1. 2016
Tammy Jimenez
Cityof Tallahassee –GrowthManagement
3/28/2016
Let’s Go Digital

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Cityof Tallahassee –GrowthManagement
Tammy Jimenez
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Background:
The City of Tallahassee has had a long history of annexation activity as a means of
achieving growth. During its first 150 years, Tallahassee expanded from one-quarter of a mile in
size to 28.18 square miles by 1980. Since 1980, the City has witnessed a tremendous increase in
annexation activity with 75 additional square miles having been added during this time,
swelling the size of Tallahassee to 103.31 square miles as of December 31, 2014. Many of the
annexations in the early 1980's were accomplished through a double-referendum process that
required the approval of voters living in the area proposed for annexation as well the approval
of City voters. Since 1985 the vast majority of the City's annexations have been achieved
through a voluntary process where the owners of properties petition for inclusion into the City.
The Growth Management Department is the foundation for all development that is
proposed within the City of Tallahassee. The organization communicates with other
departments within its municipality to provide a service to the community. The reach of our
services expand from the city limits of Tallahassee, to Leon County, and Wakulla County.
The Growth Management division has lived up to its reputation as an organization that
strives to adhere to the regulations of the law, and create innovative ways to enhance the
services of the division while exceeding the expectations of their stakeholders and publics. In
doing so the division has employed a diverse group to service our community.

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Tammy Jimenez
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Currently, the Growth Management division is researching software to move the
organization to an online platform. The software will need to accommodate all compositions
within the Building and Land Use divisions, as well as all other departments that interact with
the organization. In which, at any given time can be all other divisions within the overall
organization of The City of Tallahassee. The digital platformmust be easily accessible and user
friendly for our publics. Going totally digital may encounter issues with publics that may not
have jumped onto the tech-savvy world.
The publics’ outlook on the organization is of a positive nature. The department has
maintained its integrity and trust from the community as a division of innovation and supporter
of new technologies. Over time the department has maintained its good standing and will
continue to strive for the recognitions of such.
The deadlines that are set in place are to provide ample time for research and
development to find the most effective software to accommodate the needs of the division. To
organize focus groups that will critique the campaign of going digital, from research and
development, to implementation, then to a targeted review date of the campaign. All deadlines
will affect process and procedures of the division, as well as the public relations messages to
inform the publics of the upcoming changes to the division’s services.
The City of Tallahassee Growth Management Department will take an informative
approach to the public relations aspect of this campaign.

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Cityof Tallahassee –GrowthManagement
Tammy Jimenez
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Situation Analysis:
The City of Tallahassee Growth Management Department is an organization that has
seen measurable growth, and the stakeholders are just as extensive. Refer to:
(http://www.talgov.com/planning/planning-compln-stakeholders.aspx) for a listing. Some of
the most common publics consist of Engineers, Notaries, Surveyors, Architects, Contractors,
Internal and External customers, Vendors, Residents and Authorized Agents. The City of
Tallahassee Growth Management Division services in the public sector. The organization as a
whole is pursuing the opportunity of implementing online digital platforms to accommodate
today’s most innovative technology.
Since the recession, over the last five years there has been a quantifiable increase in the
development of the city and the request for annexations within that jurisdiction. The City of
Tallahassee has the reputation of setting the foundation for other municipalities to follow. As a
quasi government entity the only competitor to be noted in this public sector would be the
Leon County Development Support and Environmental Management. As the City of Tallahassee
works diligently to stay in the forefront of technology and innovations, the only concern of the
Leon County’s division would be the attempt to merge divisions and maintain either or of the
municipalities implemented procedures.

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Cityof Tallahassee –GrowthManagement
Tammy Jimenez
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Core Opportunity:
Joining the digital world by implementing e-Government Services to provide timely
communication strategies between government and our segmented publics to better the way
we do business.
Goal:
The City of Tallahassee, Growth Managements goal is to communicate the benefits that
e-Government services brings to our customers, increase transparency in our business process,
establish high functioning partnerships between our organization and our customers, ensure
customer involvement in the early phases of development, create a 100% electronic process
from application to sign off, and communicate effectively to our customers that while our
primary role is as regulators we have the highest priority to work as facilitators.
Objectives:
 Identify Customers Base - Identify the specific groups we interact with that make up our
customer base and obtain an 80% awareness rate.
 Identify Representatives - Identify those associations, professional organizations and
governing boards that represent members of our customer base and obtain a 100%
compliance with those professionals.

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Tammy Jimenez
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 Identify Challenges - Identify potential challenges that may be faced by our customer
base as they try and adopt e-Government Services and obtain a 95% satisfactory rate for
customer support of our services.
Big Idea:
Achieving High Community Acceptance for e-Government Services by developing
communication strategies between government and citizen partners to better the way we do
business.
 Big Idea Strategy – Implementing e-Government Services that is productive for our
business practices and user friendly.
 Message – Facilitating the future of our business.
 Visual Representation – Interactive workshops and trainings with our publics
 Slogan – Let’s Go Digital
Key Publics:
The key publics are a group of segmented individuals or groups that have a specific
interest in doing business with the City of Tallahassee, Growth Management Department.
Demographics do not necessarily apply in this campaign as much as the Psychographics. In all

