The Goleta City Council will consider adding to the city’s administrative staff, potentially to the tune of nearly $300,000 per year.
Proposed additions to the City Manager’s Office, which were scheduled to be presented during a special meeting this week, will be discussed next week during Tuesday’s council meeting.
City Manager Daniel Singer has outlined several options to lessen the workload of the city manager, city clerk and finance department staff, which has picked up extra duties when positions were left unfilled or altered due to budget constraints in the past few years.
Most notably, Singer’s office is recommending that Goleta restore the assistant city manager position, which wasn’t filled in 2006, or create a deputy city manager as a stand-alone full-time position. The total annual cost for the position is estimated at $214,050.
“The need has existed for some time, but the moneys weren’t there,” Singer told Noozhawk on Tuesday. “Now with our budget picture improving, it’s appropriate with letting them know what those needs are.”
All three proposals include returning a full-time front counter receptionist with benefits ($23,750) instead of funding two part-time positions; moving two accounting specialists to accountants ($25,980); and adding one part-time accountant ($29,655).
The first proposal would require an annual total cost of $293,435.
A second option would internally promote a department director in place of an assistant or deputy city manager, and add a new management assistant position, for a total proposed cost of $183,955 annually.
The city would spend $202,265 per year if the council decided to go with a third option, which would swap a proposed assistant or deputy manager position for a new assistant to the city manager position ($122,880).
According to Singer’s report, the City Clerk’s Office staff also will request more resources, but employees are still working to identify whether council consideration will be necessary.
Singer noted that although the size of the City Manager’s Office has not changed much since incorporation, its responsibilities have increased, and the issues have become more complex.
“The way we get there is less important to me than how we get there,” he said Tuesday, adding that any help would be appreciated.
Singer said proposed changes would occur during two phases. If the council gives support for a budget allocation, a second phase would work out specific titles and responsibilities for the council to consider, hopefully sooner in the spring than later in the summer.
The City Council will meet to discuss the proposals at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 130 Cremona Drive, Suite B.
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
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