CITY OF WEST HOLLYWOOD INNOVATIONS ANNUAL REPORT 2015

Introduction

West Hollywood is The Creative City - innovation is in our DNA.

Twenty-first century technologies are transforming civic life in substantial ways. Cities all over the world are embracing new and emerging digital and technological solutions to solve problems ranging from parking to homelessness.

The City of West Hollywood remains committed to the highest level of innovation in government. We strive to establish the most efficient and forward-thinking system of transparency, public participation, accessibility, and communication by utilizing emerging technologies, expanding upon existing tech-oriented infrastructure, and working together with our City’s innovation community and business leaders. Embracing new technologies and infrastructure models will strengthen local democracy, promote efficiency and effectiveness in government, and promote the local economy.

In this spirit, the City of West Hollywood launched WeHoX, a civic innovation program to apply innovative, collaborative thinking to civic challenges both inside and outside City Hall. By bridging the public and private sectors, WeHoX looks to the cutting-edge industries and entrepreneurs operating in the City to find innovative solutions that will make West Hollywood a better place to live, work, and play.

This inaugural City of West Hollywood Innovations Annual Report is the result of several months of meetings, discussions, surveys and research by the WeHoX team. It is a collaboration between city staff, local agencies, private sector technology and innovation businesses, consultants, and passionate residents who want to enhance West Hollywood’s creative approach to delivering city services.

This report examines the City’s recent civic innovation programs and introduces new initiatives to enhance citizen satisfaction and engagement, increase government efficiency and transparency, and promote the City’s innovation economy. The solutions propose a series of innovative recommendations inspired by best practices from other cities, the private sector, and the WeHoX brain trust, including infrastructure upgrades and new technologies that will help to attract digital, media, and technology businesses to the City.

With over 40 proposed initiatives and nearly 100 ideas for implementation in five key areas (Transportation, Pedestrian Safety, and Parking; Recreation, Health and Wellness; Civic Engagement and Public Participation; Partnerships, Efficiency and Transparency in Government; and Supporting the Innovation Economy), the recommendations in this report offer a multi-year roadmap for civic innovation. WeHoX suggests that these initiatives be incorporated into departmental work plans in conjunction with the City’s two-year budget cycle, so to allow departments the opportunity to identify priorities and funding resources in consultation with the City Council. We are proud to acknowledge that at the time of publication, City departments were already independently embarking on several of the initiatives recommended by the WeHoX team – a tribute to West Hollywood’s culture of innovation at City Hall.

We invite you to learn more about West Hollywood’s WeHoX civic innovation program by reading this report and sharing it with your colleagues – we hope it offers you exciting opportunities for innovation that can be replicated in your own communities. Visit www.wehox.org to share your thoughts on civic innovation projects WeHoX is tracking worldwide and share your feedback with our growing civic innovation community.

- Francisco J. Contreras, AICP Innovation and Strategic Initiatives Manager
City of West Hollywood

About WeHoX

In the fall of 2014, the City of West Hollywood launched WeHoX, the City’s first comprehensive civic innovations program, to explore the merging of technology and innovation with civic purposes for government transformation. Building on a history of innovation within the City of West Hollywood, WeHoX created a series of four Innovation Salons with private sector technology, innovation, business, and communications leaders, as well as City staff. These public community events focused on exploring specific themes and challenges driving civic innovation in West Hollywood. The team’s recommendations, the comments and ideas from the WeHoX salons, and the work of City staff and consultants culminate in this first City of West Hollywood Innovations Annual Report. What follows proposes a broad range of programs and projects, and sets goals for the City’s innovation initiatives in 2015 and beyond.

Proposed Initatives

Transportation, Pedestrian Safety, and Parking

  • Launch WeHo Vision Zero Campaign
  • Increase number of shared bicycles per capita
  • Increase number of shared vehicles per capita, reducing overall traffic volume
  • Increase number of EV charging stations within the City
  • Provide real-time public transit service information to the public
  • Introduce WalkWeHo, an interactive city-wide wayfinding system
  • Beautify crosswalks and sidewalks
  • Introduce Smart Street Furniture within the City’s public right-of-way
  • Redesign parking signs across the City to be more user friendly and help motorists
  • Introduce and publicize smart parking technologies throughout the City
  • Explore new forms of shared alternative transportation platforms
  • Explore creating new on-street parking options for shared transportation

Recreation, Health, and Wellness

  • Implement robust Aging in Place Strategy
  • Provide digital training for Generation WH
  • Develop WeHo Senior Stories program
  • Enhance WeHo Wellness with data and mapping
  • Catalogue, share publicly, and understand the benefits of the City’s Sustainability assets
  • Launch FitWeHo - The Fittest City in the Country campaign
  • Establish WeHo League of Mixologists Develop Smart Homes Pilot Program

Civic Engagement and Public Participation

  • Increase voter participation in municipal elections
  • Establish WeHo Volunteer Corps
  • Expand city services through West Hollywood smartphone app
  • Integrate crowdsourcing tools for emergency situations
  • Take City Hall meetings outside of City Hall Introduce “Live Chat” on WeHo.org Encourage creative use of public spaces

Partnerships, Efficiency and Transparency in Government

  • Create West Hollywood Innovation Fund
  • Create new ways to provide professional development for employees
  • Introduce WeHo Wi-Fi
  • Improve employee work processes through technology and collaboration
  • Improve West Hollywood Open Data platform and data accessibility
  • Create an official citywide privacy policy to protect confidential citizen data
  • Improve recruitment, onboarding, and retention of new employees using technology
  • Establish cohesive branding and visual representation of City offerings

Supporting the Innovation Economy

  • Build WeHo Fiber utility
  • Create a “Launched in WeHo” initiative
  • Establish an Innovation Lab at West Hollywood Library
  • Create a Tourism and Hospitality Incubator
  • Partner with educational and vocational organizations
  • Develop “Business in a Box” toolkit for new West Hollywood businesses
  • Introduce “Business Concierge” service at City Hall
  • Promote and celebrate West Hollywood’s innovation economy through events and awards

Special Thanks

WeHoX would like to thank:

West Hollywood City Council Members:

Mayor Lindsey P. Horvath

Mayor Pro Tempore Lauren Meister John D’Amico

John J. Duran

John Heilman

West Hollywood City Manager

Paul Arevalo

Innovations Catalyst Group members:

Francisco Contreras, AICP Innovation and Strategic Initiatives Manager

Jim Duncan, Systems Engineer Supervisor

Janet Jimenez, Assistant to the City Manager

Laura Minnich, Economic Development Analyst

Bobby Safikhani, Management Specialist

Georgia Sheridan, AICP Senior Planner

Eugene Tsipis, Information Technology Manager

Brett White, Digital Media Coordinator

Consultants:

New Economy Campaigns

Compiler.LA

Cynthia Tan Design

All WeHoX Team members and participants