PPPM Graduate Student Research
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Item Open Access Applying the Equity Lens Without a Cultural Tax(2021-06) Gillespie, Cimmeron; Li, Jinyu; Lindberg, Imani; Sato, Hatsue; Yamada, StrickThe United States is a culturally diverse nation but has a history of exploitation, racism, and discrimination, particularly in the criminal justice, healthcare, and education systems. In the summer of 2020, calls for social justice and equity arose, leading to the development of equity lenses in many cities to approach diversity, equity, and inclusion issues. This project focuses on the equity lens in Lane County, Oregon, and provides an analysis based on informational interviews with county officials. The research aims to answer how an equity lens can be applied without creating a cultural tax on BIPOC communities, defined as a burden placed on people of color to educate about racism and discriminatory practices. Key findings from the research include the need for ongoing equity training for managers and employees, equity implementation on a managerial level, the collaboration between offices and departments, avoiding tokenized positions for employees of color, and consistent review of plans to establish best practices.Item Open Access Lane County Strategic Equity Lens Implementation Project(Oregon Policy Lab, Institute for Policy Research and Engagement, School of Planning, Public Policy, and Management, 2021-06) Arrington, Angela; Hill, Colin; Johnson, Kari; Niitani, Allyson; Wagner, ErikaThe Lane County Equity Action Plan, adopted in January 2021, is aimed at improving equitable outcomes for its populations through the implementation of an equity lens in daily operations. The implementation of the equity lens framework is a change process that requires frequent evaluation and revision of policies, both internal and external. The authors conducted personal interviews with individuals in Lane County, Multnomah County, and the City of Portland who had experience in equity and inclusion, and reached four recommendations for Lane County to implement its Equity Action Plan.Item Open Access Lane County Equity Lens: Analysis and Recommendations(Oregon Policy Lab, Institute for Policy Research and Engagement, School of Planning, Public Policy, and Management, 2020-06) Mulcahy, Mariah; Noviski, Maya; Cook, LindsayOur research yielded six themes relevant to equity in local government. The themes include the definition of equity, staffing, professional titles, budget, measuring equity, and community engagement. Equity: Equity is defined similarly by the three equity leaders. Their definitions incorporate enhancing residents’ access to opportunities and improving residents’ quality of life. Although equity often encompasses protected classes, equity leaders employ the Government Alliance for Race and Equity framework which emphasizes racial equity. Staffing: Staffing levels vary across the three equity offices and affect the prioritization of equity work. Professional Titles: Two of the three equity leaders’ titles are “Chief” of their department, which denote the equity programs’ legitimacy and the equity leaders’ responsibility and/or authority. Budget: Only one equity program is funded by independent budgetary line-time and reported having adequate funding. The remaining equity programs are funded under over-arching line-items and reported being insufficiently funded. Measuring Equity and Community Engagement: Community engagement was identified as an area for improvement for all three equity programs. Although our research did not generate definitive findings, it highlights how the structure of an equity program can impact its efficacy. Equity programs with limited resources do more with less, which is often not sustainable. We encourage Lane County to consider increasing the number of staff responsible for equity work, evaluate the allocation of Lane County’s budget and creating more opportunities for residents to participate in and contribute to equity work in Lane County.Item Open Access Changing Work and COVID-19: Intragovernmental Response Best Practices(Oregon Policy Lab, Institute for Policy Research and Engagement, School of Planning, Public Policy, and Management, 2020-06) Herman, Paul; Ketchum, Corum; Rousseau, Jove; Spaulding, JeremyThis report looks to examine the question: How has work changed for Lane County departments since the outbreak of COVID-19? Our report contains a literature review, evaluative framework, example survey, and a set of workforce best practices for managers during a pandemic. We begin with a review of the most current literature pertaining to worker and managerial challenges caused by the coronavirus. The literature review outlines unique problems caused by work from home mandates and highlights difficulties faced by essential employees working on the frontlines. The review culminates with a list of best practices that managers can implement to ensure their employees have safe and effective working conditions during the pandemic. We present an evaluative framework describing how the County can create a survey tool to gauge employee perception of changes in work during COVID-19. Using Lean Data methodology and Ecosystem Strategy by Alnoor Ebrahim et al (Stanford Center for Social Innovation), we describe how to gather and operationalize data effectively to create positive organizational change. Then we use the tenets of Lean Data to suggest an online survey tool and a set of potential questions culled from the literature. A quantitative, easy to complete survey is presented for employees, with a more qualitative interview style survey