Some cities phase in digital transformation. Mesa, Arizona, decided to leap.
In 2017, Mesa’s Development Services Department made a decision that most government agencies would consider too risky: eliminate paper entirely from its permitting, planning, and licensing processes: no safety net, no parallel paper track, no going back. Nearly a decade later, that bet has paid off in faster reviews, smarter resource management, and a development community that trusts the system.
On a recent episode of the Accela Civic Innovators podcast, Heather Basford from Mesa’s Development Services Department and Samuel Small, the city’s Senior Software Engineer, sat down with Accela CEO Noam Reininger and eRepublic Chief Innovation Officer Joe Morris to share what it really takes to make that kind of leap.
The Decision: Why All-In?
The seeds were planted when Mesa began an RFP process to replace its existing permitting system. What emerged wasn’t just a technology upgrade. It was a community conversation. Developers and contractors were clear: going electronic would save them time and money. At the time, Mesa required submitters to provide four full sets of plans per submittal, meaning printing costs for large projects could be enormous.
The environmental case aligned with the mayor’s climate action priorities. The financial case resonated with contractors. And the convenience case, being able to submit permits at any time on any day, made the value proposition undeniable.
But the real challenge wasn’t selling the idea. It was building the trust to see it through.
Trust as the Foundation of Change
“One of the hardest things about digital transformation is building trust in those users at the end of the day,” Samuel explained. Contractors and developers needed to believe the system could handle their work, and that city staff would be equipped to keep development moving forward.
Heather and her team invested heavily in that relationship. Through development advisory forums and consistent two-way communication, Mesa kept its development community informed and involved. The feedback loop was not just a courtesy. It was a strategic tool for reducing resistance and ensuring the rollout addressed real concerns.
Equally critical was the internal partnership between Development Services and IT. “It’s important that we hear what Heather and her team needs to be quick to respond, to be able to accurately pivot where it’s needed,” Samuel noted. That responsiveness became a competitive advantage.
Results: Speed, Data, and a 15-Second Permit
The transformation reached into every corner of the process, covering not just intake and issuance, but inspections, clearances, utility notifications, and fee calculations. Before Accela, staff ran manual reports daily and chased utility companies to confirm they’d received the right information. Automated clearance workflows changed all of that.
Perhaps the most striking outcome came from right-of-way permits. Mesa is home to a massive fiber infrastructure buildout, with companies like Google submitting hundreds or even thousands of inspection requests. Samuel’s team reduced the interface time to create those requests from 15 minutes to 15 seconds, using Accela’s API alongside SMS and IVR technology. The result: inspections that once required manual web navigation could be triggered with a text message.
On the plan review side, the data infrastructure has transformed how Mesa manages workload. Weekly reports show completed reviews, lifecycle stages, missed turnaround times, and refund costs, giving leadership everything they need to allocate resources and make the case for additional staffing.
Low Code, High Impact
One of the lesser-told stories of Mesa’s success is what happens internally when regulations change. Samuel runs his technology team like a fully staffed software engineering operation: version control, change management, quality assurance, and full testing cycles. That rigor, combined with Accela’s low-code configuration capabilities, means that when a new ordinance passes or a state mandate arrives, Mesa can respond in days rather than months.
“Council or state legislators aren’t looking at the capabilities of a system,” Samuel said. “They’re saying this is what we need, and then we make the system do what we are expecting to have done.”
Advice for Cities Considering the Leap
When asked what they’d tell other cities hesitating to make a bold move, both Heather and Samuel came back to the same themes: people, communication, and leadership support.
“If we didn’t have the support from our city manager’s office or our elected officials to make this move, it would not have been successful,” Heather said.
Samuel was equally direct: transformation isn’t going to go perfectly smooth, and that’s okay. What matters is momentum. “If failure isn’t an option, a half-implemented project isn’t going to work. You have to continue to drive forward.”
Frequently Asked Questions
How did Mesa, Arizona transition to a fully paperless permitting system?
Mesa launched its paperless permitting system in 2017. Rather than a phased rollout, the city made a clean break from paper, supported by strong buy-in from city leadership, the development community, and an internal IT team capable of configuring and maintaining the system. Community outreach through development advisory forums helped build the trust needed to make the transition successful.
What were the biggest challenges in going fully digital with permitting?