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cases, these segmented publics will have some role play in the development of property
located inside the city limits. The following is a list of the key publics:
 Engineers – Local and National for the process of application submittals and professional
credentials
 Notaries – Utilized for digital Signature in the authentication of documents as an
alternative to engineers/architects /surveyors credentials
 Surveyors – Local and National for the process of application submittals and
professional credentials
 Architects – Local and National for the process of application submittals and
professional credentials
 Contractors – Land Development, Building and sub-contractors
 Internal / External Customers
 Vendors – All other solicited products or services that provide to the campaign
 Residents – Owner/Builder permitting
 Authorized Agents - authorized persons to act on behalf of land owners
Messages:

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Cityof Tallahassee –GrowthManagement
Tammy Jimenez
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 Primary:
▪ City Projects Coming Soon – Inquire today!
▪ Sign Up today for City Projects Training!
▪ Come learn about Digital Signatures!
 Secondary:
▪ Let’s Go Digital
▪ Growth Management Going Digital – We are here to facilitate to the end
▪ City Projects Now Online – 100% digital process, check out our website
Strategies:
 Create Awareness of the new processes to our key publics through the use of our
toolbox
 Adhere to Federal and State regulations on usage of e-government services
 Provide ongoing education and training from the beginning to the end of the process
 Provide excellent support to our initiatives with a 95% plus satisfactory rate
Our e-Government Toolbox:

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Cityof Tallahassee –GrowthManagement
Tammy Jimenez
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 eNews Email Newsletter
 Growth Management Web Site
 Video Media
 Online Chat
 Customer Service Surveys
 Digital Signatures
 ProjectDox Workflow Customizations
 User Group for Staff
Tactics:
 Presentations and Trainings:
 Our location in the capital city has afforded us with the ability to present to the
leaders of many professional boards, councils etc.
 Provide trainings / information sessions on :
 Process Changes
 Digital Signatures

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Cityof Tallahassee –GrowthManagement
Tammy Jimenez
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 Department Services
 Researching Data
 Focus Groups
 Seeking partnerships while involved in these activities
 eNews Email News Letter
 Quarterly email publication for our customers.
 Provides them with updates to process changes and general announcements,
while putting a positive spin on goals and milestones the department has met.
 Multiple ways for our customers to subscribe.
 Sign up forms at presentations.
 Text message
 Web links
 Growth Management Website
 Up-to-date
 Easy to navigate
 Information on our Processes

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Cityof Tallahassee –GrowthManagement
Tammy Jimenez
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 Review Pages
 Guides and Videos
 Applying for Permits Online
 Interactive Forms for Submittals
 Reports
 Contact Options
 Online Records Request
 Surveys
 Video Media
 Assignment Videos for Applicants
 Applicant Checklist
 Corrections Required
 Applicant Resubmit
 Coming Soon Videos
 Feature new businesses under construction coming to our area.
 Online Chat
 Available during business hours
 Allow our customers a new way to contact our staff.

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Tammy Jimenez
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 Have a variety of staff available including Records Staff, Permit Coordinators,
Plans Reviewers and Engineers.
 Customers get real time answers to their questions or we put them in contact
with the person who can answer their question.
 Digital Signatures
 Allow for a 100% electronic submittal
 Guides and Information on our website.
 Project Workflow Customizations
 Customized Email templates
 Videos
 Assignment deadlines
 Assignment guides/videos
 Applicant Checklist
 Uploads the desired document to the desired folder
 Provides the customer with the desired naming conventions
 Provides links to blank forms and other resources
 Takes the place of our old manual Applicant Checklist.
Calendar & Budget

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Cityof Tallahassee –GrowthManagement
Tammy Jimenez
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The calendar and budget will cover the eight month campaign for The City of
Tallahassee Growth Management Department to go digital. This time frame was set to cover
the areas of research, building, testing, education, awareness, support and evaluation. See
excel spread sheet for attachments 1 & 2.
Communication Confirmation
The communication confirmation table will identify each key public and show the
objectives each public will fulfill, as well as summarize self interest. In addition, the
communication confirmation will identify opinion leaders or influencers to reach the publics,
strategies and tactics to achieve the objectives. See excel spread sheet for attachment 3.
Evaluation Criteria and Tools
The City of Tallahassee Growth Management Department’s goal is to go 100% digital
and provide the education and support that our key publics will need from the beginning to the
end process. Our focus is to obtain a 95% plus satisfaction rate on the campaign. We will use
the following tools to obtain the evaluation information we need to make any future
improvements or changes to the process.
 Customer Service Surveys:
 At the end of a review the applicant is sent an email with a survey for feedback.
 Provides management with statistics on how customers are viewing our services.

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Tammy Jimenez
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 Surveys on our website.
 Users Group for Staff
 Discuss trends and feedback regarding ProjectDox and our process as it relates
to our customers experience.
 Allows us to reinforce training issues while keeping staff involved in the process.
Public Relations:
Public Relations are handled within the organization with guidance of outside
consultancies on certain solutions to problems outside of their expertise. Otherwise, for the
sake of budget friendly operations, the organization utilizes the talents within.
My recommendation for the City of Tallahassee, Growth Management division is to
continue to utilize internal and external publics on all aspects of the campaign. It is my
experience that the people giving and receiving your services can provide crucial information on
the innovative needs of the division, as well as important feedback on the success of your
campaign.

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Tammy Jimenez
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References
History of Tallahassee | Planning. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2016, from
http://talgov.com/planning/GovHistory.aspx
Post-Disaster Redevelopment Plan for Leon County | Planning. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28,
2016, from http://www.talgov.com/planning/planning-compln-stakeholders.aspx
Growth Management | Growth Management. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2016, from
http://www.talgov.com/growth/GrowthHome.aspx
Talgov.com | The Official Website of the City of Tallahassee. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2016,
from http://www.talgov.com/