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“There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.”

Roger Staubach

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THERE ARE SIMPLY TOO MANY OPTIONS AVAILABLE TO CUSTOMERS TODAY FOR BUSINESSES TO BE ANYTHING LESS THAN EFFICIENT, FRIENDLY AND AVAILABLE. GOVERNMENT, THOUGH, HAS FEW COMPETITORS FOR MANY OF THE GOODS AND SERVICES IT PROVIDES. GOVERNMENT FREQUENTLY FORGETS TO SERVE THE PEOPLE FIRST.

• Statewide customer service standards don’t exist. Customer service takes a backseat to other issues.

• Services are not readily accessible. The state does not employ the most modern customer service technologies.

• Programs are designed for the convenience of government. The state designs programs from a bureaucratic perspective instead of a consumer perspective.

• Coordination with local government is poor. Many services are delivered by our partners in local government, but we do a poor job of collaborating with our partners.

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Making state government work better for Californians is a central theme of CPR. All of the recommendations in the report are directly or indirectly about customer service. But there are a number of changes the state can make that specifically address how the government interacts with the people.

Customer service is at the heart of successful businesses in America.There are simply too many options available to customers today for businesses to be anything less than efficient, friendly and available. Government, though, has few competitors for many of the goods and services it provides. Government frequently forgets to serve the people first. That is a mistake. As management expert Peter Drucker said: “The single most important thing to remember about any enterprise is that there are no results inside its walls. The results of a business are a satisfied customer.”

Too often, state employees come to believe their primary customers are the Legislature, elected officials or various interest groups. They forget that their primary mission is to help and protect Californians— the taxpayers who are their true employers and ultimate customers.

Improved customer service should go hand in hand with a new structure and focus for our government. California government has traditionally been designed for the convenience of the people who work in it rather than for the people it is meant to serve and who pay for it.

It is ironic that California law requires cable television operators to establish customer service standards and to publish them regularly, yet California government, as a whole, does not. Many governments around the world have found that setting customer service standards, publishing them and continually reporting on how they are met is the key to changing the face of government. CPR believes that California should immediately take a number of steps in the customer service area.

In 1993, the federal government began to establish and implement customer service standards, customer surveys and customer service plans. All executive departments and agencies that provide significant service directly to the public were directed to take the following actions:

• Identify the customers who are, or should be, served by the agency;
• Survey customers to determine the kind and quality of services they want and their level of satisfaction with existing services;
• Post service standards and measure results against them;
• Benchmark customer service performance against the best in business;
• Survey front-line employees on barriers to, and ideas for, matching the best in business;
• Provide customers with choices in both the sources of service and the means of delivery;
• Make information, services and complaint systems easily accessible; and
• Provide means to address customer complaints.

The order creating the standards encouraged federal agencies to provide customer service training to employees who directly serve customers. The order also directed agencies with high levels of public contact to publish a customer service plan within one year.

Various states have followed suit, finding new ways to listen to citizen needs and make concrete changes in how they perform their duties with their customers in mind.

Here in California, the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) has developed a strategic plan that identifies customer-centered service as its number-one goal. This goal has been communicated to individual employees and has been incorporated as a performance measure for the board’s Collection Call Center employees. For example, an FTB Collection Call Center team has identified what the customer

IT IS IRONIC THAT CALIFORNIA LAW REQUIRES CABLE TELEVISION OPERATORS TO ESTABLISH CUSTOMER SERVICE STANDARDS AND TO PUBLISH THEM REGULARLY, YET CALIFORNIA GOVERNMENT, AS A WHOLE, DOES NOT.

expects from them—courteous, professional and flexible service, as well as effective problem solving. The team has developed a customer service evaluation form used to evaluate its interaction with customers.

Since February 2004, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has reduced wait times from as high as six hours to a statewide average of 30 minutes within its 90 major field offices. The department accomplished this by identifying and adopting the best customer service practices that were in place at outstanding field offices.

