dade County tackle the challenges of a growing community by focusing on shared priorities and goals.  Strategic planning also provides for government accountability and continuous improvement.  The current plan's goals and desired outcomes, which make up the heart of the County's five year strategic plan, were endorsed by the Board of County Commissioners in June 2003.  The Countywide Strategic Plan Update project will focus on defining the scope and approach for developing the updated strategic plan, and participating in the strategic planning effort involving the elected leadership, the community, and all County departments.
 
Project # 4
Analysis of Land Use and Permitting Functions

Project Manager:
Esther Calas, Director, Public Works Department

Description:
Miami-Dade County is currently analyzing its permitting and development functions in order to better serve the industry, provide greater customer service, and resolve development coordination issues across multiple County departments.  The goal of this project is to ensure the delivery of professional, high quality and friendly service to our residents and customers in the land use and construction development arena.  The Public Works Department has an active role in the development process through platting, permitting and inspections.  A comprehensive analysis needs to be made to ensure that these functions are performing effectively and that resources are being properly utilized and allocated.  An Urban Fellow in this position would analyze the Public Works Department's land use/permitting/inspection functions and provide recommendations on how to improve these processes.
 
Project # 5   
Customer Service Technology Review

Project Manager:
Judi Zito, Chief Information Officer

Description:
The Office of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) establishes technology-related policies, promotes coordination and integration of technology across departmental lines, and manages the establishment, expansion and operation of the County's 311 Answer Center. The Center enables call specialists to respond to information requests for local government services, providing quick, easy access to local government services and information while providing the highest possible level of customer service. The technology and customer service staff supporting 311 assist in improving service delivery and accountability through real-time, countywide service performance tracking and reporting.

The CIO has identified a working group to identify process improvements and work with County departments and stakeholders to analyze the following: customer service intake and delivery processes; customer service trends; customer service satisfaction level and efficiencies of departments; opportunities for streamlining service delivery through improved resource allocation; alignment of customer service performance measures with planned performance goals and countywide strategic plan; business process improvements; opportunities for efficiencies and accountabilities. The Office of the CIO is seeking an Urban Fellow to provide support and assistance in the development and execution of the Customer Service Advocacy program.
 
Project # 6 
Public Sector Education Compact

Project Manager:
Alina Tejeda Hudak, Assistant County Manager

Description:
The County Manager's Office is working closely with the Miami-Dade County Public School District to establish an agreement bringing together each organization's collective resources. The goal is to create the framework for a world-class educational system and maximize our significant public assets. Currently, the County and the District work together on many issues such as comprehensive planning and the joint use of facilities; however, there are many other opportunities where the County and the District can work together to bring about significant benefits for students and the community as a whole. Given our size and resources, both the County and the District could benefit from collaboration in the areas of common legislative agendas, procurement, fuel purchasing, health insurance, emergency management and response, public health and wellness initiatives, telecommunications, transportation, training and grant development opportunities.  An Urban Fellow will work with the County Manager's Office to coordinate the needs of County departments with those of the School District.

Project # 7 
Miami-Dade County Resource Allocation Process

Project Manager:
Jennifer Glazer-Moon, Director
Office of Strategic Business Management

Description:
The Office of Strategic Business Management supports the County's results-oriented government activities by maximizing the use of the County's resources.  The Management and Budget Division ensures the financial viability of the County through sound financial management policies and is charged with development of the County's Proposed Resource Allocation and Multi-Year Capital Plan.  The total proposed budget for FY 2008-09 is $7.408 billion, of which $4.912 billion is for the direct operating budget and $2.496 is funding for capital projects. The County's Resource Allocation Process was developed in October 2003, as an innovative approach to budgeting which aligns resources and operations with community priorities. Projects in this area are challenging and dynamic, with work focusing on analyzing and monitoring operating and capital budgets, conducting financial and management reviews, and developing recommendations that enable services to be funded within our revenue constraints. 

Project # 8
Office of Sustanability

Project Manager:
Susannah Troner, Sustainable Initiatives Coordinator
Miami-Dade County Office of Sustainability

Background and Project Description:
Miami-Dade County's Office of Sustainability (OOS) and General Services Administration's (GSA) Facilities and Utilities Management Division are working together on a project to analyze and monitor energy consumption for all GSA managed facilities on an ongoing basis.  The goals of the project are ultimately to reduce (1) energy consumption (2) operating costs, and (3) associated GHG emissions and their negative impacts.  

