MEETING DATE:
OCTOBER 12, 2021
SUBJECT:
Title
RESOLUTION NO. 2021-8928 - APPROVING THE ADDITION OF NEW STAFF POSITIONS TO THE CITY’S WORKFORCE, ESTABLISHING THE NEW POSITION OF EMERGENCY MANAGER AND AMENDING THE FISCAL YEAR 2021-22 BUDGET ACCORDINGLY
Body
Recommendation
Recommendation
ADOPT a resolution approving the addition of new staff positions to the City’s workforce, establishing the new position of Emergency Manager and amending the Fiscal Year 2021-22 budget accordingly.
Body
Board or Commission Action
Not applicable
Relevant Council Strategic Theme
Not applicable
Relevant Department Goal
Not applicable
Introduction
Over the past several years, the City’s approved number of positions has decreased due to a variety of reasons. In addition to those changes, the pandemic created a number of unexpected early retirements/departures of prior staff, many of which have not been replaced. While some of the work product those departed staff performed has been picked up by other staff, undertaken by non-staff sources or simply no longer undertaken, the volume of reductions has created needs in a number of departments for additional resources.
Discussion
In Fiscal Year 2018 - 19, the City had a total of 218.42 authorized general fund positions on its employment roll and budget. In Fiscal Year 2021 - 22, the adopted budget contained a total of 198.5 authorized general fund positions. This reduction of 19.92 positions represents a nine percent reduction in the size of the city workforce performing general fund related tasks. In terms of positions funded by all of the city’s fiscal sources over the same time frame, the number of employees has dropped from 258 to 238.
These reductions have occurred at the same time that the city continues to grow. As an example, from 2018 through 2020, 1,559 new dwelling units have been added in the city as well as a variety of non-residential facilities. The city has seen a significant increase in the number of public records requests and as we have all seen over the past eighteen months, a continuous, rolling public health emergency has been in place while at the same time all of the typical emergency situations and possible situations are present. In the 2020 fire season, we experienced three brush fires in three different parts of the city that had significant potential to grow into significant regional events.
For these reasons and simply the recognition that our typical lean staffing levels have reached a too lean status given all of the changes over the past few years, staff is recommending the addition of 5 positions to our authorized employee count, one of which is the establishment of a new position titled Emergency Manager. The positions recommended are listed below by department.
City Clerk Department
Position Added: Senior Office Specialist
Description: The position would predominantly work on the processing of public records requests. Would coordinate the gathering of information among departments depending on the nature of the public records request, interact with the requestor and finalize the providing of the requested information. The position would also provide general administrative support to the City Clerk Department as well as general administrative work to other City Administration departments as needed.
Position Cost: The annual total cost of the position would be $98,626. Assuming that the position is filled by December 1, 2021, the current fiscal year cost would be $57,531.
Public Works Department
Position Added: Public Works Manager (Parks)
Description: This position oversees the Parks and Landscape maintenance division and replaces the prior Parks Manager that was vacated due to retirement. The position provided overall supervisory and management activities for the Parks and Landscape Division and reports to the Public Works Director. This position was taken out of the budget for the first time in Fiscal Year 2021 - 22. The cost of the position is split between the general fund (35%) and our Community Facilities District funding sources (65%)
Position Cost: The annual total cost of the position would be $215,241 ($75,334 general fund and $139,907 CFD funds). Assuming the position is filled by December 1, 2021, the current fiscal year cost would be $125,557 ($43,945 general fund and $81,612 CFD funds).
Fire Department
Position Added: Emergency Manager
Description: This is a new position in the city. Up until this point in time, emergency management activities have principally been undertaken by one of our battalion chiefs. As time has progressed and the complexities and demands of emergency management have increased both within the city itself and within the county, region and state, the need for a more dedicated emergency management function has become clear and the “part time” nature of this duty along with other battalion chief positions has become challenging and problematic.