All California state government agencies should adopt similar customer-focused approaches in their strategic and budget planning. Customer service must be a strategic goal of each department and customer satisfaction must be continually assessed to determine how well a department is performing. Each department’s strategic plan should address identified deficiencies in customer service.

Action: The state should establish a statewide customer service system that requires all state agencies to develop, publish and report on customer service standards, and reward those people in government who provide outstanding customer service.

We should require agencies to seek feedback continually from their constituents about the quality of

CUSTOMER SERVICE MUST BE A STRATEGIC GOAL OF EACH DEPARTMENT, AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION MUST BE CONTINUALLY ASSESSED TO DETERMINE HOW WELL A DEPARTMENT IS PERFORMING.

service they are providing and ways to improve their business practices.

It is not easy for Californians to contact state government offices and quickly and efficiently find what they’re looking for. According to MCI, one of the contractors for the state’s telephone contract, there are more than 1,400 toll-free telephone numbers operated by state agencies that use the contract. This number does not include universities, local governments that use the state’s telephone contract or state agencies exempt from using the state’s contract. Thousands of local telephone numbers for state government also are in the “blue pages” of California telephone books, and an undetermined, but presumably large, number of calls are handled outside the toll-free arena.

The state has done little to assist the public in contacting state agencies, or to help the public identify which state agencies provide the services they need. The information that does exist has never been coordinated. For example, the last edition of the California state telephone directory, which is almost four years old, has a section with listings by agency or department and another section with an alphabetical listing of employees who choose to be listed and is only used among state agencies and not distributed to the public.

An online directory is available through the California Web portal (www.ca.gov). There is, however, no easy way to navigate it, and there generally is no link to it from most state Web sites. Like the state telephone directory, it lacks any listing organized by services or areas of interest. The agency index simply directs the user to the agency Web site, which often has no telephone contact information.

The employee index offers users the ability to find telephone numbers for specific employees; however, there is no indication of which employee to contact for questions about specific programs or services.

California has four state operators who work from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. The number for the state operator is listed in many major telephone directories. Operators take between 700 and 1,000 total calls per day on a wide variety of topics, from both state agencies and the general public. Their function is referral, giving telephone numbers to callers and connecting them. Considering the large number of telephone numbers used by the state and the limited number of staff to direct callers to the right place, accessing state government can be difficult and frustrating.

Such frustration is not limited to California. During his campaign for mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg expressed frustration that New Yorkers had to sift through 14 pages of telephone numbers to find city services and information. As a result, one

THE STATE HAS DONE LITTLE TO ASSIST THE PUBLIC IN CONTACTING STATE AGENCIES, OR TO HELP THE PUBLIC IDENTIFY WHICH STATE AGENCIES PROVIDE THE SERVICES THEY NEED.

of the top priorities for his new administration was to make contacting city government easier by using a single telephone number—311. Forty call centers and several help lines for city agencies were combined into the 311 number, which has a service center staffed by more than 200 city employees, with an overflow center staffed by up to 200 more contract employees. Call centers offering highly specialized information, such as tax information during tax season, were not included in the 311 number since those calls can take up to 30 minutes or longer.

In its first year, New York City’s 311 service center fielded 6.5 million calls. The city is expecting that number to jump to between 10 and 12 million calls per year. As of April 2004, the center was averaging about 35,000 calls per day.

Technology currently exists to allow call centers to operate in either a “real” or “virtual” sense. Call center operators may all be housed under one roof or they may be in several locations, including their homes, and still operate efficiently. Database software also allows separate call centers and locations to share data and manage call load among multiple centers. Call centers often experience peaks and valleys in volume at different times of the year, month or even day. The ability to spread call volume among call centers and operators makes for greater efficiency.

Most call centers use Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems to automate routing. In the best call centers, these IVR systems are invaluable for getting callers to the right person as quickly as possible. They can even automate certain routine tasks, such as giving callers an account balance. In many instances, however, IVRs make it difficult or impossible for callers to reach a live person, or will substitute recorded information for human interaction when it may be inappropriate to do so.