example presented to gather manager perspectives. Finally, the report concludes with recommendations and best practices that Lane County’s managers can utilize to maintain employee wellness during this pandemic and in future emergencies.Item Open Access Lane County Covid-19 Return to Service(Oregon Policy Lab, Institute for Policy Research and Engagement, School of Planning, Public Policy, and Management, 2020-06) Hudson, Kaylee; Matonte, Jay; Goldstein, GenniferAs the incidence of new COVID_19 cases of began to slow, the federal, state, and local governments continued to establish guidelines and plans to reopen government business and society at large. Our report proposes guidance and a suggested framework for the Lane County government reopening. It is estimated that the novel SARS-CoV-2 seeded in the U.S. in January of 2020. Since that time, the virus has spread exponentially in every state in the country. A shortage of testing supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE), the lack of effective treatments and a vaccine, and the aggressive nature of the virus have resulted in significant loss of life and economic loss; marginalized communities have been affected disproportionately, further victimizing our most vulnerable populations. Decisions and processes for reopening must be made in the context of all these challenges. To create a framework for Lane County employees to return to service, the following sources were reviewed and considered: 1) literature on government responses and reopening after past pandemics, 2) examination of local governments’ current reopening plans (including the Lane County Blueprint), and 3) current Oregon State and federal guidelines. Through this evaluation two primary lenses emerged: operability and equity. Operability requires a balance of health and productivity. We are recommending that in Phase 1 almost all business be conducted remotely. For Phase 2, we recommend: a) business that does not require in-person interaction continue to be conducted remotely, b) social distancing, sanitation, and PPE be employed and used consistently in office, c) masks be provided for visitors, d) physical barriers be erected (i.e. plexiglass), and e) visual cues be placed to reinforce social distancing. It is imperative that Lane County be adaptable and able to revert to previous phases in case of a COVID-19 spike. Equity requires multiple contact points for the public: telephone, online, remote pick- up/drop-off boxes in accessible locations. Phase 2 allows for in-person appointments, and Phase 3 allows for a complete reopening of service counters. Outreach to individual communities and leaders, and gathering data and input from those communities, is vital now and moving forward. Our team encourages Lane County to build on the Lane County Blueprint, incorporating processes that will ensure health, operability, equity, and adaptability through the COVID-19 crisis. The Blueprint has inventoried supplies and assessed capacity, which is excellent. What’s needed now is to build in processes on how to keep the curve flat while medical experts and scientists continue to search for and discover treatments and a vaccine.Item Open Access An Analysis of the Collective Impact Lens for Lane County’s 2018-2021 Strategic Plan(Oregon Policy Lab, Institute for Policy Research and Engagement, School of Planning, Public Policy, and Management, 2020-06) Hays-Alsin, Bethany; Jonas, Alex; Leraas, AlyssaLane County’s 2018-2021 Strategic Plan puts forth three strategic lenses including Financial Stewardship, Equity, and Collective Impact. This report focuses on the implementation of the Collective Impact lens by exploring and presenting significant aspects of relevant literature, best practices for the use of collective impact, examples of collective impact projects, and specific recommendations to Lane County based on these findings. Collective Impact is an innovative way to foster cross-sector collaboration to address the most complex societal problems using data and performance-based measures to track progress (Stachowiak, et al., 2018). The collaboration should include government entities, nonprofits, and for-profit organizations. It is implemented through five principles: having a common agenda, shared measurement, mutually reinforcing activities, continuous communication, and backbone support (Kania and Kramer, 2013). In addition to establishing the five principles for a collective impact initiative, three pre-principles have been put forth as important considerations prior to establishing the initiative. They are influential leaders, sufficient financial resources, and an urgency for the issue. The support of these pre-requisites fosters the successful establishment of collective impact. In addition to better understanding the purpose and creation of collective impact, it is important to see the challenges and criticisms of the practice that have come out of the research. There are three challenges highlighted in the literature that hold particular relevance to Lane County. First, while collaboration is not a new concept, the collective impact framework needs to be mindfully applied with all of the principles intact in order to develop sustainable solutions to complex problems. The two other notable challenges are that the nonprofit sector faces significant barriers to entering collective impact efforts, mostly due to limited resources, and the necessary consideration as to whether collective impact is the appropriate approach to a given problem.Item Open Access Operationalization of the Strategic Plan: An Analysis of Lane County through a Fiscal Stewardship Lens(Oregon Policy