BACKGROUND:
As a service organization, expenditures on staffing, including salaries and benefits, is one of the largest components of the budget. Therefore, a key component of the budget development process is to provide a comprehensive presentation on staffing throughout the City including the use of contracts and overtime, support services, etc.
To meet this need, a series of special workshops have been scheduled over the upcoming weeks to conduct a department by department staffing review and to provide the Council with information on proposed changes and additions throughout the departmental budgets.
DISCUSSION:
The City Manager’s department includes the following divisions:
1. City Manager
2. City Clerk
3. Human Resources
4. Communications and Events
The following table compares authorized staffing in the City Manager department in FY13-14 to the present. The table shows the staffing reflects reductions made in June 2020 due to the COVID revenue reductions, the adopted FY22-23 budget and the current authorization including the amendments made in September 2022. The FY13- 14 numbers are from the printed budget revised only to reflect organizational structure changes that have occurred in the interim:
FY13-
14 FY20-21
COVID
FY22-23
Adopted
Current (Incl. Sept.
amendments)
Chg. from 13-
14 City Clerk 1.50 2.00 1.50 2.00
City Manager 2.00 1.00 2.00 2.00
Communications/Events 0.00 1.50 2.00 3.00
Human Resources 2.50 3.00 3.00 3.50
City Manager Total 6.00 7.50 8.50 10.50 75%
City Manager
The City Manager function currently consists of two positions, the City Manager and the Assistant City Manager. The table below is the allocation of the City Manager’s time.
The allocation of the ACM time should be similar with more time on the management of city departments and less time allocated to the City Council.
Function Approx. %
Prepare for and Conduct Council Meetings
•Prepare agenda items, staff reports and supporting materials •Review agenda materials prepared by staff
•Prepare, review and rehearse presentations
40%
•Brief Councilmembers and research and provide responses to questions
•Coordinate response and follow-up after Council meetings Staffing Citizen Commissions and Committees
•Historic Preservation Committee
•Cannabis Task Force
•Issues/Concerns related to other Commissions and Committees 10%
Manage Activities of City Departments
•Development of work plans to address Council goals
•Review departmental activities and service levels
•Address issues related to budgeting, personnel issues, resident or customer complaints, etc.
•Provide counseling, coaching and direction to department heads 30%
Community Relations
•Listen to and coordinate response to resident and customer complaints, concerns, suggestions and needs
•Participate in City events, monitor social media and other sources of feedback from the community
10%
Regional Relations and Coordination
•Provide staffing to Councilmembers servicing on regional committees
•Serve on committees with CVAG, CalCities and others
•Interact with City Managers and others from regional cities 5%
Miscellaneous
•Interact with the news media
•Review claims, lawsuits, etc
•Handle calendars, meetings and zoom calls, appointments, correspondence and research and reporting for self and Council 5%
City Clerk
The City Clerk is the local official for elections, local legislation, the Public Records Act, the Political Reform Act, and the Brown Act (open meeting laws). The State Government Code prescribes the basic functions of the City Clerk while the City Charter and Municipal Code provide the specific responsibilities along with procedures to follow.
It is the responsibility of the City Clerk to ensure actions taken by the Council are in compliance with all statutes and regulations and that actions are properly executed, recorded and archived.
The City Clerk’s Department is made up of one full-time City Clerk and one full-time Administrative Assistant, that is shared with the City Manager and City Council for administrative functions. The office of the City Clerk is a service department which the City Council, all city departments, and the general public rely on for information regarding the operations and legislative history of the City. The City Clerk’s Department serves as the liaison between the public and City Council and provides related municipal services.
The following is a table of the major functions of the City Clerk’s Department. Many of the functions of the Department are time sensitive and require completion during a prescribed time frame.
FUNCTION CITY CLERK OFFICE ASST.
City Council Agenda/Agenda Packet and Minutes
•Manage Future Agenda Items List with input from the City Manager and Staff on a weekly basis
•Prepare and Publish Agenda and Agenda Packet for all Regular and Special City Council Meetings
•Responsible for Minutes of all Regular and Special Council Meetings •Ensure all Government Codes/City Codes and City Charter are followed related to the posting of the Agenda and Notices •Schedule the meetings with IT and/or Zoom for all Regular and Special City Council Meetings.