Other technologies exist to allow some automation of call taking. Voice recognition software, for example, allows an interactive “discussion” with the software to determine the caller’s needs. The software allows the caller to be directed to the right entity, to leave voice mail or instructs the caller to call back.

The CPR identified more than 20 call centers operated by or for California state agencies. Without a thorough audit, however, it is impossible to know exactly how many there are, or how much money is spent on them each year. CPR looked at three departments with four call centers that handle a large volume of calls per year to make some basic assumptions. These operations alone cost the state more than $100 million per year and employ 1,600 people. The centers and related information is shown in Exhibit 3.

	EDD— Unemployment Insurance	EDD— Disability Insurance	Motor Vehicles	Consumer Affairs	Totals
Number of Staff	900	200	475	35	1,610
Annual Cost	$60 million	$10 million	$28 million	$3.7 million	$101.7 million
Yearly Calls	45 million	8 million	20 million	840,000	73.8 million

Action: The Governor should direct the Department of General Services to establish a central California Information Center to improve information and service to Californians by integrating most existing call centers operated by the state.

The California Portal is California state government’s central website. It began operating in January 2001 and was an instant hit, setting a new standard for government websites. The California Portal’s development team received numerous awards for its innovative features. Its designers envisioned providing a single point of access to all state, local and federal government services, where users can access specific government services without having to personally navigate the bureaucratic maze of overlapping city, county, state and federal agencies (Exhibit 4).

The California Portal was initially brought online with fewer than ten percent of state departments participating. The project team purchased and built a technical infrastructure at the state’s Teale Data Center expecting to house and support all of the state’s departmental websites. At the outset, it seemed like the California Portal was on its way to becoming exactly as advertised: a single point of entry to many California state and local government services, a user-friendly path to access information and services.

Soon after it began operation, however, the California Portal Project had difficulties unrelated to its services. Financial and staffing support for the California Portal dwindled amidst controversy. Technical support for the portal was transferred to the Teale Data Center staff in January 2004. When asked about the status of the California Portal in April 2004, Teale Data Center management indicated its staff did not have the technical expertise necessary to fully support the portal, and there was a similar lack of expertise among vendors responsible for servicing its software.

IN 2004, THE DMV EXPECTS TO RENEW FIVE MILLION DRIVER LICENSES. SIXTY PERCENT (THREE MILLION) OF THESE DRIVERS ARE ELIGIBLE TO RENEW THEIR LICENSES BY MAIL, IF THEY MEET CERTAIN AGE AND DRIVING STANDARDS.

The problems facing the California Portal are not related to the original vision of creating a single online gateway for California state government, however, the problems are holding back even a semblance of a chance of realizing that vision. The information accessible through the portal is not being updated. For example, there are obsolete references (links) to information on the portal’s website. When Internet users “click” on obsolete links, they receive a message that the website or text referenced on the portal no longer exists.

The goal of providing seamless Internet access to all state and local government agencies in California remains unfulfilled. Many state department websites still reside outside the portal’s computer systems and are, therefore, unavailable to the portal’s search tool. This makes the portal less useful.

Moreover, the technology underlying the portal is outdated in the rapidly changing world of the Internet. Portal technology has advanced rapidly since 2001. The Portal has vast and as yet unrealized potential. It should be upgraded to make it a true gateway to California state government.

Action: The state should update and expand the California Portal. The portal should be redesigned to make it a central gateway for all state agencies and for units of local government.

Action: The Governor should direct state departments to keep their websites updated.

The text and the links to other websites and information should be routinely updated and obsolete references eliminated. The state should obtain automated tools to assist in this effort. Improving the accuracy of information accessed through the portal will make it a more useful and reliable tool for the public.

California can see significant improvements in the quality and availability of commonly used services by making them available electronically. In this case, priority should be given to state drivers license renewal and to the state nutritional programs for women and children.

Today, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has 168 standard driver license and vehicle registration field offices throughout California. Field offices provide a wide range of services for Californians, including initial driver testing, vehicle registration and driver license renewals.