Lab, 2020-06) Conway, James; LeMay, Donovan; Mehdi, FatimaLane County’s 2018-2021 Strategic Plan puts forth three strategic lenses including Financial Stewardship, Equity, and Collective Impact. This report focuses on the use of financial stewardship, the prudent and transparent management of funds, as a strategic lens for setting the perspective from which goals should be viewed. The report outlines ways to approach and efficiently improve the budgetary process through citizen participation that cultivates validation, technology that increases transparency, and the budget process that assures accountability. Summary of Key Findings Based on the definition of financial stewardship published in the strategic plan, we focused on researching how Lane County could improve its accountability, transparency, and use of analytical tools in decision making, and how: • citizen participation would improve accountability to the public • technology can improve the transparency of Lane County finances, and • performance measurements can improve the budget process. Citizens can currently interact with the government through various channels. The impact of the communication or participation isn’t always effective. Ways to increase validation among community members are reshaping the hierarchical structure of meetings and using fiscal intelligence to safeguard efficiency for the expenditure of taxpayers’ dollars. Citizen participation is a collaborative process between community members and government that assures financial stewardship through validation, accountability, and trust. Accountability is best achieved when the political culture of the community is correctly assessed. Finally, in conjecture with validation and accountability, holding additional meetings early in the budget formulation process, and changing the financial language through community finance education will install the institution of trust in the collaborative process. Transparency is accomplished through direct information and communication between constituents and government administrators. Currently, Lane County applies minimum transparency requirements by publishing all transactions in a list. An open data portal that makes the transactions organizable or interactive would encourage participation and improve transparency. The data portal could also use geo-referenced maps to display where public projects are occurring so that citizens can have high quality data to help structure their feedback and best recommendations for the projects. Lane County already has existing open data software- Tableau and Geographic information system- that could be better utilized for these outcomes. Lane County’s budget process has only three meetings for public hearings or comment. The budget committee is made up of the county administrator and citizens appointed by the county commissioners. Changes to each year’s budget occurs after meetings where department heads give presentations. The department heads propose a budget after receiving one annual budget training. Performance information is then selected at the manager’s discretion. The budget process and committee members would benefit greatly from standardized performance information when deciding on awarding more or less funding to government programs.Item Open Access Latino Businesses in Oregon & MWBE Certifications: Understanding the Barriers Faced by Latino Business Owners in Applying for and Obtaining the MWBE Certification(Institute for Policy Research and Engagement, University of Oregon, 2020) Bernstein, Joanna; Sandoval, Gerardo FranciscoThis report focuses on the state of Latino businesses and the Minority and Women Business Enterprise Certification (MWBE), which is issued to qualifying businesses in the private, for-profit sector in the state of Oregon. Oregon's Latino population has been growing rapidly since the early 1990s, with Latinos now comprising 12.5% of the total state population (U.S. Census Bureau 2016). There has also been a rapid increase in the number of Latino businesses in Oregon, with the number of Latino-owned businesses increasing by 144% between 2002 and 2012 (U.S. Census Bureau 2006, 2015). Despite the growth in Oregon's Latino population and business community, a relatively small number of Latino owned small businesses have the MWBE certification. Currently, only 1.2% of all for-profit businesses owned by Latinos in the state of Oregon have the MBE certification. This report’s goal is to understand the specific barriers encountered by Latino business owners in Oregon when applying for the MBE certification. To do this, we spoke with government and non-government organizations that help business owners with the application process. We asked them where difficulties in the application process most frequently arise. We also conducted preliminary qualitative interviews with a select few Latino business owners that had already earned their MBE certification to help us document their experience with the application process. The report identifies five key areas of opportunity surrounding the MWBE certification process that could be tailored to meeting the needs of Latino business owners: ● Centralizing and simplifying the application process ● Making accessing application assistance more immediate and equitable ● Increasing targeted outreach to the Latino business community in regard to the certification ● Collaborating with government contractors to make the RFP and budget proposal processes for the certified MWBE firms that compete for government contracts less time consuming and more accessible. ● Increasing opportunities for language access and bilingual/bicultural