The primary challenge was building trust with contractors, developers, and small businesses who relied on familiar paper-based processes. Mesa addressed this through transparent communication, active feedback loops, and ensuring the Accela platform could accommodate the full range of permit types and workflows, from large commercial projects to simple residential permits.
How long does it take Mesa to process building permits?
Mesa is legislatively required to complete first reviews of residential projects within 10 business days and commercial projects within 18 business days. An expedited service option allows commercial applicants to receive reviews in 10 days for an additional fee, a service that has proven highly popular with the development community.
What results has Mesa seen from digital permitting?
Mesa has seen significant improvements across the entire permitting lifecycle. A standout result: right-of-way permit processing time dropped from 15 minutes to 15 seconds using Accela’s API with SMS and IVR technology. The city also automated utility clearance notifications, eliminated manual report runs, and gained real-time data dashboards that inform staffing and resource decisions.
How does Accela’s platform support government digital transformation?
Accela provides a low-code/no-code civic platform that government agencies can configure to manage permitting, licensing, planning, and inspections workflows. Its open API enables custom integrations like Mesa’s SMS-based inspection request system, and its reporting tools give administrators real-time visibility into workload, turnaround times, and fee data. The platform allows in-house teams to respond quickly to regulatory changes without requiring outside development resources.
What advice does Mesa have for cities considering digital permitting modernization?
Mesa’s team emphasizes three things: secure top-down leadership support before launching, invest in relationships with your development community early and often, and build (or hire) internal technical expertise so your team can own and iterate on the system. They also advise cities to commit fully, since a half-implemented digital transformation rarely delivers the benefits of a complete one.
How does Mesa handle new regulations or legislative changes in its permitting system?
Mesa’s in-house software engineering team treats Accela configuration changes with the same rigor as a full software development lifecycle, including version control, change management, and testing cycles. When new ordinances or state regulations take effect, the team leverages Accela’s low-code tools to implement required changes quickly, often meeting tight compliance deadlines without outside vendor assistance.
Full Episode Transcript
Noam Reininger: Welcome to the Accela Civic Innovators Podcast. This is where we talk with government leaders that are transforming how services are being delivered and how they’re doing it with a rapid pace of change. I’m Noam Reininger, the CEO of Accela.
Joe Morris: And I’m Joe Morris, Chief Innovation Officer with eRepublic. So today we’re joined by Heather Basford and Samuel Small. Heather’s from the Development Services Department and Samuel Small is a Senior Software Engineer with the city. So let’s talk about the big question today. The big question is all about how to make big, bold digital moves and how to essentially run through the change management of those decisions. And so Heather, Samuel, in 2017, you made this big, bold decision. We’re going digital. There’s no going back. We’re not going to have paper processes anymore at all. So two things to start us out. One, what led to that decision? And then how did you manage the change, especially with departments that wanted to push back?
[02:15]
Heather Basford: I’ll start. I think that when we were looking to replace our existing permitting system, this started back in 2014, where we did the RFP and selected Accela to move forward to upgrade our existing permitting system. We heard from the majority of our community, including developers and contractors, that going electronic would save time and money for them. We were requiring submitters to provide us with four sets of plans for each submittal. So as you can imagine, for very large projects, those can include several volumes for one set of plans. So reducing the printing costs was one thing that we were able to come to an agreement with our community. The environmental impact also helped with our climate action plan that our mayor was implementing at the time, as well as saving money for our submitters so that they weren’t having to incur those printing costs. And so it really took a lot of communication and planning with our community, making sure that all of our developers and contractors had the information on what the goal was. And then with the Accela portion, them being able to submit at any time or on any day. It was really about presenting that in a way so that they could see the value that they were getting out of us moving to this system.
Samuel Small: Yeah, absolutely. I think, Noam and Joe, that one of the hardest things about digital transformation is building trust in those users at the end of the day. The submitters, the contractors and developers in Mesa needed to understand that as we were transitioning to this new paperless process, the system could accommodate what they’re using, and that our city staff can perform the work that’s required to allow the development of the community to move forward. Digital transformation is a very big deal no matter which way you go, and it does come down ultimately to adoption as your success metric. Looking at this almost 10 years later, this is established: we did implement it correctly and we’re doing the best that we can do for our community. And our Accela presence definitely speaks volumes to that.