In 2004, the DMV expects to renew five million driver licenses. Sixty percent (three million) of these drivers are eligible to renew their licenses by mail if they meet certain age and driving standards. While two million drivers choose this option, nearly one million drivers who are eligible to renew by mail continue to visit their field office to renew their licenses. This adds to the field office workload and to customer waiting time. The DMV already offers online registration of vehicles. The same processes can be used to deliver online drivers license renewal services.

Eleven other states have initiated programs in which drivers may renew their licenses online: Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, Illinois, Tennessee, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia and the District of Columbia. In addition, Idaho, New Mexico and Washington are in the process of adding online renewals. The results have been favorable. Utah, for example, renews 28 percent of its drivers licenses online. Virginia estimated that 10 percent of all its transactions were accomplished online. An online transaction saved 20 percent of the staff time needed for processing an application sent in the mail. Other states reported similarly favorable results.

The DMV considers online renewals to be good customer service rather than a cost-savings opportunity. Other states’ experiences, however, indicate that an online renewal program will be popular and will save money for the state over time. Tennessee, for example, was able to promote growth of its service by 164 percent in three years. If California’s online

MORE IMPORTANTLY, PUTTING DRIVERS’ LICENSE RENEWALS ONLINE WOULD BRING ONE OF THE MOST COMMON STATE FUNCTIONS TOUCHING MOST CALIFORNIANS INTO THE DIGITAL AGE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE.

drivers license renewal service receives acceptance similar to Utah’s services, eventually, 840,000 California drivers would renew online. Those eligible for the mail renewal process who continue to renew in the field office create much higher costs for DMV. Based on DMV cost figures, if 280,000 of the one million drivers who renew at a field office can be persuaded to make the renewal payment on the Web, in four years, the savings would reach $2 million. As continued promotion changes drivers’ behavior, the program could eventually save more than $6 million yearly.

More importantly, putting drivers license renewals online would bring one of the most common state functions touching most Californians into the digital age of customer service. That strategy is broadly supported by consumers, according to the findings of a survey reported by the Pew Foundation which tracks the impact of the Internet on America. In a 2002 report, the Pew Foundation asked how the public was most likely to contact government for information or services. Thirty-nine percent of all those questioned said they would go online. If the respondent was an “Internet user,” 58 percent said they would go online, in contrast to 10 percent of “non-Internet users.” The non-Internet users’ preferred mode for contacting government offices was the telephone. The same study consistently ranks California among the highest in all states for Internet use, which means that California residents will likely use online access to government at or above the expected range for citizens of other states.

Action: The California Department of Motor Vehicles should allow eligible drivers to renew their drivers’ license online.

The Women, Infants and Children Supplemental Nutrition Program (WIC) is a 100 percent federally funded nutrition education and supplemental

WIC IS INTENDED TO PROMOTE PROPER NUTRITION AS A WAY TO DECREASE THE RISK OF LOW-BIRTH weights OR OTHER CHILD-BIRTH COMPLICATIONS AND TO IMPROVE THE HEALTH OF CHILDREN DURING THE CRITICAL EARLY YEARS OF THEIR LIVES.

food program for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding and postpartum women, and children under the age of five who are a nutritional risk.

WIC is intended to promote proper nutrition as a way to decrease the risk of low-birth weights or other child-birth complications and to improve the health of children during the critical early years of their lives. A large part of this program is providing eligible families with access to foods that are high in protein and/or iron, including foods like peanut butter, beans, milk, cheese, eggs, cereals, infant formula and juices.

WIC is a short-term program, and most people receive benefits for about two years. To determine eligibility for the program, “low income” includes those with up to 185 percent of the federally defined poverty level of income. The income for a family of four is about $33,485 in annual income.

The California WIC program receives about $900 million annually from the federal government. It receives more than $200 million more through rebate contracts with manufacturers of juice, infant formula and infant cereal. In total, the program served just less than 1.3 million Californians in Fiscal Year 2003–2004.