services in English/Spanish at all levels and phases of the MWBE outreach, application, and certification process This report's also aims to create a foundation for further research on this important topic and investigate and develop potential state strategies for overcoming the barriers that Latino business owners face in obtaining their MBE certifications. With the ultimate goal of increasing their accessibility to resources that make the application process less daunting and navigable for more Latino businesses to earn the MBE certification. Further research will include conducting more qualitative interviews with Latino business owners from various sectors who have their MWBE certifications and solicit input on specific ways to improve and simplify the application process. We will also speak to staff at COBID Oregon and solicit suggestions for improving and simplifying the application process. Finally, we will speak with other state departments such as ODOT and the Department of Education to understand their experiences with issuing contracts to MWBEs and get feedback on ways to improve and streamline RFPs and budget requests received from competing for MWBE-certified firms.Item Open Access Data Management for Local Government: Open Data Policies and the Coproduction of Public Services(University of Oregon, 2020) Ault, Sam; Burdette, Eric; Cobb, Arron; Rhodewalt, AmeliaIn today’s information age, data is easier than ever to produce, access, and analyze, and has great potential to inform decision-making in both the private and public sectors. The potential for data to enhance decision-making in the public sector has increased interest in the issues of data management and service delivery for local governments. While larger cities may have the resources to invest substantially in data management, smaller jurisdictions often struggle to manage the enormous amount of data available and to incorporate it into their policy-making process. Do better data management policies enhance decision-making, enhance service delivery, or increase public involvement in local governance? This report examines the best practices in data management for local governments, specifically how data management policies, such as open data policies and citizen coproduction of services, may inform parking policy issues at the City of Eugene. The report will outline our research team’s methodologies including a review of the body of literature for these topics, interviews with local government managers at the City of Eugene, and case studies of open data policies and citizen science policies of neighboring cities. The report will conclude with policy recommendations for the City of Eugene to incorporate effective data management policies and to improve decision-making on parking policy issues and beyond.Item Open Access Memorandum: [Lane County Parks Funding Analysis](University of Oregon, 2019-12-11) Fields, Katie; Hoagland, Emerson; Rhodeland, Amelia; Wood, LaneyThis memorandum is in response to a request from Lane County Parks for potential revenue sources to address maintenance backlog and to provide suggestions for sustainable long-term maintenance funding for Lane County Parks. The following sections provide context for this memorandum, case studies of comparable Oregon parks departments and districts, three potential funding packages for Lane County Parks, and the recommendations based on our findings. Also provided is a matrix along which we evaluated our funding packages.Item Open Access ELGL DIVERSITY DASHBOARD(University of Oregon, 2019-06) DIGIALLONARDO, ALOURA; FRISIUS, MEREDITH; MEINKE, SCOTTIE; ROBERTS, SETHToday the discussions around and research on diversity continues to be of the utmost importance. This report reviews literature to better understand specific markers of diversity, as well as, understand how the concepts of representative bureaucracy and intersectionality impact diversity measures and decision making at the state and local government level. The literature review serves as a testament to both the value of diversity in local government and to the dire need for robust, quality data on the subject. Quantifying the importance of diversity has proven to be challenging. Currently, there is a lack of reliable data regarding diversity within state and local government. Originally inspired by the lack of growth of women in local government, Engaging Local Government Leaders (ELGL) developed the Diversity Dashboard to provide timely and relevant content for local leaders regarding diversity. After launching the Diversity Dashboard in 2017, ELGL contracted with the University of Oregon to help analyze the data collected through the Diversity Dashboard from 2017-2018 and to gain an outsider perspective regarding ELGL’s work. This report provides detailed recommendations for ELGL regarding these topics.Item Open Access Lane County, Oregon Snowstorm 2019 Emergency Management Case Study(University of Oregon, 2019) Boone, Jake; Mason, Kelly; O'Connor, Kerry; Ang, StanleyThe purpose of this report is to define best practices in county level emergency management and, on a broader scale, public management. In addition, this report will provide an analysis of Lane County’s emergency management response to the 2019 snowstorm. A review of published literature and qualitative data will be utilized, and a summary of recommendations will be provided following the case analysis.Item Open Access Lane County Parks Funding Analysis(University of Oregon, 2019) Cobb, Arron; Gamble, Alyssa; Nolte, MarianneThis report provides recommendations for Lane County Parks on how to prioritize funding to address its maintenance backlog.