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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 3.C 04/20/2009CITY OF PETALUMA, CALIFORNIA 3.0 AGENDA BILL April 20, 2009 Agenda Title: Resolution Approving Allocation Of A New Position Of Meeting Date: April 20, 2009 Assistant City Manager And Eliminating The Position Of Director Of Parks And Recreation. Meeting Time: 7:00 PM Category: ❑ Presentation ❑ Appointments ❑ Consent ❑ Public Hearing ❑ Unfinished Business Q New Business Department: Director: City Manager John C. Brown Total Cost of Proposal or Proiect: Approximately $21,000. Amount Budgeted: Full amount. Contact Person: Phone Number: John C. Brown 778-4345 Name of Fund: General Fund Account Number: 14100 Current Fund Balance: n/a Recommendation: It is recommended that the City Council take the following action: Adopt the attached Resolution Approving the Allocation Of A New Position Of Assistant City Manager And Eliminating The Position Of Director Of Parks And Recreation, effective April 21, 2009. 1. ❑ First reading of Ordinance approved unanimously, or with unanimous vote to allow posting prior to second reading 2. ❑ First reading of Ordinance approved without unanimous vote: Ordinance has been published/posted prior to second reading, see Attachment 3. ❑ Other action requiring special notice: Notice has been given, see Attachment Summary Statement, The City Manager's Office is responsible for general administration of all City services. This includes oversight, coordination, and support of City departments and supporting the Mayor and Council. The obligations and responsibilities placed on the City Manager by governing documents, the City Council, City departments, the Community, and the Manager's personal performance expectations exceed those which can be effectively addressed by one individual. Adding an Assistant City Manager position, to which high-level administrative responsibilities can be delegated, will increase the performance of the department by allowing the City Manager to focus more time on achieving the Council's goals, to increase the department's production, and to conduct at a higher level the research and analysis needed for informed decision making. It will also increase the Office's effectiveness in outreach and response to the Community, and coordination with City departments. Recent efforts on City staff's part to identify budgetary efficiencies have afforded an opportunity to provide an Assistant City Manager through a consolidation of the department with the Parks and Recreation department. That consolidation pays for the costs of this promotion from existing allocations and delivers cost savings to the General fund. Attachments to Agenda Packet Item: 1. Resolution Reviewed by Finance Director: Date: Rev. # Date Last Revised: Reviewed by City Attornev Date: File: ADprov,04 by—City ManaLyer: Date: '7 CITY OF PETALUMA, CALIFORNIA APRIL 20, 2009 AGENDA REPORT FOR RESOLUTION APPROVING ALLOCATION OF A NEW POSITION OF ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER AND ELIMINATING THE POSITION OF DIRECTOR OF PARKS AND RECREATION 1. RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that the City Council adopt the attached resolution approving the allocation of an Assistant City Manager position in the City Manager's Office, and eliminating the allocation of a Director of Parks and Recreation in the Parks and Recreation Department, effective April 21, 2009. 2, BACKGROUND: The City Manager's Office is responsible for general administration of all City services. This includes oversight, coordination, and support of City departments and supporting the Mayor and Council. The Manager serves as one of the City's primary representatives to businesses and organizations, other public agencies, interests, and the Community. The Manager's duties also include oversight, as its Executive Director, of the Petaluma Community Development Commission; Budget development; City Council agenda development; Purchasing; and oversight of the Personnel system. Each of these duties entails significant and/or time consuming responsibilities. The last two, for example, require the Manager to review and execute all but the simplest agreements and to authorize every personnel action associated with each of the City's approximately 3) 40 FTE's. In addition, Risk Management, Human Resources, and Information Services functions all answer directly to the City Manager; the latter two responsibilities were assumed in a down -sizing of the Administrative Services Department in early 2008-09 that also shifted responsibility for Animal Services from the Manager's Office to the Police Department. Administrative support for the Manager is provided by one Executive Assistant, which represents a 50 percent reduction in the number of support staff assigned to the department in 200708. Some of that position's workload addresses tasks that are more appropriately addressed at a higher level; too much Of that work is performed outside of a 40 hour work -week. The foregoing is not a complete listing of the Manager's duties and responsibilities. It provides a glimpse of the diversity of those responsibilities. The obligations and responsibilities placed on the City Manager by governing documents, the City Council, City departments, the Community, and the Manager's personal performance expectations exceed those which can be effectively addressed by one individual. As recently as a dozen years ago, the Office had two Assistant City Managers, at a time when the City's population was approximately 24 percent less and the organization was nearly 27 percent smaller. The Assistants, at that time, were both responsible for oversight of functional areas within the City Organization, providing direction from the City Manager to department heads. It has been six years since the Office last employed one Assistant City 7 Manager; the complexity of governance and the demands of the office have not diminished in that time. 3. DISCUSSION: I would like to increase the performance of my department by adding an Assistant City Manager position, to which high-level administrative responsibilities can be delegated. That action will allow me to focus more time on achieving the Council's goals, to increase my department's production, and to conduct at a higher level the research and analysis needed for 111formed decision making. It will also increase the Office's effectiveness in outreach and response to the Community, and coordination with City departments. The challenge is, in light of declining revenues and corresponding budget reductions, to do so without increasing General fund costs. Recent efforts on City staff's part to identify budgetary efficiencies have afforded an opportunity to provide an Assistant City Manager through a consolidation of the department with the Parks and Recreation department. That consolidation pays for the position from