WIC benefits are delivered manually at the local level through contracts with 82 local county and private non-profit agencies that operate 650 local WIC centers. Clients receive vouchers at the WIC centers that can be redeemed for food items at 4,189 WIC-approved grocers. In Fiscal Year 2002–2003, California’s grocers redeemed about 69.3 million paper vouchers under the program. They, in turn, processed the vouchers like a check, depositing them with a local bank, which in turn redeemed the vouchers with the State Treasury.

Obviously, a huge amount of administrative expense goes into this laborious manual process. The state WIC program does not have specific data on the exact amount of administrative costs associated with the program. These costs include expenses such as purchasing paper check stock, printing, storing, transporting, processing and destroying vouchers and performing extensive anti-fraud activities. WIC does provide annual information to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for administrative costs for the combined activities of voucher production and distribution and eligibility determination. In Fiscal Year 2002–2003, this totaled $88.3 million.

Moreover, the vouchers present potential problems for recipients. They must travel to distribution centers to receive benefits, and the paper vouchers are always subject to theft. The use of the vouchers in stores sets the recipients needlessly apart from other shoppers, according to some critics of the paper-based WIC and Food Stamp programs.

California and most other states have made significant progress in transferring Food Stamps and other human service benefits programs to a card-based technology, a process known as electronic benefits transfer (EBT). EBT allows recipients to receive their benefits on a card that looks and acts like a credit card. This approach makes the use of the benefits a more private matter and reduces the potential for theft or fraud. It also can greatly reduce the physical handling of vouchers and other processing requirements, thereby creating the potential for cost savings to the state that can be directed into helping more eligible Californians.

Action: The Women, Infants and Children Supplemental Nutrition Program (WIC) benefits should be provided through electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card technology.

Once it is in full operation, a WIC EBT program will save the state about $17.5 million a year. These

ONCE IT IS IN FULL OPERATION, A WIC EBT PROGRAM WILL SAVE THE STATE ABOUT $17.5 MILLION A YEAR. THESE SAVINGS WOULD ALLOW 25,000 MORE CALIFORNIANS TO BE SERVED BY THIS PROGRAM.

savings would allow 25,000 more Californians to be served by this program.

Access to state licensing, permits and registrations is important for small business, the backbone of the state’s economy. According to a 2002 report by the California Small Business Reform Task Force, small businesses represent 98 percent—or 2.5 million—of the companies in the state, employing more than 50 percent of the workforce and generating more than half of the gross state product. Streamlining the business license and permit process would, therefore, have a significant impact on California’s business climate.

Right now, people wanting to do business in California must obtain necessary permits and licenses, register their businesses, report information and pay taxes. A person wanting to open a beauty salon in Sacramento, for example, must register or obtain permits and licenses from eight different state entities, and someone wanting to open a gasoline service station must register or obtain permits and licenses from nine state departments.

From a business owner’s perspective, state government is not a collection of independent agencies, but rather one “state government.” As a result, business owners should be able to expect seamless services from the state. Business owners in California are also demanding online services from the state equivalent to those offered in the private sector, and they want a customer-centered approach that provides timely, useful and accurate information.

California has previously implemented programs to improve state services to small businesses. The Small Business Regulatory Reform Act of 2000 created one recent program. It established a Small Business Advocate in the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research and required each state agency to designate at least one person to serve as a small business liaison. Creating the Small Business Advocate was a good idea, but it did not go far enough in removing the obstacles small businesses face.

Other states have improved their services to small businesses by creating a consolidated state business license and permit process. For example, in 1980, the state of Washington created a Master License Service (MLS) to provide a convenient, accessible and timely one-stop system for business licenses and permits. The MLS developed one master application for the most commonly acquired business licenses and permits. The Washington MLS estimates that its master application is used to issue all required licenses and permits for about 80 to 85 percent of businesses in the state.

