To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Jennifer Brizel, Human Resources Director
Prepared By: Jennifer Brizel, Human Resources Director
TITLE:
Title
Budget Staffing Plan for the Parks and Recreation Services Department
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Adopt a resolution authorizing the City Manager to amend the Budget Staffing Plan for the Parks and Recreation Services Department to add one Senior Office Assistant position, and delete one Office Assistant II position, and approve a FY 2019/20 budget adjustment between the General Services and the Parks and Recreation Services Departments.
Body
DISCUSSION:
The Human Resources Department received a request from the Parks & Recreation Services Department to review the classification, workload and scope of responsibilities of the Office Assistant II position. Human Resources staff reviewed the position classification questionnaire and conducted a desk audit of the employee as well as interviewed the department management to better understand how the classification is currently being utilized.
Classification is based upon the objective elements of a position and does not consider the person assigned to a job. The skills and performance of incumbents are not considered when classifying positions. Rather, factors such as the scope and level of the duties and responsibilities, required expertise, supervisory/leadership responsibility, nature of internal/external contacts as well as the relationship of the position to other positions and decision making autonomy are assessed.
Additionally, the study by Human Resources includes a review of the delineation of responsibilities between classifications. Although, some of the duties performed may fall outside of the scope identified in the “Typical Tasks” sections of the class descriptions, “Distinguishing Characteristics” are assessed to determine level of responsibilities as well as the preponderance of the work to determine the most appropriate classification.
In June 2019, Human Resources staff met with the incumbent Office Assistant II in the Administrative Services Division to review the scope of duties performed for the position.
Based on the desk audit, it was found that the position is responsible for providing training, coordination and lead direction to part-time clerical support staff. The position is responsible for part-time staff schedules and front desk operations, setting guidelines and priorities and coordinating work flow. The position is responsible for ensuring adequate staffing for the Recreation front counter to review and process facility permits and program registration forms. Additional responsibilities include: entering, verifying & approving payroll for all of the recreation division and administrative staff. The position is responsible for serving as the lead for record retention for the department, providing customer service on a variety of Recreation services, and reviewing and processes facility permits and registration forms. The position is also responsible for reconciling accounting for all of the Recreation facilities and serving as the liaison to the Finance Department.
Over the last year, organizational changes in the Parks and Recreation Department have created a shift in responsibilities. The Senior Office Assistant that was split between the Corp Yard office and the Parks and the Administrative Office, was moved full-time to the Corp Yard to maximize efficiency and provide a greater level of administrative support to the Parks/Corp Yard team. Over time, duties in the Administrative Office and support to the Recreation Division began to shift to the Office Assistant II position and the role of the position has grown. The Office Assistant II position has taken on the lead role for office support for the Administrative Office and primary support for the Recreation Division. The Office Assistant II position has the responsibility of training, assigning duties and ensuring coordination for part-staff and front desk operations to facilitate facility permits and program registration as well as serving as the department lead for Records and overall responsibility for all Recreation Division purchasing. The position is responsible for coordinating the Recreation Division and Administrative Office purchase orders including verifying available funds, adding or unencumbering funds when needed, maintaining records of invoice payments, and serving as a liaison to the Finance Department to resolve payment issues, create Quick Pays, create new vendors and process all contract instructor payments as well as run reports to ensure amounts match invoices. The position is responsible for developing reports for various recreation division statistics/metrics and conducts research for special projects as requested.
The Office Assistant II classification is distinguished from the Senior Office Assistant in that the latter is a lead class performing the more complex general office support work. Based on a review of the Position Description Questionnaire, a desk audit performed on July 3, 2019 and conversations with department management, it is determined that the scope of the Office Assistant II position has grown to perform the more complex and specialized work within the Recreation and Administrative Divisions. Additionally, the Office Assistant II position in the Parks and Recreation Services Department is responsible for serving as the lead to the part-time office support/counter staff in the Administrative Office.
Given the responsibilities of the Office Assistant II and the operational and administrative needs of the department, it is requested that this position be reallocated and classified as a Senior Office Assistant within the Parks and Recreation Services Division budget.
The bargaining group was provided an opportunity to review the proposed changes and no concerns were raised.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
Funds were set aside in the FY 2019/20 General Services budget to help departments pay for position reallocations, per Decision Package #646. For this position staffing change, $9,000 of budget will be transferred from General Services (41940-51100) to Parks and Recreation Services (45010-51100). Additionally, another budget adjustment will be included with the FY 2020/21 midcycle budget to account fo the year 2 costs of this change.
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
NOTIFICATION:
Department Directors and Managers