The Emergency Manager will be responsible for both the short and long term emergency management planning within the city as well as review and monitor state and federal requirements. It will also act as the city’s representative within the regional working group led by the San Diego County Office and Emergency Services.
The position will also be responsible for updating and maintaining the city’s emergency management response efforts including training for all staff as it relates to our emergency management operations center as well as coordinating city training activities with regional, county and statewide training exercise. The position will also be the principal point of contact with the CERT program and other volunteer stakeholders and assist them with training and educational needs.
The creation of the position establishes a needed central management point for all of these efforts and more and allows the battalion chief position to more strategically focus on the normal operational needs of the city. An important aspect of this is that over the past several years, our battalion chiefs are routinely assigned to out of county incidents and when the battalion chief that also serves as our emergency coordinator goes to those incidents, takes that emergency manager/coordinator role with them. Having this position will ensure that we will not lose that functionality when out of county incidents occur requiring our assistance.
Lastly, a designated position such as this will be useful in the pursuit of grant and funding opportunities for equipment, training and resource improvement.
Position Cost: For the purposes of this staff report and item, we are assuming that the position will be 100% funded via the general fund. We may find that some of the costs can be allocated to other funding sources or that grant funds could offset its cost from time to time. The conservative approach is to assume 100% general fund and anything less would be of benefit.
The annual cost would be $177,885. Assuming the position is filled by December 1, 2021, the current fiscal year cost would be $103,766.
Development Services
Positions Added: Senior Planner and Management/Senior Management Analyst
Description - Senior Planner: The Planning Division of Development Services has seen two key position losses over the past few years, the Planning Manager and an Associate Planner. The Planning Manager has been filled from within via promotion. This has left effectively two vacant planning positions open. Some of that work of those positions has been outsourced, however, we are still struggling to keep up with the plan checking and development processing demand. For this reason, we are recommending bringing back a Senior Planner position.
The potential exists that this position could be filled via internal promotion and thus a lower level position would be filled. The recruitment for the Senior Planner will be open and competitive and not limited to internal candidates.
Description - Management Analyst/Senior Management Analyst: The department currently does not have an analyst to support it financially or from a budgetary perspective. The analyst position also typically oversees some or all of the administrative staff in a department. Development Services has a significant administrative burden given the multiple divisions and disciplines it provides (Planning, Building and Engineering). Also, the department’s Administrative Services Manager, who would typically perform some of the analytical work, has been assigned the oversight of the general plan update process as a result of the unplanned departure of the former Planning Manager.
Position Cost - Senior Planner: The annual cost of the position is $163,198. Some portion of the position’s cost are offset by development related fees and charges. Roughly one-third of the department overall costs are offset by revenues, though the Planning Division’s cost recover based on our current fee structure is closer to twenty percent. Assuming the position is filled by December 1, 2021, the current fiscal year cost would be $95,198.
Position Cost - Management Analyst/Senior Management Analyst: In an effort to cast a wide net from a candidate recruitment perspective, we would notice the position at both levels. The Senior Management Analyst is the more expensive position so we will assume that for budgetary purposes. The annual cost of that position is $175,177. Assuming the position is filled by December 1, 2021, the current fiscal year cost would be $102,186.
Fiscal Impact
The addition of these positions does have a fiscal impact on the general fund, the community facilities district funds and potentially other city funds. The total projected impact assuming all of the positions are authorized and filled by December 1, 2021 is $484,238. That December 1, 2021 start date may be ambitious which, if not reachable, would reduce the impact in the current fiscal year.
We will return to City Council at mid-year to make any necessary budgetary adjustments to bring the projected year end budget into balance. It is difficult at this early point in the fiscal year to fully determine what changes/adjustments we would need to make mid-year, if any, to cover the costs of these positions. With the exception of the Emergency Manager position, all of the other positions were eliminated due to the loss of revenue in the pandemic and therefore, future COVID related relief funds could be used to address these needs.
Attachments
Resolution No. 2021-8928
Prepared by: Jack Griffin, City Manager
Approved by: Jack Griffin, City Manager