Washington’s MLS is comprised of an intake unit, a call center and a business liaison section. The intake unit processes initial applications and renewals, maintains records and collects associated fees. The call center handles all telephone,

OTHER STATES HAVE IMPROVED THEIR SERVICES TO SMALL BUSINESSES BY CREATING A CONSOLIDATED STATE BUSINESS LICENSE AND PERMIT PROCESS.

e-mail and Internet inquiries and distributes forms, informational booklets and brochures. The business liaison section provides technical assistance and is responsible for tracking changes in licensing and permit laws at the state and local levels, as well as any changes in fees. The system is available 24 hours a day and business owners can use it to obtain or update their information electronically.

Some consolidation of California’s state license information systems is already under way. California’s Department of Consumer Affairs processes the bulk of California’s professional licenses and is working to combine all of its independent information systems into one centralized system. According to the Department of Consumer Affairs, additional enhancements to accommodate a master application for licenses and permits issued by the department could be built into the new system with little or no additional cost.

This service could be funded with an MLS application fee and a periodic renewal fee.

Action: The state should create a master license service within the Department of Consumer Affairs.

Action: The Governor should appoint a third-party business advocate to provide oversight of services to California businesses with licensing and regulatory issues.

State government does not do enough to focus on customers today. While there are some state

THERE ARE MORE THAN 4,000 JOB CLASSIFICATIONS USED IN STATE GOVERNMENT, BUT ONLY TWO HAVE THE WORDS “CUSTOMER SERVICE” IN THEIR TITLE.

departments that have separate customer service units, there is no customer service job classification used across state agencies. There are more than 4,000 job classifications used in state government, but only two have the words “customer service” in their title. Yet there are departments, such as the Employment Development Department, the Department of Health Services, the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Consumer Affairs that have millions of face-to-face, telephone, e-mail and other written contacts with the public each year.

A few departments use specialized classifications to answer incoming calls from the public and to work at public counters, but most use clerical, program technician, and analyst classifications. The employees in these classifications often possess enough program knowledge to perform their job duties adequately, but may not have the skills necessary to provide customer service in an efficient manner.

With the state budget deficit and staffing shortages that California is currently experiencing, it is more critical than ever to have competent and skilled customer service professionals on the “front line.” Despite the limitations, we believe California needs to do more in this area. These front-line employees are usually the first and sometimes the only contact the public has with government. The ability of these employees to effectively assist the public directly affects whether government is perceived positively or negatively. According to Laura French, a principal with Words Into Action,

IT IS TIME FOR CALIFORNIA STATE GOVERNMENT TO ACT UPON WHAT THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND MANY OTHER PUBLIC AGENCIES HAVE COME TO RECOGNIZE: CUSTOMER SERVICE AND THE CUSTOMER SERVICE PROFESSION ARE KEY INGREDIENTS TO AN ORGANIZATION’S EFFECTIVENESS.

Inc.: “People call in a panic mode. The customer service rep needs to comfort and calm the caller. The caller needs to feel that he or she has called the right place and is talking to an expert who can solve their problem.”

Mark Wallace, vice president of DCI, an organization dedicated to information technology education and consulting, stated, “...customer support in government needs to quickly become more proactive, customer-focused, efficient and effective.... The responsiveness of front line support to customer’s expectations is the key to success in the public sector. This need continues to be amplified as customer expectations continue to soar.” The same is true for Californians who expect to receive better customer service from government, which increasingly requires qualified state employees to interact with the public. Such interactions occur every day in a variety of settings such as call centers, e-mail, correspondence and in person.

It is not only good government to serve the public effectively and efficiently, it is good business. A survey of consumers conducted by Harris Interactive in 2000 indicated that a company’s economic status is directly tied to effective customer service. The findings also stress the importance of resolving a customer’s service issue on the initial contact.

