To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Robert Plummer, Police Chief & Steve Brassfield, Fire Chief
Prepared By: Joy Riesenberg, Administrative Services Manager
TITLE:
Title
Budget Staffing Plan for the Police and Fire Departments
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Adopt a resolution authorizing the City Manager to amend the Budget Staffing Plan to: add one Secretary position to the Police Department, add one Office Assistant I/II position to the Fire Department, add one Administrative Secretary position to the Fire Department, delete one Secretary position from the Fire Department, and approve a budget adjustment for the FY2018-19 Police and Fire Department budgets.
Body
DISCUSSION:
The Fire & Police Departments have coordinated with the Human Resources Department to review administrative support needs as they relate to current growth and development of public safety. Administrative support needs have been maintained utilizing a variety of part-time employees over the years. However, in order to maintain the quality of work within both departments and the health of operations, additional full-time staff is needed.
Within the Police Department (PD), the Administrative support positions are responsible for all business functions of the Department. An Administrative Services Manager (ASM) is shared between both the PD and the Fire Department (FD). The PD has a total of 129 full-time employees and a $30 million dollar annual budget. Current allocation of administrative support in PD is 0.50 FTE ASM, 1.0 FTE Management Analyst and 1.0 FTE Administrative Secretary. The Administrative Secretary within PD is solely dedicated to the Police Chief. PD has utilized part-time employees to assist but are unable to keep up with the workload required to ensure the department needs are met. A Secretary is requested to balance the workload needs within PD. The Secretary would be responsible for various levels of administrative support for department program activities including; answering phones, processing departmental mail, purchasing supplies, maintaining the training database and coordinating travel/training requests for all PD employees. Given the scope of interaction and responsibilities to be assigned involving confidentiality and the frequent use of tact, discretion, initiative and independent judgement, it is determined that a Secretary is the most appropriate classification to perform the required functions.
Separately, the FD Administrative support staffing was also reviewed. The FD has a total of 72 full-time employees and an $18 million dollar annual budget. Current allocation of administrative support is 0.50 FTE ASM, 1.0 FTE Secretary for Fire Administration and 1.0 FTE Secretary for Fire Prevention to perform all business functions of the Department. There has been a disproportionate use of part-time staff to perform these day-to-day functions such as: processing purchase orders and ordering all supplies including coordination of delivery of supplies to the five (5) Fire Stations, maintaining patient care report and fire inspection report files, processing billing for fire inspections and assisting in data entry to the Fire Records Management system, processing Paramedic license renewals with the State of California for Paramedic employees, assisting with travel and training requests (travel arrangements, processing expense forms, registrations, etc.), answering phones and providing in-person customer service, as well as sorting and distributing department mail. An addition of an Office Assistant I/II is requested to take on the growing duties currently performed by part-time staff and ensure department succession. The Office Assistant I/II would be responsible for the listed tasks as well as a variety of office support functions related to departmental and City procedures.
The Fire Department reviewed the Secretary classification against the duties currently performed by the incumbent in the Fire Administrative Services Division. This Secretary has taken on more and more duties focused on support of the Fire Chief. It has been determined that the Secretary role in the Fire Department has grown sufficiently to take on more complex and often confidential administrative support to the Fire Chief. Given the current duties assigned to the Secretary and the operational and administrative needs of the department, it is requested that this position be reallocated and classified as an Administrative Secretary within the Fire Department Administrative Services Division budget.
The Fire and Police Departments have selected to reallocate part-time staffing funds for these requests and for future budgets.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
No additional funding is required beyond that already allocated and approved in the City budget. The resolution includes a re-allocation of existing part-time salaries budget authority to cover 100% of the additional cost of these additional positions.
CEQA:
The Human Resources Director has determined that the Recommended Action described in this Agenda Report is not subject to CEQA, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15060(c).
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
ATCH 1 - Resolution
Ex A - Budget Adjustments
NOTIFICATION:
City Manager’s Office