•Attend all Regular and Special City Council Meetings
•Manage the Agenda Management Program (template changes, troubleshooting and staff assistance)
•Process all Resolutions, Ordinances and Contracts that are approved by the City Council maintaining all the legislative history of the City 35% 30%
Public Records Requests
•Must Complete/Review/Respond within 10 days of receiving the request
•Monitor requests on a daily basis to ensure that they are completed by prescribed law
•Work with all Departments related to questions and concerns related to Public Records Requests and the workflow of requests •Manage the WebQa program
35%
Commissions and Committees
•Responsible for the production of the Parks and Community Events Commission, Public Arts Commission, Historic Preservation Committee, Mobilehome Fair Practices Commission and Cannabis Task Force Meetings Agendas and Minutes
•Attend all Regular and Special Parks and Community Events Commission, Public Arts Commission, Historic Preservation, Mobilehome Fair Practices Commission and Cannabis Task Force Meetings
•Communicate with the Liaisons, Chairs and Commissioners related to upcoming meetings, etc.
•Maintain Current Rosters of all Commissions and Committees •Facilitate the application and interview process for all Commissions and Committees
•Monitor Ethics Training for each Commissioner and Committee Member
•Ensure all Government Codes are followed related to vacancies and 5% 20%
notices
•Maintain Commission/Committee Policy Handbook
AB1234 and AB1661 Requirements
•Track the completion of Ethics Training and Sexual Harassment Training of all Council Members and Commissioners
•Maintain a log of those who have completed the training •Maintain files of certificates of completion
2.5%
FPPC Filings
•Filing Official for Campaign Statements for all Candidates and Controlled Committees (these forms are filed Semi-Annually and more frequent during an election)
•Filling Official for Statement of Economic Interests Forms for designated staff
•Update Resolution designating staff every two years
•Maintain logs of all Forms filed
•Maintain Files per the Records Retention Schedule
2.5%
Elections
•Conduct City Elections along with the County of Riverside Registrar of Voters Office on even numbered years (this would include everything necessary to ensure a proper election is conducted within the City) •Conduct Special Elections as necessary (this would include everything necessary to ensure a proper election is conducted within the City) 5%
Contracts/Recorded Documents
•Ensure Contracts are executed and provided to the appropriate departments
•Ensure Contracts are retained
•Record and Maintain all Recorded Documents for the City 5%
Website
•Update City Clerk’s Department Page
•Update Commissions and Committees Page
•Maintain Transparency page
•Maintain Policies Page
•Make changes and edits as needed and when capable
5%
Records Retention Schedule/File Room
•Maintain Records Retention Schedule
•Review/Approve Records for destruction
•Maintain City Clerk and other various City records in File Room
2.5%
Miscellaneous Items
•Publish various notices and required documents on an ongoing basis •Prepare Proclamations/Commendations and Certificates upon request •Maintain the Municipal Code/Supplements
•Provide support to the members of the City Council, City Manager and Executive Staff
oSchedule Conferences and make travel arrangements
oTrack/log expenditures and reimbursements
oReserve City Vehicles
oRSVP for committee meetings and events
oSchedule meetings for City Council with Staff
oSchedule meetings for City Manager and Staff
2.5% 50%
oSchedule meetings for City Council and members of the public oSchedule meetings for City Manager and members of the
public
oCoordinate catered lunch meetings for City Council, City Manager and Executive Staff
oReceive public complaints via phone, in-person and email for City Council and City Manager
oCoordinate media interviews for City Council
•Administer the Oath of Office to all City Council Members, Commissioners, Committee Members and Employees
•Maintain Policy Handbook for the City Council
•Work with other Agencies and Liaisons related to Council appointments and meetings
•Provide various clerical assistance to the City Council, City Manager and City Clerk
oSignature requests
oLetters of support requests
oScanning and letter preparation
oBusiness cards and name plates
oOrder office supplies
oMail distribution
The percentages allotted in the table for each function and position may vary depending on the year, the time of year and whether or not there are hot topics in the Community, which will cause the amount of time to shift for both positions.
Human Resources
The Human Resources division is staffed by one Human Resources Manager, two specialists and one part-time assistant. The HR Department serves all City employees (Full-Time and Part-Time), volunteers and interns.
