Testimony of Robin-Eve Jasper
Director
Office of Property Management
Adrian M. Fenty
Mayor
COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Councilmember Mary Cheh, Chairperson
Monday, February 23, 2009
12:30 pm
Room 412
Council Chamber
John A. Wilson Building
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20004-3003
Good afternoon Chairperson Cheh and members of the Committee on Government Operations and the Environment. I am Robin-Eve Jasper, Director of the Office of Property Management (OPM). I am pleased to report on OPM’s accomplishments for Fiscal Year 2008 and give a review of some of the exciting initiatives currently underway for Fiscal Year 2009.
Construction is one of the most visible and important things that OPM does. I am pleased to report that in Fiscal Year 2008 OPM completed construction and renovation of the Public Health Laboratory Annex at DC Village, the DC Animal Shelter, the Ward 4 Senior Wellness Center, Harmony House group home and Lincoln Theatre. OPM installed two green roofs, completed sixteen office build-outs for District agencies, replaced ten roofs, renovated three HVAC systems and refurbished three elevators in Fiscal Year 2008.
In fiscal year 2009 OPM accomplishments to date include construction of the Presidential, Mayoral and Press viewing stands for the inauguration of President Barack Obama, advancing construction management and selected the general contractor for the Consolidated Forensic Laboratory, breaking ground for the Department of Employment Services headquarters in Ward 7, nearly concluding work on the state-of-the-art Oak Hill Youth Center facility and continued the renovation of Eastern Market. Each of these projects is currently tracking on-time and within budget.
Historically, there have been problems with projects that have not been delivered on time or within budget. OPM is aggressively working to remedy these problems by holding staff accountable, recruiting highly-skilled construction professionals, and providing the appropriate procedural and technological support to construction project managers.
Overall, OPM’s construction portfolio includes 76 active separate projects. Of those projects 43 are currently on-time and within budget. 33 projects are not. Reasons for not being on-time and within budget run the gamut – from change in agency needs, contractor problems, unanticipated site conditions, etc.
Another highly visible OPM undertaking, is OPM’s successful management of the Eastern Market on a short-term basis while a new market manager is being selected. Several news articles have highlighted OPM’s excellent work to ensure smooth operations at the market during this temporary transition period.
Less visible are OPM’s initiatives to ensure smooth, continuous operations across the entire agency. New systems are being put in place to streamline processes, improve data, and implement new information technology to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
For example the Construction Division is implementing a computer database system, called the Project Management Information System (PMIS). This database is a repository for all information related to construction project and contract management. It contains all significant project-specific data as well as electronic forms, and more. A related procedures manual, the Project Delivery Manual, has been developed and all Construction Division employees have received training on the new system.
The Facilities Division is working with the Office of the Chief Technology Officer on a system called Remedy to fully automate the tracking of service requests and work orders. This system will allow for online service requests to be made by District agencies and the public. It will also allow for preventive maintenance work orders to be automatically generated and tracked through completion. This system will be rolled out this Summer.
On the energy management front, OPM is working to implement a software system called Energy CAP. Energy CAP is used by over a thousand organizations, including the U.S. Department of Energy, the Smithsonian, Fairfax County, Yale University, the state of Maryland, and the cities of Baltimore, Sacramento, and San Francisco. It monitors all forms of energy use at the level of individual meters, buildings, and any group established by OPM. It will be used to eliminate utility billing errors, uncover account ownership errors, expedite invoice processing, and share consumption information with building users. Most exciting to OPM staff, it will enable us to quickly identify building control problems and inefficiencies, to monitor the impact of conservation efforts and to track and report greenhouse gas emissions.
To further document and improve internal processes, OPM has developed several professional manuals codifying agency procedures and operations. For example, the LEED Guidebook is the first-in-the nation handbook for government project managers on how to manage and direct compliance with the District’s groundbreaking requirements of the Green Building Act of 2006. The Guidebook contains specific direction on how to meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) requirements and manage the design and construction to achieve highest possible LEED certification. Although still in draft, the LEED Guide is already in use in two major District projects: the $218 million Consolidated Forensic Laboratory in Southwest and the 225,000 sq. ft. DOES headquarters. Both facilities are currently tracking LEED gold certification.
OPM’s Workplace Design Guidelines, soon to be in final form and available on our website, are being employed to modernize and create consistency in the principles used to allocate space among agency users and employees. Like industry best practices being applied nation-wide, architects planning new space for DC agencies now work with the agency leadership and staff to understand job function and allocate space based on job needs. These guidelines replace presumptions that space is allocated simply on seniority. Significantly, this will reduce the footprint of DC tenants in terms of cost and environmental impact.
While the downturn in the economy is a serious crisis affecting each of us, it has had an unexpected benefit to the District at OPM. During this time OPM has been able to attract highly skilled personnel to assist in portfolio and project management and energy management. OPM has hired a new Deputy Director for the Portfolio Division, Jonathan Kayne, with 23 years of commercial real-estate experience. In his two months with the agency Jonathan has already demonstrated his ability as a dealmaker and as a gifted manager of people. His presence is a critical element in helping the District address the more than 1 million square feet of lease expirations and moves coming up in FY2009 and 2010. Just three weeks ago, OPM was joined by Michael Yambrach. Michael serves as OPM’s first Energy Program Manager and brings 25 years of industry experience. During his short tenure, Michael has already conceptualized an educational campaign on energy conservation in the workplace and is de-lamping light bulbs in the Reeves Municipal Center to maximize energy efficiency and reduce light fixture costs by a third. He is also spearheading efforts to:
- Audit the largest users of energy in District buildings and identify improvements to improve deficiencies in the operation of the building and building equipment;
- Rank the District’s facilities’ energy performance against commercial and industrial buildings throughout the country using the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager; and
- Demonstrate the impact of improved Building Management Systems on major buildings in the District’s portfolio.
In the spring of 2008 concerns arose regarding the operations of the Protective Services Division (PSD). OPM quickly addressed these concerns and among other things hired a new Chief of the Protective Services Division, Louis P. Cannon -- who has over 30 years of law enforcement and security experience including more than 20 years as an MPD officer/supervisor where he received over 150 commendations. During his short tenure with OPM, Chief Cannon has restructured and professionalized the PSD force to improve efficiency, enhance communication with other local and federal law enforcement agencies and implemented random quality assurance inspections for contract guard security services at District facilities. Chief Cannon re-assigned patrol sectors to improve the ability to retrieve and monitor statistical data, improved and streamlined training, and spearheaded a cost-benefit analysis to identify potential cost savings with implementing technology. Working closely with the US Secret Service, the Protective Services Division provided successful law enforcement and logistical support during the Presidential Inauguration. This year Chief Cannon was named the Emerald Society’s Law Enforcement Man of the Year.
The accomplishments noted above could not have been achieved without the dedicated efforts of staff throughout the agency. I am honored to be working with this committed group and grateful for the energy, enthusiasm and hours upon hours of work put in by the senior team and others on regular matters, agency improvements, and the Inaugural support. While I am very happy about the remarkable progress made this year, there is still a distance to travel before our expectations for a highly professional, smoothly-running enterprise are realized. I appreciate this time to discuss our performance and welcome any questions you may have at this time.