6.4. SR 10-03-2005
Item 6.4.
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Scott Clark, Community Development Directo@
DATE: September 28, 2005
SUBJECT: Community Development Department Organizational Update
Purpose of Memorandum
TIle purpose of this memorandum is to inform and update the City Council regarding
various organizational issues associated with the newly formed Community Development
Department. I have spent the last two weeks interviewing all of the Department's
employees individually, have held a Planning Division Retreat, discussed goals and
missions with the Chairs of the EDA and HRA, and have had extensive discussions with
the City Engineer and selected members of the Community Development Department
regarding processing of administrative and planning application permits. Based on
information to date, I will be breaking down recommendations for change to the City
Council based on tIle following schedule.
Organizational Recommendation Schedule
1. The overall organizational structural goal is to create four divisions under the
Community Development Department umbrella which will include a Planning Division,
Building Division, Environmental Division and an Economic Development Division.
Each Division will have a lead position that will form the Community Development
management team. The expectation for these positions is not only to be the point
person for their overall divisions but to also be strategic in thinking and assisting with
the initial goal of changing perspective from individual divisions being departments unto
themselves, to the understanding of being part of a larger whole. Community
Development needs to establish department wide goals and values that bridge all of the
divisions.
2. The first organizational issue to resolve will be the structure of the "environmental
division" which currently operates under the Building and Zoning Administration
Department. Staff is exploring the creation of a separate Environmental Division and
whether the workload demands two positions (the existing Environmental Technician
and an entty level position). A formal staff recommendation to the Council will be
forthcoming at the October 17, 2005 meeting.
3. The second issue will be the selection of a permanent building official, who will lead the
Building Division. Staff is anticipating posting this position internally within the next
week and a hiring decision is anticipated to be forwarded to the Council by the end of
October. At this time T erty Zajac is the temporal)' building official.
4. The question of staffing and organizational format in Planning is more difficult. I am
spending a great deal of time looking at future workloads and as is the case with all
divisions, work functions that may be more appropriate for the engineering technician
position, if budgeted recommendations are approved. From a scheduling perspective,
staff views that a final recommendation may take another six to eight weeks to resolve
and prepare a recommendation.
5. The largest organizational issues that have surfaced are: 1) how to make the overall
development process less cumbersome and to develop a more efficient system; 2)
reviewing what the individual functions of the different departments are and if some
shifts of responsibility should be made, and lastly, 3) the whole issue of code
enforcement (who assumes responsibility and how it should be handled) is a future
discussion item that needs a considerable amount of attention and time to review.
Staff will keep Council apprised of any changes to this schedule as we proceed.