existing allocations and delivers cost savings to the General fund. Mr. Scott Brodhun has been the Director of Parks and Recreation for two years. He is a seasoned public manager, with 19 years in Parks and Recreation, 17 of those as a Director, and seven years in Education, as a Director of Athletics, Facilities, and Technology. Mr. Brodhun has shown himself to be an extremely capable, results - oriented manager, exhibiting a work ethic that is consistent with the Values recently adopted by the City Council. He has strong communication skills, is an able negotiator, and has fostered excellent working relationships with members of the advisory bodies he served, community partners, his staff, and customers. He has strong budgeting and analytical shills and project management capabilities, is pragmatic and flexible, task oriented, and exhibits consistent follow-through on assignments. These are all necessary qualities in an Assistant City Manager. In merging oversight of the Recreation and Parks function into the City Manager's Office, I propose to appoint Mr. Brodhun as Assistant City Manager who, among other duties, will provide oversight level management to the Parks and Recreation functions. That role may expand over time to include other functions, depending on organizational need. In the Parks and Recreation department, day-to-day operations will be managed by three -mid-level managers who will report to Mr. Brodhun. Tlus is a reduction from the four managers who now report to Mr. Brodhun. It is anticipated that he will devote an average of 25 percent of his time to Parks and Recreation. He will continue to staff the Parks and Recreation Commission and its Aquatics Sub -committee, pursue grant opportunities, coordinate CIP projects with the Public Works Department, and provide guidance in budget, personnel, and other administrative matters. The remainder of his time will be spent assisting the City Manager with projects like budget development, including service level reduction, organizational consolidation and efficiency planning and transition. As well, he can support a myriad of day to day activities that will allow the City Manager to more clearly focus on vital strategies such as economic development and redevelopment that must be administered in the City Manager's Office. The Assistant will also be responsible for special projects including complex analyses, representing the Office in the Community, serving on intergovernmental task. -forces and working groups, and completing other duties as assigned. One additional area in which an Assistant will provide support is in the area of employee investigations. It is not appropriate in many instances for the Manager to conduct these investigations. The Assistant can conduct this sensitive work, and provides a much needed layer of professional insulation. Distribution of assignments will be based on work -loads and the strengths and interests of the Manager and Assistant. Changes in the Parks and Recreation Department that have occurred or are pending make this consolidation both fiscally and functionally viable. During the past year the Department gave up ruining the Teen Center, and many of those services are now provided through partnerships with other governmental and non-profit organizations. A portion of the summer camp program has also been spun off to the Boys and Girls Clubs, and the contract management model for the Aquatics Center is recommended on your April 20, 2009 agenda. The changes made in 2008-09 and proposed for 2009-2010, including staffing adjustments, far exceed the amount needed to fund this proposal. Functional changes that will also support this consolidation, planned for 2009-10 include the transfer of the Parks Maintenance function to the Public Works departments. Savings associated with that action are not counted in this report, and will be used as one means of balancing the 2009-10 budget. It is not an exaggeration to credit Mr. Brodhun with most of these changes, as they are the direct result of his efforts to find alternatives to deliver at a lesser cost the programs that have been managed by the department. Because this proposal represents a cost-effective means to provide the City with a high- quality Assistant City Manager, it is respectfully recommended that the City Council allocate the position of Assistant City Manager and authorize the elimination of the Director of Recreation and Parks, effective April 21, 2009. 4. FINANCIAL IMPACTS: Both the Assistant City Manager and the Director of Recreation and Parks positions occupy the same salary range, which runs from $113,390 to 147,149. This is the range in which most of the City's department head salaries are reflected. Unlike other salary ranges that include a series of consecutive "steps", this range contains no steps and appointment is at the Manager's discretion. This change will be treated as a promotion, because it adds significant responsibilities to the Director's duties, including the oversight of one or more departments. Promotions typically provide between a 10 and 15 percent increase over the incumbent's existing salary; both amounts are within the limits of this salary range. As previously indicated, the costs for this promotion will be supported by a portion of the savings accruing to the General fund from departmental programmatic and organizational changes. 4 RESOLUTION APPROVING ALLOCATION OF A NEW POSITION OF ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER AND ELIMINATING THE POSITION OF DIRECTOR OF PARKS AND RECREATION WHEREAS, a need exists in the City Manager's Department for executive level assistance; and WHEREAS, an opportunity exists to consolidate the oversight of the Parks and Recreation Department with the City Manager's Office, through organizational and programmatic changes in the Parks and Recreation Department, so that oversight of the Department can be provided by an Assistant City Manager; and WHEREAS, the existing Director of Parks and Recreation has the qualities and qualifications necessary to provide high quality services as the Assistant City Manager; and WHEREAS, ftmding for salary and benefits for the Assistant City Manager position will be provided through the Director's salary and from a portion of the savings associated organizational and programmatic changes in the Parks and Recreation Department, both of which are contained in the existing Parks and Recreation budget. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council has detennined that the allocation of this position will be cost effective and beneficial to the operation of the City and hereby approves the allocation of an Assistant City Manager, effective April 21, 2009. In doing so, the City Council fitrther determines that the position of Director of Parks and Recreation is no longer necessary and hereby approves the elimination of that position, effective April 21, 2009.