The Office of Sustainability promotes sustainable operations, facilities, and initiatives within Miami-Dade County government.  The Office was created to coordinate and facilitate improved government performance across the triple-bottom line: economy, environment and society.
The County's General Services Administration (GSA) Facilities and Utilities Management Division oversees and maintains facilities totaling in excess of 4 million square feet, which house over 11,000 employees and 30,000 daily visitors, including multi-tenant office high-rises, court facilities, parking garages, cultural facilities, utility plants, etc.

This project is utilizing an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) EnergyStar tool called Portfolio Manager (PM) to analyze building energy consumption.  Once basic data has been gathered, Portfolio Manager will help the County set investment priorities, identify under-performing buildings, verify efficiency improvements, and receive EPA recognition for buildings with superior energy performance.

The County has already begun initial data gathering efforts for this project.  Future goals are to
expand the project to include all County facilities managed by other departments and to gather and track water consumption for all County facilities. 

Fellows will work with the Office of Sustainability and GSA, operational departments, FPL representatives, and community stakeholders to continue implementation of this project.

Additional Projects Assignments May include:

• Research biofuel feedstock preferences of other municipalities and net      environmental benefit assessment tools to guide future biofuel purchasing.
• Identify all products in GSA catalog that have recycled content or are considered to be environmentally preferable.
• Assist Procurement is modifying contract language to ensure EPP of goods and services.
• Work with Procurement to create a program where "green" businesses can better share product information with County employees.
• Identify low cost fuel efficiency measures that can be introduced to departments and employees; put together materials and training curricula for an anti-idling program for MDC employees.
• Assist with County's Sustainable Buildings Program
• Review and evaluation of local, state and federal legislation relating to t he County's sustainable and green government issues.
• Review existing policies, department business plans, contract language, etc. and provide suggestions re: language changes that can be adopted to enhance the County's overall sustainability.

Project # 9
Department of Procurement Management and Office of Sustainability

Project Manager:   primary: Miami-Dade County Department of Procurement Management - Jennifer Sanchez; secondary: Office of Sustainability- Susannah Troner

Background and Project Description:
Procurement of environmentally preferable products (EPP) and services will play a key part in implementing the County's ongoing sustainability initiatives.  For this reason, Miami-Dade County's Office of Sustainability (OOS) and Department of Procurement Management are working together to facilitate cost effective green procurement policies and procedures.  

The Office of Sustainability promotes sustainable operations, facilities, and initiatives within Miami-Dade County government.  The Office was created to coordinate and facilitate improved government performance across the triple-bottom line: economy, environment and society.
The Department of Procurement Management is the centralized purchasing unit for the County's 47 departments and 15 offices for all procurement of goods and services over $10,000.   The County has approximately 30 thousand employees and purchases over 900 million dollars of goods and services each year. 

Fellows will work with the Office of Sustainability and the Department of Procurement Management, other County departments, the County's Resources Conservation Committee, private vendors, and community stakeholders to implement this project.

Activities under this internship would include:

• Assist DPM with organizing a green vendor fair
• Recruit businesses with environmentally preferable products and services to participate in County vendor system. 
• Assist DPM with developing in-house expertise in evaluating "green" products and services
• Assist DPM with researching and crafting bid language that facilitates sustainability such as requiring life-cycle analyses, third party environmental standard certifications, or preference to environmentally preferable products and/or services
• Assist DPM with conducting analyses that show how long term operational costs can be realized through procurement of environmentally preferable products, services and practices.
• Assist in pursuing collective purchasing opportunities with governmental and non-governmental entities to improve pricing and access to green products and services
• Identify products in GSA catalog that have recycled content or are considered to be environmentally preferable.
• Work with DPM to create tools that allow "green" businesses to better share product information with County employees
• Review and evaluation of local, state and federal legislation, policies, and contracts relating to green purchasing
• Review existing policies, department business plans, contract language, etc. and provide suggestions re: language changes that can be adopted to enhance the County's overall sustainability
• Research biofuel feedstock preferences of other government entities and net environmental benefit assessment tools to guide future biofuel purchasing.

