HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-19-2013 c7 admin depart reorg
FROM: Katie Lichtig, City Manager
Prepared By: Michael Codron, Assistant City Manager
SUBJECT: ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT REORGANIZATION, INCLUDING AN
INCREASE OF .25 FULL TIME EQUIVALENT (FTE) EMPLOYEES.
RECOMMENDATION
Approve a .25 FTE staffing increase in the Administration Department, which can be accomplished
within the existing Administration Department budget.
DISCUSSION
Background
The City Administration Department includes the following programs and associated administrative
support staff:
Major Program Areas
1. City Council
2. Administration
3. City Clerk
4. Economic Development
5. Natural Resources
Administrative Support Staff
1. Executive Administration Assistant
2. Administrative Assistant I (3/4 Time)
With this administrative support structure, the Administration Department is charged with staffing
two public counters in City Hall. The effect of this division of responsibility is that either the
Administration office or the City Clerk’s Office is frequently closed to the public.
In addition to this inefficiency, supervision of the administrative support staff has been split
between the Assistant City Manager and the City Clerk. This has created challenges in the past from
the standpoint of clearly defining responsibilities, efficiently distributing workload across the
department, identifying the capacity of administrative support staff to take on new assignments, and
prioritizing existing work efforts. This organizational structure is a remnant from when the City
Clerk’s Office and Administration were separate departments.
To address these inefficiencies, the Administration Department is proposing a reorganization that
includes changes to existing positions, the addition of .25 FTE, changes to the Department’s
Meeting Date
Item Number 11/19/13
C7 - 1
Administration Department Reorganization Page 2
organizational structure, reducing the number of public offices from two to one, and changes to the
physical layout of the staff workstations and locations.
It is important to note that the proposed .25 FTE increase restores an administrative assistant
position to full-time that had been lost as part of actions to balance the City’s budget beginning in
2003. A second position was lost due to budget reductions in 2009.
The following organizational chart represents the proposed structure:
C7 - 2
Administration Department Reorganization Page 3
As illustrated in the organizational chart, the City Clerk reports directly to the City Manager and is
responsible for the supervision of the administrative support services for all functions within the
Administration Department. The intent of this reorganization is to improve service to the public,
City Council, City Manager, Administration staff, and other City staff that rely on the
Administration Department for consistent direction on day-to-day operations and policy
implementation matters. The City Manager, Assistant City Manager, and City Clerk will continue to
work closely together to effectively support each other and achieve the overall mission of the
Administration Department.
In addition, the reorganization envisions some physical changes. In a second phase of the
reorganization physical improvements will be made so that the City Council, City Manager, City
Clerk, and both Administrative Assistants will be located in one public office in City Hall.
As highlighted in the organizational chart, a physical reorganization is proposed as follows:
Room 1(currently Administration)
• Mayor’s Office (No Change)
• Council Office (No Change)
• City Manager’s Office (No Change)
• City Clerk (Move to current Assistant City Manager Office)
• Deputy City Clerk (Move to current Principal Analyst Office)
• Council and Administration Assistant (No Change)
• Administrative Assistant (Move to currently vacant workstation)
Room 4(currently City Clerk, Economic Development and Natural Resources)
• Assistant City Manager (Move to current City Clerk Office)
• Economic Development Manager (No Change)
• Natural Resources Manager (No Change)
• Tourism Manager (No Change)
• City Biologist (No Change)
• Principal Analyst (Move to current Deputy City Clerk workstation)
In order for this change to be functional, Room 1 of City Hall would be remodeled to include a
larger and more convenient public counter. Room 4 of City Hall would also need some changes to
take advantage of additional space made available by eliminating the public counter.
The changes proposed will allow for the public office to be open during all working hours,
including the lunch hour, improving customer service, convenience for the members of the public
and City Council, and overall improved effectiveness for those served by Administration. At this
time, the planning is ongoing and staff does not have an estimate of the costs associated with these
changes. If the concept is supported by the City Council, staff will consider to evaluate options and
return to the City Council with a funding request as part of an upcoming budget item.
C7 - 3
Administration Department Reorganization Page 4
Council and Administration Assistant
The proposed reorganization replaces the Executive Administration Assistant with a Council and
Administration Assistant (working title). This position will be classified as an Administrative
Assistant III. This change is intended to maintain the focus of the position on providing direct
support to the City Council and City Manager, while recognizing that the position also supports
Administration Department staff. Supervision by the City Clerk is intended to ensure that all
functions of the Administration Department are adequately supported, and that these functions are
prioritized and directed in a consistent manner by one individual.
Full Time Administrative Assistant I
Currently, the Administrative Assistant I position is 3/4-time. The intent has been that the position
would support the City Clerk program for half of its time, and other Administration Department
functions during the remaining quarter. In practice, this has been a difficult balance to achieve and
there is little capacity available for assignments from program managers in Economic Development
and Natural Resources. Given the reassignment of the .30-time Finance Analyst from the Economic
Development program to the Finance and IT Department, this lack of support has been particularly
challenging. The proposed change will provide additional resources for administrative support in a
fiscally responsible way.
CONCURRENCES
Human Resources concurs with the proposed adjustment to the Administration Department’s
organizational structure.
FISCAL IMPACT
The following chart illustrates the current and proposed structure, and shows that the proposed
changes can be accommodated with the current budget allocation.
