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WATER ENERGY LIFE CITY OF RjVEIZSIDE lag PUBLIC UTILITIES RIVERSIDE PUBLIC UTILITIES Board Memorandum BOARD OF PUBLIC UTILITIES DATE: SEPTEMBER 11, 2023 SUBJECT: CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE/OFFICE OF COMMUNICATION ANNUAL UPDATE COVERING COMMUNICATION RELATED ACTIVITIES ON BEHALF OF RIVERSIDE PUBLIC UTILITIES ISSUE: Annual Office of Communications update related to communication activities on behalf of Riverside Public Utilities. RECOMMENDATION: That the Board of Public Utilities receive and file the annual communication activities update by the City Manager's Office, Office of Communications. BACKGROUND: In Fiscal Year (FY) 2017/18, the Board of Public Utilities received a report on operational improvements and efficiencies that Riverside Public Utilities (RPU) identified to maximize cost savings and revenues. During the review, RPU identified similar positions between RPU and the City Manager's Office/Office of Communications (Communications) and it was determined that Communications could provide greater and more cost-effective services to RPU. As a result of this recommendation, the decision was made to move five full-time equivalent (FTE) positions to Communications beginning in FY 2018/19, to be cost -allocated back to RPU. In the years following, RPU identified and added two additional positions that were transferred to Communications and began to pay 50% of one administrative position. RPU currently funds 6.50 FTEs within Communications. In return for the additional positions and responsibilities, Communications committed to providing RPU with a defined level of communications services including, but not limited to, communication management and coordination, regulatory compliance, customer/community outreach and customer communications enhancement. Initial performance measures were outlined, and Communications agreed to work collaboratively with RPU Executive Management and RPU Customer Engagement on the status of goals and objectives and provide annual updates to the Board of Public Utilities. Since then, Communications has worked alongside RPU to meet the needs of internal and external customers.