Project # 10
Internship Project Description - Mosquito Control Division, Public Works Department

Project Manager:  
Sandra L. Fisher, Chief, Mosquito Control Division Public Works Department

Background and Project Description:
The Miami-Dade County Public Works Department's  (PWD) Mosquito Control Division operates countywide to mitigate the impact of the mosquito population.  While services are provided year-round, mosquito nuisance reaches its peak during the "wet" season (May through October).  Notwithstanding, the severity of the mosquito nuisance is difficult to forecast, as the number of mosquitoes are determined largely by climactic conditions such as rainfall, wind speed and direction.  The majority of mosquitoes found in Miami-Dade County during the summer months migrate from Everglades National Park, Biscayne National Park and the Upper Florida Keys. 
However, at most times during the year mosquito nuisance is also caused by container breeding mosquitoes.  Inspections are performed during the winter months to locate and abate mosquitoes breeding in containers.  These mosquitoes are best controlled through education programs aimed at getting residents involved to perform source reduction on their own properties.  Residents who are properly informed as to the breeding habits and preventive actions they can take to avoid breeding are a great resource coupled with our residential program when reducing container breeding mosquitoes.
This project is aimed at sampling for container breeding mosquitoes before during and after an educational campaign that gives one-on-one instruction to residents.  The purpose is to show whether hands on, face-to-face instruction would in fact reduce mosquito abundance.

Activities under this internship would include:

• Plan and organize the project from start to finish with a proposal that spells out the details of the project itself based on prior studies.
• Sample for mosquitoes using specialized traps throughout the project.
• Identify and enumerate trap catches
• Track and analyze trap results
• Speak directly with residents to encourage breeding prevention, educating them on what they can do
• Provide literature and other items to residents
• Conducting analyses of results to determine where the program was most effective
• Providing suggestions for strategies to further enhance a program including the sustainability of such a program
• Prepare and use PowerPoint presentations, graphs, and other types of analytical tools for the project completion and presentation to MCD staff
• Training for safety related issues

Additional Projects Assignments May include:

• Analysis of past mosquito sampling data
• Assisting with trap identification of regularly set traps
• Assist with placement of CDC traps and development of a gravid female trapping program
• Training in mosquito control to include pesticides, applications, etc.

Project#11
Urban Fellows Project Description

Project Managers:
Primary: Heidi Johnson-Wright, Director
Secondary: Ilene Hyams, Senior ADA Specialist

 
Background and Project Description:
The Miami-Dade County Office of ADA Coordination's (Office) mission is to ensure that County facilities, programs, and services are accessible to people with disabilities, to raise awareness about disability issues generally and to help people in the local disability community achieve their full potential.

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has created by statute a program that permits individuals with disabilities who possess a state-issued accessible ("handicapped") parking placard or license plate to park in accessible spaces. In theory, this is a good program that allows people with various physical impairments to park closer to their homes, workplaces, stores, etc. It also allows people with disabilities who drive modified vehicles to park in wider spaces that allow the deployment of a lift or ramp.

In practice, the parking placard program is seriously abused. People who do not have truly limiting conditions are able to procure placards. Placards can be renewed every four years online without any recertification of the person's disability. Family members can renew deceased persons' placards and use them merely for convenience sake and not genuine need. Unlike license plates, placards are not tracked in a database that police officers can access while in the field. The only way to determine if a person is illegally using a placard is if a police officer sees that person exiting/returning to a vehicle with a placard and asks to see that person's placard certification and a photo ID. All of these problems with the program result in a dearth of accessible parking for those who really need it. Lack of parking may seem like nothing more than an inconvenience. For people with disabilities who need the wide spaces with access aisles in proximity to buildings, finding parking can mean the difference between getting to work on time and remaining employed or losing a job, or being able to carry in groceries to their homes without assistance.

Other states have undoubtedly experienced abuse of their placard programs. Some states have launched outreach campaigns targeted at medical professionals who sign off on the applications, stressing penalties for improperly vouching for someone who truly doesn't deserve the privilege. Have any of them found successful ways to reform their accessible parking programs, making qualification and/or renewal requirements more stringent? Given Florida's significant population of persons who are disabled and/or elderly, this is a timely, important issue for the Office of ADA Coordination to become involved with, perhaps through collaboration with the Florida Parking Association which addresses local and state legislation.

The candidate selected for this project will work with the Office, other County departments, outside organizations, and the general public to implement this project. The project will include getting familiar with state and local laws regarding accessible parking and with the parking placard program, as well as the relevant public policy issues. There will be considerable research and problem-solving, as well as assembling and organizing of data.

Activities under this internship would include:

• Becoming familiar with the parking-related issues faced by persons with a variety of disabilities.
• Becoming familiar with the State of Florida parking placard program, and the programs of other states.
• Analyzing parking placard programs and ascertaining strengths and weaknesses.
• Assessing relevant public policy issues.
• Interviewing persons (i.e. state program staff, law enforcement, elected officials, parking authority officials, persons from the general public with disabilities, etc.) and gleaning data from interviews.
• Synthesizing data and information and arriving at feasible, practical solutions