[06:00]
Joe Morris: Most agencies try to phase in that change. It’s evident that intentionally that’s not the path that you all walked down. As you were in that phase from where you were to where you wanted to go, how did you work through all of the pushback that came your way?
Heather Basford: I think like Sam was talking about, it’s that trust. And so in order to develop that, you have to have the relationships. We worked really hard with our development community. We have development advisory forums where we share information on what’s coming and get their feedback. We really try to keep that feedback loop open so that we can address the concerns that our development community might have. And what’s been really critical in what we’ve been able to achieve here at the City of Mesa is our partnership with our IT folks.
Samuel Small: On the technology side, I think it’s important that we hear what Heather and her team needs to be quick to respond, to be able to accurately pivot where it’s needed.
[09:30]
Noam Reininger: I heard a lot about relationships and trust: with the development community, with mom and pops, and between IT and the development services department. What have you seen in terms of results? From a speed perspective, getting things through your systems, to the cost side, and what are you seeing in terms of customer experience for both staff and residents of Mesa?
Heather Basford: It’s a great question. A lot of times people, when they think about implementing a system, they are looking at electronic plan review or just the workflows through the permitting. But there are whole other steps that come into play. Once a permit’s been issued, how are the inspections managed? How are clearances transmitted to the utility companies? So it’s really the comprehensive experience, not just the submittal, the permit issuance, and the plan review. There’s the fees that need to be calculated. At the City of Mesa, we have meters that we’re collecting fees on. When we were looking at our processes, it wasn’t just intake and permit issuance. We were looking at how do we automate our inspections so that the clearances can be sent in the most efficient manner. Before we implemented Accela, staff would run a report every day and manually send clearances over to our utility companies. There was a lot of follow-up and back and forth to make sure they had the right information. With the implementation of Accela, we really tried to reimagine that process specifically so that there were fewer touch points and clearances could get over to the utility companies in a quicker, more efficient manner.
Samuel Small: Process improvements are a regular conversation with myself and my team. Speaking of speed, sometimes it’s the business process, but other times it’s actually the use of a specific tool or interface that really makes a difference. One of the great outcomes we had as a department was right-of-way permits. City of Mesa is a very aggressive city when it comes to development. We’ve got a huge fiber project that’s done thousands of miles of fiber, which for every one of those fiber drops and micro-trenches requires permits and inspections and everything to come along with it. Last year we implemented a project where we reduced the interface time to create these requests from 15 minutes to 15 seconds by leveraging Accela’s API and SMS and IVR technology so that they could just go with a text message, which instantly was able to push these inspection auto-assignments through. That was a great relief for the big utility and fiber companies like Google, because these folks are submitting 800 to 1,000 inspection requests and the amount of time it took before just using the manual web interfaces was extremely time consuming. So there’s the business process improvement, but there’s also the technology improvement: getting creative in ways that we can leverage the capabilities of the system through APIs or through different modalities to request something through the city.
[15:45]
Joe Morris: One of the really interesting and compelling things is you have a lot of pressure getting from the development community for speed at all hours of the day. And then there’s also pressure that comes in from legislative change and new regulations that get passed. An interesting story is just how quickly you’ve been able to adapt to those new regulations and get change rolled out in less than a couple of weeks when material changes happen on the regulatory front. You’ve made the internal decision to in-house this capability. Samuel, you have very good capabilities in-house at the city. Tell us a little bit about your approach to low code and what that approach has enabled you all to do.
Samuel Small: It’s one of the hardest things in government: being responsive to external demands, whether they come horizontally from your community or vertically from various levels of government, including federal, state, or city ordinances that happen at our councils or management levels. As technologists, my team is tasked with an extremely large demand to deliver, and it needs to be done usually to meet compliance deadlines or a specific deadline to implement a project. It’s really important that the team is aware of the capabilities of systems, and in particular with Accela being a low-code/no-code type of tool. Most of the work that needs to be done is in a combination of ways: configuration, light touches on logic changes, scripts, expressions, and other capabilities of the system. From a low-code level, it doesn’t mean not elegant and also very sophisticated. Accela as a tool set has many different layers of configuration. Council or state legislators aren’t looking at the capabilities of a system and building the ordinances and legislative requirements around the system. They’re saying this is what we need, and then we make the system do what we are expecting to have done. From our end, we make sure that our staff is exceptionally capable at understanding the nuances of the system. But we run our team as a fully fleshed-out software engineering team. We deal with version control, change management, quality control, full testing cycles. Anything that you would see in your normal software development lifecycle at a shop that writes massive cloud apps, we do the exact same processes here in the city.
