Specialized knowledge and skills in all areas of municipal services are now available to increase efficiencies in a cost effective manner through Lynn M. Dannheisser’s Municipal Consulting Services. The creation of “best practices” and the most effective allocation of seemingly diminishing resources is Lynn’s forte. Her team can analyze the needs of the agency or government and find the legal and business solutions to improve operating efficiency and organizational effectiveness.
Ms. Dannheisser can assist you in any of the following areas:
Sustainability-Producing Green Government & Handling Environmental Matters
Ms. Dannheisser has been a pioneer in sustainability efforts. Although it is becoming a requirement of municipalities and businesses, it may be difficult to know how to get started whether you are talking about alternative fuel consumption, solar power, water conservation, or building requirements. Ms. Dannheisser has been instrumental in assisting certain local governments to pursue sustainability strategies and targets. She has helped private companies and municipalities recognize that sustainability is a dynamic joint public-private process, not based on engineering or regulatory solutions alone.
Lynn understands that sustainability without economic viability and responsiveness to social demands will not be successful in the long-term. Having long worked in both the public and private sectors, Lynn understands how to bring them together in this effort.
As a corollary to these sustainability efforts, Ms. Dannheisser, working with planners and engineers, has coordinated environmental efforts with complex jurisdictional and multi-agency requirements. She has assisted in open space overlays, the use of TDRs to protect sensitive lands, shoreline protection efforts, the promotion of clustering regulations to protect sensitive lands, and assistance in the development of comprehensive plan evaluations and appraisal reports and EAR based amendments. She is available to assist both public and private entities to develop and pursue strategies in this area.
Coaching City Commissions/Councils How to Govern and Create Consensus
Term limits have resulted in increased turn-over in the membership of elected bodies. Since 1995, Ms. Dannheisser has been training newly-elected officials the legal and practical requirements of how to perform as elected officials- the laws that bind them, the nuts and bolts of the job, and the methodologies and philosophies that create effective, transparent and good leadership for the communities they serve. Every so often, an elected body gets into behavioral patterns that create a log-jam for constructive movement forward. This is an increasing phenomenon for a whole host of reasons. With more than 25 years of experience in guiding elected officials as well as her training and certification in leadership coaching, Ms. Dannheisser can offer quick and effective methods to break these patterns and get an elected body and its administration back on track.
Business Development
Because of her broad, working knowledge and experience with local government and representing local government, as legal counsel, Lynn Dannheisser has the ability to increase your business through government or other business opportunities. She is able to seek out procurements, develop and/or respond to requests for proposals, locate areas in need of development or re-development, and can create incentives for the creation of new business and the creation of valuable real estate assets. For both public and private clients, with her extensive contacts through the South Florida area, Ms. Dannheisser can not only achieve access to new business opportunities for joint public-private ventures but can also help businesses and governments in their short and long-term planning.
Incorporation and Annexation
Ms. Dannheisser began her incorporation and annexation consulting work in 1995 when she assisted in the incorporation of the Village of Pinecrest. Thereafter, she consulted on five (5) other successful incorporations, one annexation and investigated the feasibility of incorporation for several other areas in the State of Florida. In addition to the legal requirements, Ms. Dannheisser has exceptional working knowledge and been instrumental in securing all possible revenue sources, the establishment and structuring of all municipal departments, and the general set-up and recruitment of local government personnel.
Revenue enhancement for cities and agencies
In this economy, cities and agencies must become effective in the creation and collection of revenues or alternative means of funding for municipal projects. Consulting engagements include a full range of organization and management evaluations, productivity improvement studies, fiscal and economic impact assessments, revenue enhancement programs, and systems/procedure reviews.
Some of these include the creation of innovative revenue generating legislation- whether, as an example, it involves the establishment of a Transferable Development Rights program or the creation of a separate 501(c) (3) non-profit corporations to lend support to local government activities and act as a fundraising arm for the agency or government or the establishment of supportable developer impact fees or developer agreements.
Municipal Human Resource Issues
Having been a city attorney for four cities and as special counsel for many others, I have worked closely with city managers and many HR Directors to draft human resource policies and procedures manuals. I has litigated labor and employment issues and devised what I believe are industry standard best practices in employment and recruitment. Today, my practice focuses on those services that are difficult to perform using internal staff whether because of limited resources and/or the need for an outside view. Direct hands-on experience will ensure creative and effective solutions.
Services include job and pay classification to establish internal pay equity and external pay parity, organization and operational reviews, job evaluation, pay plan development, performance management and coaching.
Procurement
Municipal governments often do not have the expertise and/or the time to devise or evaluate requests for proposal or bids. Private clients frequently are not familiar with how to respond or suggest such procurements to local governments. Ms. Dannheisser has worked on both sides of the table. She is thoroughly familiar with all the laws and regulations that pertain to bidding and procurement and can assist any client-public or private- developing appropriate messaging for the decision-makers, to identify opportunities where they exist and if not, to create them, where possible.
Outsourcing Government Services
Ms. Dannheisser has lectured for the Florida League of Cities on whether and in what situations it is best for a government to outsource a particular service. In an increasingly complex environment, Ms. Dannheisser can perform a comprehensive analysis to determine if there are increased efficiencies and productivity while reducing costs in management in the prospect of outsourcing services. There are times when an independent resource is a better way to achieve a service for the community and times when the service should be performed in-house. She can also assist in securing such resources if that determination is made.