The human resources department handles many necessary functions. It is instrumental in ensuring that all human resources functions comply with federal, state, and local regulations.
The following are examples of functions of the Human Resources Department:
Recruitment &
Selection
This work includes job analysis, exam planning, exam design and development, exam administration, equal employment opportunity, hiring, and probationary assessment.
Classification This work organizes jobs based on defined criteria into a logical structure of titles, common duties and qualifications.
Compensation This work establishes pay and benefits.
Learning &
Development
This work is relating to employee learning and development to support organizational performance. This includes new employee orientation and performance management.
Employee
Relations
This work relates to managing employer-employee relations in both union and non-union environments. This includes HR policy development, employee rights, employee complaint policies, formal discipline, dispute resolution practices and formal collective bargaining in union environments.
Health & Safety This work relates to employee health, safety, and security. This includes disability management, workers compensation, safety, and risk management related to these issues.
Organizational
Development
This work focuses on increasing the organization’s effectiveness and/or efficiency. This includes strategic workforce management, organizational system design, employee engagement, and organizational culture management.
The following is a representation of the functions each classification in the Human Resources Department manages. The percentages allotted in the below table may vary depending on the year, the time of year and whether or not there is a special project which will cause the amount of time to shift.
Responsibility Major Activities HR
Manager
HR
Specialist.
(LB)
HR
Specialist.
(AQ)
HR
Assistant
(MM)
Benefits/Open
Enrollment
- Contract review
- Benefits historian
- Oversee HRA program.
- HRIS maintenance.
- Conducts new hire
orientation.
- Performs quality checks of
benefits-related data.
- Determines eligibility.
- Enrolls employees with
carriers and process life
status changes.
- Processes and administers
all leave-of-absence
requests and disability
paperwork: medical,
personal, disability and
FMLA.
- Effectively interprets FMLA
and ADA implications as
they relate to
LOA/disabilities.
- Conducts interactive
meetings.
- Coordinates the open
enrollment process.
- Prepare and submit
1094/1095 Due March 2, to
5% 5% 40%
EE’s
Division
Budget/Accounts
Payable
- Reconciliation of bills
(CalPERS, Lincoln, Met-Life,
HRA, Dept. charges)
- EE Reimbursements
(Tuition/Wellness)
5% 10%
Document
Retention
- Retention schedule
oversight
2.5%
DOT Drug
Testing Program
DMV Pull Notice
Clearinghouse
- Coordinate drug/alcohol
testing.
- Coordinate training
(reasonable suspicion,
program, defensive driving,
etc.)
- Recordkeeping
5% 2.5%
EE Relations - EE Recognition to include
Service Award/Gift Cards;
coordinate anniversary lunch
with CM (bi-annual-January
& July)
- Assist with Quarterly
meetings.
- Holiday Party
- Employee recognition
events
- Monthly Birthday
celebration/B-day
Cards/Sympathy / Get Well
5% 5%
General Office
Support/File
Maintenance
- VOE
- Compliance Boards
- File Maintenance
- Audits
- Admin Support
- Benefit Summary updates
- Assist w/ special projects
5% 35%
Labor Relations - Negotiations
- Labor Relations | Units
- Labor Relations Historian
25% 10%
Maintain EE
Database
- Monitor evaluation dates,
track and process salary
step changes, longevities,
probation, uniform, bilingual,
associated ticklers.
- Prepare/Distribute PAF’s
5% 35%
Off-Boarding - Exit Interview
- Turnover Report
- Separation letters
- Coordinate exit process
(Department, employee,
Payroll)
5% 2.5%
On-Boarding - Coordinates on-boarding
- Process new hire
- File Organization
- Assign Ticklers
10% 5% 5%
Policy - Monitors developments and
legislation related to human
15%
resources and administrative
matters, evaluates their
impact upon City operations,
and recommends and
implements policy and
procedural improvements.
- Reviewing, creating, update
Recruitment &
Classification
- Attends and participates in
job fairs.
- Develops, facilitates, and
implements all phases of the
recruitment and promotional
process.
- Collaborates with
department managers to
identify and draft detailed
and accurate job
descriptions and hiring
criteria.