[21:00]
Noam Reininger: How has having this platform and structured accessible data changed how you manage your operations and how you make decisions ultimately?
Heather Basford: Accela has a vast amount of data, and leveraging that to make real-time adjustments in our resources to meet the demands of our development community and residents is a very powerful tool. Being able to track and understand what workloads look like for our staff, and then being able to make those adjustments to make sure we have the right people in the right spots to meet those demands, and it gives us that flexibility and the ability to really meet the standards that our community expects from us. Legislatively, in our code, we have that we will meet turnaround times for residential projects in 10 business days and for commercial projects, 18 days. So it can be a tall order when we have 400 plans in the queue. We allow the ability for our applicants to self-select an expedited service so they can get their plan reviews done for a commercial project in 10 days versus the 18. There is a fee for that, but we’re seeing that it is a highly requested service and people will pay the money to get their projects through the system faster. Our ability to manage with all of the data that is available to us is significant. We get weekly reports that tell us how many plan reviews have been completed, how far along in the life cycle those reviews were completed, did we miss any turnaround times, and what did that look like fiscally? Because we have to give a refund if we miss a turnaround time. Using the system to leverage all of that data to feed into decisions on how we manage our resources and workload has been so helpful. And it also helps us when we need to ask for additional resources. If we need to go to city management and let them know we need additional inspectors, we have the data behind that, which helps our city management make those decisions from a data point that our council always appreciates.
Samuel Small: I’m a big believer in data democratization. I like the idea that people understand what’s happening. In government you hear that word ‘silo’ a lot. Having that data democratization and providing the ability for people to really get a view into the capabilities, the capacity, or the demands of a specific business unit does go a long way, especially when we deal with collaboration through these different data points.
[27:30]
Noam Reininger: Looking back, this whole conversation centers around you all making a difficult decision early, grounded in strong leadership and commitment. What advice would you have to other cities that may be facing the same thing? They need to modernize, they may need to make a change, but they’re hesitant of making that all-in move.
Heather Basford: I would say hire someone like Sam and build a team that is there to support and really look into and see how crazy ideas from the business department can be implemented. We approach Sam often with crazy ideas on how we want something to work, and he doesn’t ever tell me no, he just tells me, ‘let me look into that.’ But I think having a good team that is there to implement, and then really looking at your plan and the preparation for moving to a paperless system, whatever that looks like. And having the support from the top down is critical. If we didn’t have the support from our city manager’s office or our elected officials to make this move, it would not have been successful.
Samuel Small: It comes down to communication, I think, when internally executing something as big as a massive digital transformation project. It’s not going to always go perfectly smooth, and that’s something you just have to level set right away. Best laid plans are there, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be perfect. Having the flexibility and the support of your administrators, your leaders, your constituency in some levels, to really be able to grow past those pain points is very important. But at the same time, you have to move forward. You can’t just stop. If failure isn’t an option, a half-implemented project isn’t going to work. Most of the time, you do have to continue to drive forward. Good project management principles are always great, but fundamentally it does come down to that communication, that trust with your team, and making sure that you follow a process that’s managed, but still allows everything to continue to move forward.
[32:00]
Joe Morris: Heather and Samuel, thank you so much. I think the conversation today really shows what can happen when not only big, bold decisions are made, but it sounds like the city and all of you made a lot of effort and work in terms of alignment. That was top down from city leadership, but you also got alignment from the folks within departments and from the development community, and you built some great processes for the smaller mom and pops that were trying to get permits as well. And then another really interesting part of the story is, Samuel, the amount of positive change you and your team have been able to make by having that expertise within the city to continuously develop and improve the system as regulations have changed and as pressures have built from the development side. So thank you so much for a great episode.
Noam Reininger: To me, today’s episode also showed that we talked tech, we talked modernization, but we actually spent the bulk of the time talking about leadership, discipline, and the willingness to push through that discomfort to create something that’s better for your staff, your constituents, and the community as a whole. So to our audience, thank you for listening today. And until next time, keep asking the bold questions.