While government is generally not in the business of making a profit, it must not waste its limited resources by being ineffective or unresponsive. Multiple interactions

IT IS NOT ONLY GOOD GOVERNMENT TO SERVE THE PUBLIC EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY, IT IS GOOD BUSINESS.

with government to resolve a problem, such as repeated telephone calls, letters and face-to-face visits cost both the public and the government. Each contact has a cost, and the longer it takes to resolve an issue, the higher the cost. For example, three state agencies with high call volumes, answer more than 70 million telephone calls per year at an annual cost of about $100 million. If even a small percent of these calls are attributed to “call backs,” because the issue was not resolved during the first contact, the additional costs are significant.

The private sector has recognized that excellent customer service is critical to the survival and viability of the organization. PriceWaterhouseCoopers surveyed 427 CEOs of fast–growing companies and found that “virtually all CEOs of the nation’s fastest growing companies (87 percent) single out quality of customer service as being very important to the growth of their business over the next 12 months.”

The importance of good customer service and the role of the customer service representative have been gaining importance in the public sector. Many government agencies across the country use a customer service representative classification. Examples of this include the states of Arizona, Ohio and Idaho; and the cities of Bellevue, Washington; Alexandria, Virginia; and Alameda, California.

It is time for California state government to act upon what the private sector and many other public agencies have come to recognize: customer service and the customer service profession are key ingredients to an organization’s effectiveness. A statewide customer service job classification should be developed and used across state agencies. This would help to ensure that skilled employees are placed in the critical positions that deal directly with the public. This is a small, but important, step in changing California’s approach to providing services to its citizens. It demonstrates a commitment to— and focus on—providing the right information to our citizens at the right time and in the right way.

Action: The Governor should direct the California State Personnel Board to establish a Customer Service Representative statewide classification to be used by all state agencies.

Local governments are both customers of state government and partners in delivering services to the people of California. As such, intergovernmental relations are particularly critical and will only become more critical in the years ahead.

Governmental relations in California involve several levels of local governments, including cities, counties, regional governments and special districts. In addition, government-to-government relationships exist at the state level with bordering states, nations, tribes and the federal government.

The Governor’s Office of Planning and Research serves local governments in two ways. First, it is the state point of contact for local government review for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act. Second, it is responsible for the analysis of state legislation that affects local governments.

Recent negotiations on the state budget pointed to the need for a local governmental relations mechanism to open a clear channel of communication amongst different levels of government. A representative of the administration who has other duties in addition to overseeing local government issues facilitated this negotiation.

Because of the importance of coordination, cooperation and consultation among all levels of government, it is vital for local governments to have a contact within the Governor’s Office

THE CALIFORNIA PERFORMANCE REVIEW RECOMMENDS THAT THE LEGISLATURE REMOVE STATUTORY IMPEDIMENTS TO VOLUNTEERISM TO POSITION THE STATE TO LEAD THE NATION IN CIVIC PARTICIPATION AND VOLUNTEERISM.

to maintain good working relationships and to address issues as they develop.

Action: The Governor’s Office should create a Local Government Relations Office to fortify relations with all levels of government.

Californians are a giving, service oriented people. Whether they are coaching Special Olympians, mentoring elementary school students in reading or taking Scouts camping, our state’s citizens are willing to share the benefits of living the “golden dream by the sea.” Many people arrive in California with high hopes for the future. Through their initiative and rugged determination, they succeed in finding their dreams. Their successes, in turn, imbue them with a desire to help those who are less fortunate or who are in need.

Given the pressing challenges facing the state, Californians should be called to action to restore the state’s strength, vitality and prosperity—making it the best place in the nation to live. The California Performance Review recommends that the Legislature remove statutory impediments to volunteerism to position the state to lead the nation in civic participation and volunteerism.

Action: The state should establish a central clearinghouse, the California Service Corps, to coordinate volunteers and match them with the needs of government, schools and charitable organizations.

Action: The state should remove legal barriers to volunteering and civic participation in California.

According to First Lady Maria Shriver, “Every Californian can serve their state. Every Californian can strengthen and support this state in invaluable ways. The California Service Corps wants you —each and every one of you—to be proud, to bear responsibility for your state. As Gandhi said, ‘The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in service to others.’”

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