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HomeMy WebLinkAbout15.E.3. Employee Position Structuring , CITY OF SHAKOPEE IS. E,], Memorandum TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Mark McNeill, City Administrator SUBJECT: Employee Position Structuring DATE: December 16, 2004 INTRODUCTION: The Council is asked to discuss the structuring of three vacant and approved employee positions, prior to advertising. BACKGROUND: Currently, the City has three employee positions in the Community Development/ Admin- istrative areas of the City. They are: , 1. GIS (Geographic Information Systems) Technician 2. Assistant to the City Administrator 3. Economic Development Coordinator GIS Technician - Previously, the City employed a combination Planner I and GIS Technician position. However, it has now been determined that a full-time Planner position is needed, as well as a GIS position, which can be devoted solely to GIS and other technology issues. Both were provided in the 2005 budget. The Council previously authorized advertising for the Planner; it was directed that the GIS position be examined to see if other aspects oftechnologycould be addressed by this position (specifically, website). Assistant to the City Administrator - Prior to her departure in September, the previous Assistant to the City Administrator position was responsible for a variety of duties, but that individual emphasized special projects (library construction project manager), technology (website, institutional network), cable television), garbage and refuse, and other general projects. Economic Development Coordinator - For more than seven years, this has been a full- time position funded from the EDA fund. DISCUSSION: Staff discussed the needs of the City as they perceived them, and recommends the following: 1. GIS Technician - We concur with the previous recommendation that a full-time GIS Technician be hired, and placed in the IT Department. \_- 2. Assistant to the City Administrator (Including Economic development)- One of the major changes being recommended is that the EDA position not be filled with a full time individual. Instead, the responsibilities of that position would be reduced to halftime, and placed in the responsibility of the Assistant to the City Administrator. Depending upon the long-term needs of the City for Economic Development, it is possible that that position may return warrant the need to return to full time status in the future, but that is not the recommendation at this time. lfthe Council chooses to change the emphasis on Economic Development (for example, have the City provide more of an active role in the marketing of the industrial park), the position may need to revert to full time status. Note that this proposal has been discussed with some members of the EDAC. Obviously, their preference would be to retain it in a full-time EDA support status. It was noted, however, that should an experienced EDA professional be needed for a more complex issue, outside c90nsultants would be available to help on short-term basis. The other half of the Assistant to the City Administrator position would be responsible for special projects (i.e. garbage franchising issues) and cable television administration. There may be a need for assistance from outside consultants until the new position got fully up to speed. Note that this is the format for Assistant positions inChaska and Chanhassen 3. Third position - We would actually propose not to fill this with a full time employee, but instead pursue an option that would split the time available into the following functions: . Shared Human Resources Generalist - We have had discussions with both the City of Savage and Scott County, about the possibility of sharing a position to assist with some of the human resource functions, which are not currently being fully addressed for the City. It was noted during those discussions that a rule of thumb is that a full time personnel specialist is generally needed in organizations once they reach 100-125 employees; Shakopee currently has 112 fulltime employees, plus many more part time employees. We would further like to explore a shared position that would provide Shakopee with at least a halftime human resources generalist to assist. That will come back to the Council, probably within 60 days. . Communications Specialist - One ofthe deficiencies the City currently has is the lack of a centralized communications person; someone who could do brochures and news releases, and well as announcements on cable. The biggest need, however, is for a centralized source to update the website. The new website currently under development is set up so that each department would update its own section of the site. However, that has raised concerns about the continuity of the messages placed. What is being proposed is that a part time person be hired (up to 20 hours per week) who would be responsible for these communications responsibilities, including updating the website. We believe this would be suited to an individual who is not looking for full time benefits, or for a full time job. BUDGET IMPACT: The fact that the Economic Development Coordinator was funded full time from the EDA budget, and that now only one half of the position would be funded by the EDA budget, will have an impact on the General Fund. However, a portion of the Assistant to the City Administrator position could be funded through the Telecommunications fund (for Cable), and the Communications Coordinator could also be funded from the Telecommunications budget, at least for the portion that will deal with the website. The fact that the positions would not start (assuming a January 4th approval to advertise) until sometime in March should allow the positions to be filled, with minimal additional impact on the General Fund budget in 2005. The bottom line is that we should be able to reduce reliance on outside consultants, and more importantly do a better job of meeting unmet needs within the City, through this restructuring. RECOMMENDATION: I recommend the three positions as structured above. If Council is in agreement, staff should be directed put together job descriptions, get appropriate valuations from the pay consultant, and will bring these positions back for approval to be advertised. ACTION REQUIRED: Council should discuss, and give direction as to whether it is in concurrence with the positions as recommended. 0~~{uiJJ Mark McNeill City Administrator IS. E.'!> ; 2005 Ass't to Comm. Budget Budget Admin Coord. GIS/IT J::!R Balance General Fund Admin Ass't Wages - Professional services 50,000 10,375 8,300 22,500 8,825 GIS/It Wages 40,000 , 33,200 6,800 Telecomm Fund Wages - Admin 15,000 10,375 8,300 (3,675) Wages - /T 15,000 15,000 EDA Fund . Wages 64,920 20,750 44,170 184,920 41,500 16,600 33,200 22,500