- Identifies and implements
efficient and effective
recruiting methods and
strategies.
- Works closely with
department for target
recruitment.
- Responsible for job posting
and advertisement.
- Screens applications and
selects qualified candidates.
- Schedules interviews;
oversees preparation of
interview questions and
other hiring and selection
materials.
- Coordinates panel selection.
- Collaborates with the hiring
manager during the offer
process.
- Coordinates clearances
- Maintains Position Control
(Requestions, Vacancy log)
- Maintains recruitment plan
calendar.
- Volunteer/Internship
Program Oversight
- Classification – Historian,
Updates
5% 55% 2.5%
Risk
Management
W/C; CalOSHA
Compliance
- Incident, Injury, Illness,
Covid
- Correspondence
- CalOsha Log
- WC Case Management
- Communication with
Department Heads
- Safety Committee
20% 20%
- Ensure appropriate filing,
tracking and related records
management for the City’s
liability and risk
management programs.
- Confers w/ management
regarding major human
resources activities or issues
and provides assistance.
Strategic
planning
- Develops and directs the
development and
implementation of goals,
objectives, policies and
procedures for the City's
human resources
management and
development programs.
- Prepares and monitors work
plans to meet Division goals
and objectives.
25%
Training - Monitors and coordinates
Required Training
- AB1825 (Sexual
Harassment) and AB 1234
(Ethics) Training Tracking
Ensure compliance.
- SB1343 (Non-Supervisory
Harassment)
- Develop LCW, PERMA,
ERMA Training Calendar
10% 10%
Web
Maintenance
- Maintain current/accurate
documents on HR webpage.
- Salary schedule updates
10%
Communications and Events
Communications and Events Manager
This position has two main job functions of managing the City’s communications and the special events produced by the City and third parties. Now that the COVID-19 situation has dramatically improved, the requirements of the job has flipped back to 80% of the time on Events and 20% on Communications. During COVID-19, this was the complete opposite. As you might note, this is out of balance, but with the new Events Coordinator coming on full-time in the next fiscal year, the goal is for that to shift to a 50-50% split.
On the communications side, the manager is responsible for video messaging, media relations, social media posts and oversight, city and local business promotions, speech and script writing, and production of the city news, the fall and spring resident mailers, annual publications in Palm Springs Life magazine, annual business conferences’ script and video production, and the City’s weekly newsletter.
The manager is also responsible for media relations involving communicating and representing the City’s viewpoint on important matters for television, social media, and newspaper outlets. Each day, the manager posts and/or reviews comments on social media posts from constituents to understand and report to the city manager community sentiments and determine if any comment reported violates our social media policy.
On the events side, the manager is responsible for working with the city council, community stakeholders, and businesses to create, plan, organize, and implement City events or assist with City sponsored events. Those have included our three signature events – the Cathedral City Hot Air Balloon Festival, Taste of Jalisco, and Cathedral City LGBT Days. Other sizable events include Snow Fest, Halloween Spooktacular, Tejano Music Fest, and the State of the City that requires significant speech and script writing as well as video production. The City also produces or participates in other events such as Palm Springs Pride, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, Kids Summer Film Fest, Restaurant Week, Harvey Milk Breakfast, Fields of Valor, Coachella Valley Battle in the Desert, CCHS Homecoming Parade. Besides the implementation, each of the city events requires significant marketing communications, video production, webpage design and messaging, print collateral, social media messaging, managing sponsorships, ticket sales, vendor contracting, and media relations.
Additionally, the Communications and Events Manager has played a role this past year in the new Cathedral City Community Amphitheater coming online with regards to determining equipment and amenities that should be added for the best use of the facility. This has also included working with local businesses and the city attorney to produce contracts that promote facility rental, sponsorships, and operations of the concession stand. Additional work was completed to develop professional service contracts for sound/lighting technician as well as operations for special events.
Events Coordinator
Under administrative direction of the Communications & Events Manager, performs a wide variety of tasks related to special events, communications, community relations, as well as special projects assigned by the Communications & Events Manager; plans and coordinates internal and strategic external activities, events and operations; assists with the city website and social media presence; and assists as communications link to the public and news media; coordinates activities and serves as liaison with City staff, outside agencies, and the general public.
