SUBJECT
Title
b. City Manager Report Regarding the Mayor's Council Committee Restructuring Proposal
Report
BACKGROUND
On April 23, 2018, staff presented a Council Committee Restructuring proposal to the Governance Committee as referenced in the Mayor's report. At that meeting, staff received feedback to the proposal, which has been incorporated into the Mayor's proposal.
The following report is being provided to respond to the Mayor's Council Committee Restructuring Proposal.
DISCUSSION
On January 31 and February 1, 2019, the City Council held a two-day Priority Setting Session where the City Manager provided an update on the state of the organization and current staffing and operational capacity data. At that meeting, the City Manager also presented data that showed the increased frequency of meetings and resources it takes to produce reports and agendas for all the legislative and community meetings held by the City.
It should be stated that the City Manager and staff have very serious concerns about the added workload of this effort given that so many un- or under-staffed initiatives exist that still require implementation and completion. The one year hiatus and the relative list of productivity and accomplishments should be weighted ultimately against what the Council is trying to accomplish with reinstating some the remainder of Council Committees. Indeed, it is inevitable that the capacity used to staff these Council Committees will be redirected from other priorities that are already un- or under-staffed which will ultimately impact performance and timeliness. This is ultimately an assignment of staff capacity and tradeoff between desired performance goals and legislative proceedings.
As such, staff agrees that the Mayor's recommendation provide for a more streamlined structure that includes a reduction in the number of Council Committees, as well as staggering of meetings to better pace the organization and align policy work to our strategic ...
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