03-08-2023 Workshop Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

One of the challenges in initially hiring part-time staff is that the City may wish to increase this position to full-time as the workload increases and be limited in its ability to do so. Often staff taking part-time positions are doing so because they value their time away from work and have other commitments preventing them from working full- time. I believe that with the goals identified in the 2022 Strategic Plan, that the workload for City staff will be increasing and that the City would be justified in hiring a full-time person in this support position. The City will also be able to attract a larger pool of candidates through offering full-time employment status and health insurance. Being efficient also involves the right staff doing the right work. Department heads should be focused on performing high level work and should be delegating clerical tasks to other staff in the department who can perform these functions more efficiently. As many department heads shared, they do not have staff available to delegate work to because everybody is busy and trying to meet deadlines. 3)Revise the existing Customer Services Specialist job description with more duties to manage the ’ , know the zoning code and promote the current staff member to a Permit Technician. The two comparison cities with a similar sized population Arden Hills and Vadnais Heights, both have Planning Department which include a Permit Technician. Little Canada’s Custo er ervices pecialist has so e li ited per ittin responsi ility as outline below: •Issues and/or processes building and zoning permit applications, contractors’ licenses various usiness licenses and rental housin licenses. Ensures that building permits are paid for and picked up on a timely basis. With additional training in City Code and zoning regulations, this staff member could be promoted to a Permit Technician. This would assist the Planning Department while not take away from her current role at the front counter and be very similar to the current arrangement at Arden Hills where this position is physically located in the Administration Department. As the City continues to embrace technology, automate processes and provide more on-line services, the front counter will not be as busy making this person an ideal candidate to work with residents on permitting issues. The City should monitor the balance of general inquiries to permitting inquiries to determine if the workload is too much for one position to handle in which case the backup can assist with the general inquiries. 4)Cross training and backup Adding the two positions outlined above helps to move the staffing levels to where it 26 of 63