Note 1: This line reflects the reduction of the Executive Assistant from the Administration program.
Note 2: This line reflects the addition of a .25 Administrative Assistant I, and a new Administrative Assistant III to
the City Clerk program.
City Administration Programs 2013-14 Budget2013-14 Proposed
Administration 727,700$ 631,401$ Note 1
Economic Development 141,900$ 135,000$
Natural Resources 255,500$ 253,651$
City Clerk 257,500$ 354,931$ Note 2
Total 1,382,600$ 1,374,983$
City Administration Programs 2014-15 Budget2014-15 Proposed
Administration 749,320$ 652,457$ Note 1
Economic Development 143,000$ 140,984$
Natural Resources 261,400$ 259,689$
City Clerk 262,700$ 370,456$ Note 2
Total 1,416,420$ 1,423,586$
C7 - 4
Administration Department Reorganization Page 5
Although the proposed changes can be accommodated during the current fiscal year, the proposed
reorganization could have a small ongoing fiscal impact. As shown above, the Administration
Department has budgeted $1,416,420 in 2014-15 for total compensation. While this could be
enough to cover the new organizational structure, it will depend on the actual salary offered to
future hires, including the Principal Administrative Analyst, Administrative Assistant III, and
Administrative Assistant I. If each of these positions is hired at the mid-step in the salary range, the
fiscal impact in 2014-15 would equal approximately $7,200. This difference would be addressed as
part of the review of the 2013-15 Financial Plan Supplement.
At this time, staff is seeking authorization to implement the proposed reorganization because it is
the most effective way for the Administrative Department to meet the service expectations of the
public and the City Council. The precise costs associated with staffing, and the one-time costs of
physically reorganizing City Hall offices, will be presented to the City Council as part of an
upcoming budget item.
ALTERNATIVES
1. The City Council could defer the proposed reorganization to the Mid-Year Budget or
Financial Plan Supplement for discussion in context of other budget requests. This
alternative is not recommended because the Administration Department has an opportunity
to reorganize and hire new employees in the short term under a more effective service
delivery model. Delaying the reorganization will require additional reliance on temporary
employees to fulfill a permanent need in the department.
2. The City Council could provide direction to staff to consider alternative models for
delivering administrative services, or different physical changes to the office to improve
customer service. If the Council directs staff to make changes to the proposed
reorganization, then staff will return to the City Council during a future meeting to present
the alternative.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Current Administration Department Organizational Chart
2. Administration Department Mission Statement
t:\council agenda reports\2013\2013-11-19\administration department reorganization (codron-lichtig)\council agenda report (admin reorg).docx
C7 - 5
AS
S
I
S
T
A
N
T
CI
T
Y
M
A
N
A
G
E
R
NA
T
U
R
A
L
R
E
S
O
U
R
C
E
S
MA
N
A
G
E
R
EC
O
N
O
M
I
C
DE
V
E
L
O
P
M
E
N
T
MA
N
A
G
E
R
DE
P
U
T
Y
C
I
T
Y
C
L
E
R
K
EX
E
C
U
T
I
V
E
AD
M
I
N
I
S
T
R
A
T
I
O
N
AS
S
I
S
T
A
N
T
PR
I
N
C
I
P
A
L
AD
M
I
N
I
S
T
R
A
T
I
V
E
AN
A
L
Y
S
T
TO
U
R
I
S
M
M
A
N
A
G
E
R
Ad
m
i
n
.
A
s
s
t
.
I
3/
4
Ti
m
e
Finance Analyst .30 Time
CI
T
Y
B
I
O
L
O
G
I
S
T
CI
T
Y
C
L
E
R
K
CI
T
Y
M
A
N
A
G
E
R
CI
T
Y
O
F
S
A
N
L
U
I
S
O
B
I
S
P
O
AD
M
I
N
I
S
T
R
A
T
I
O
N
C7 - 6
Ci
t
y
of
Sa
n
Lu
i
s
Ob
i
s
p
o
Ad
m
i
n
i
s
t
r
a
t
i
o
n
De
p
a
r
t
m
e
n
t
Th
e
mi
s
s
i
o
n
of
th
e
Ad
m
i
n
i
s
t
r
a
t
i
o
n
De
p
a
r
t
m
e
n
t
is
to
pr
o
v
i
d
e
leadership for
th
e
Ci
t
y
of
Sa
n
Lu
i
s
Ob
i
s
p
o
or
g
a
n
i
z
a
t
i
o
n
in
ou
r
qu
e
s
t
to
de
l
i
v
e
r
exceptional
se
r
v
i
c
e
by
fa
c
i
l
i
t
a
t
i
n
g
ci
t
i
z
e
n
pa
r
t
i
c
i
p
a
t
i
o
n
an
d
go
v
e
r
n
m
e
n
t
transparency,
im
p
l
e
m
e
n
t
i
n
g
Ci
t
y
Co
u
n
c
i
l
go
a
l
s
an
d
pr
o
g
r
a
m
s
,
an
d
fo
s
t
e
r
i
n
g
trust, respect
an
d
di
g
n
i
t
y
fo
r
th
e
Ci
t
y
an
d
ci
t
i
z
e
n
s
we
se
r
v
e
.
C7 - 7
Page intentionally left
blank.
C7 - 8