•Work with Communication & Events Manager to plan, implement and operate all City special events, as well as any third-party special events. •Assist graphic designer/webmaster to ensure all events are properly advertised on a variety of communication mediums such as electronic billboard, pedestrian kiosk, airport kiosk, auto center billboard, Spring/Fall mailers, and banners at our local parks.
•Collaborate with two amphitheater brokers in providing planning tours and working with them to get Special Use Permits to City Council. •Work with Communication & Events Manager to maintain calendar of events. •Assist as needed with video shoots, social media, and the City’s website. •Understand and receive training on how to turn off irrigation, power usage, water systems, AV systems, etc.
•Partner with other city departments to implement festival safety protocols at events.
•Plans for potential scenarios that could impact the integrity of the event. •Manages contact database of vendors, event planners, entertainers/agents, and sponsors.
•Understands, selects, negotiates, and contracts with culturally appropriate entertainment for City’s special events.
•Coordinates with City’s Risk Manager to mitigate potential litigation related to special events.
•Obtains appropriate outside agency permits for City special events.
Webmaster/Graphic Designer
Webmaster: The City has 12 unique websites. CathedralCity.gov is the City’s governmental website that has information of City Government, departments, and general city information. This website is hosted off-site by Granicus. The webmaster is responsible for maintaining the general appearance of the site as well as confirming content and appearance meets City web standards as well as legal standards for visual appearance.
Other city websites are hosted on City servers where staff maintain the displayed data as well as the coding making up the website. The 11 websites are:
•DiscoverCathedralCity.com, the City’s main website for news and information •CathedralCityPolice.com
•CCEDD.org, the Economic Development website
•JoinCathedralCity.org, the Human Resources website
•CathedralCityAmp.com, the newest site promoting the Community Amphitheater •CathedralCitySisterCities.com, created for our sister City Committee •CathedraCityPublicArts.org
•Event specific sites:
oSnowfest.us
oTasteofJalisco.com
oTejanoMusicFest.com
oCathedralCityLGBTDays.com
Maintaining these websites includes:
•Keeping the site software updated
•Maintaining Search Engine Optimization (SEO) so the pages are Google searchable
•Keeping plugins updated
•Running weekly security scans on the sites
•Receiving and investigating notices from the sites as to attempted site breeches and hacks
•Maintaining and tracking usage data of all sites
•Publishing Press Releases for CCPD
•Business notification for Economic Development
The position also provides design, subscriber maintenance and weekly sending of the Weekly Newsletter with nearly 2000 of subscribers.
A system-wide search and replace of old or wrong information on our websites has begun. Working with all departments, the webmaster has begun a data refresh of CathedralCity.gov. A page-by-page review of the site and updating forms and pages. A search for old logos in forms has also begun.
Graphic Designer: Duties relating to graphic design for the City are mainly related to Communications and Events but can reach to all departments of the City. Much of the time spent is in support of the various events. Creating Logos for the events, designing various media for the events including posters, postcards, banners, brochures, program booklets, newspaper and magazine advertising, billboards, and digital advertising.
The Graphic Designer also maintains a library of graphics and sponsor and business logos used during promotion of the events. These logos are typically print ready and large enough for high quality reproduction. If a business does not have such a logo, they must be recreated to meet standards. He also maintains the City Photos library of Images taken in Cathedral City.
3d rendering and design have also become a component of the work. 3d modeling was instrumental in the design of things like the Amphitheater and visualizing future improvements.
The amount of graphic design for our festivals and events has returned to normal levels as the pandemic era subsides. He has designed several banners, posters, signs, and digital graphics for print and digital billboards for Lamar, Auto center and the City Downtown Digital Billboard.
82 custom sponsor banners were designed and formatted for printing, promoting local businesses for the Downtown Banner Program.
He has also worked with Economic Development to design and create Offering brochures for the 13.5- and 5-acre parcels downtown. These are 20-page documents full of exhibits, photos, and maps of the two projects to give prospective buyers information relating to each site.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The original published budget for the City Manager department (all divisions) for FY 22- 23 was $3,044,671. The total amended budget for the City Manager department (all divisions) for FY 22-23 reflecting amendments through 12-31-2022 is $3,262,975.60