City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: April 12, 2022
Agenda Item: 3.G
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Rick Valte, Public Works Director, Public Works, Public Landscape Subject: Approval of FY2021-23 Beach Maintenance Staffing Changes Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize deleting three vacant Custodian I positions and replacing them with three Maintenance Worker positions.
Summary
Santa Monica State Beach is poised to return to full pre-pandemic activity this summer.
The City maintains the beach to ensure a high-quality experience for all at one of the region’s most popular destinations. To enhance the Public Landscape Division’s ability to deploy staffing resources and maintain the beach, staff recommends deleting three vacant Custodian I positions and replacing them with three Maintenance Worker positions. The Maintenance Worker classification would allow the Division to build a flexible workforce that can perform a wide variety of duties and reduce the City’s reliance on third-party contractors. Staff seeks this authority outside of the budget process to recruit and onboard staff ahead of the busy summer season.
Discussion
Two years ago, the City eliminated 11.0 permanent full-time equivalent custodial positions assigned to the Beach Maintenance section of the Division. With fewer staff and resources, staff have recognized the need for positions that can perform a wide array of responsibilities in addition to core custodial duties and identified the three current Custodian I vacancies as opportunities to maximize existing positions and 2 of 3
budget. Below are duties performed by a Custodian I and a Maintenance Worker assigned to work on the beach:
• Custodian I: Stock and replenish restrooms with supplies; clean and disinfect surfaces such as sinks, toilets, doors, walls, and interior and exterior floors; sweep floors; collect and remove trash; assist in identifying needed repairs and improvements; and provide effective customer service.
• Maintenance Worker: Custodial duties, simple and complex repairs to structures such as Muscle Beach fitness equipment and amenities; graffiti removal from any surface; minor plumbing, painting, and carpentry work; remove and replace bollards and storm fences; and operate power and heavy equipment such as jackhammers, power and chain saws, skip loaders, backhoes, dump trucks, and power root cutters.
In addition to custodial duties, Maintenance Workers can perform a variety of tasks on the beach and surrounding areas. The workforce assigned to the beach would benefit from adding multifunctional staff who can address maintenance issues in a timely and responsive manner and reduce the reliance on outside contractors. This is especially critical prior to this summer to prepare for the anticipated high number of beachgoers who visit Santa Monica State Beach starting in spring and continuing throughout summer. The benefits of this change far outweigh the minimal increase in costs that would be offset by existing budget savings. For example, within the last year, Maintenance Workers completed the following labor-intensive projects that collectively would have cost approximately $200,000 if performed by a contractor:
1. Replacement of two beach walkouts (wooden ADA accessible pathways that extend hundreds of feet into the sand); and
2. Restoration of a beach restroom that entailed the refurbishing of doors with new paint and graffiti coating and the installation of new hinges, signs, and lighting. 3 of 3
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
Staff recommends approval of the following position changes:
FY 2021-23 Position Changes
Fund Dept Division
Delete Add Net
FTE Title FTE Title Change Reason
11 PW 5090 – Beach
Maintenance
-3.0 Custodian I 3.0 Maintenance
Worker
0.0 Add/Delete
The recommended changes in positions for the remaining three months of this fiscal year would cost $3,967 in salary and benefits. The ongoing annual cost for salary and benefits would be $15,984. No additional appropriation of funds would be required as the costs would be offset by contractual services savings in the Beach Maintenance unit of the Public Landscape Division.
Prepared By: Carlos Collard, Senior Administrative Analyst Approved Forwarded to Council