SR 09-14-2021 3D
City Council Report
City Council Meeting: September 14, 2021
Agenda Item: 3.D
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: John Jalili, Interim City Manager, City Manager's Office
Subject: Approval of Restoration of Assistant City Manager Position
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council approve the restoration of the Assistant City
Manager position to the City Manager’s Office.
Summary
Restoration of the Assistant City Manager (ACM) position at this time would ensure the
greatest success for the transition of the new City Manager, David White. Having this
position in place upon Mr. White’s arrival would allow him to focus on hiring the position,
setting up office structure and assigning responsibilities to serve the community and the
organization expeditiously. During the restructuring of City government in the face of the
COVID-19 pandemic and associated fiscal impacts, the City Manager’s Office
eliminated the position of ACM. The ACM plays a pivotal role as Chief Operating
Officer for the City, ensuring focus on implementation of departmental and Council
priorities, coordinating cross-departmental initiatives, working with local community
partners and providing leadership to the City Manager’s Office. Currently, the position is
filled in an acting capacity. To help ensure the City Manager’s Office is structured to
support City operations and support the new City Manager, staff recommend restoring
this position to the City Manager’s Office at this time. The cost of the position for fiscal
year 2021-22 will be offset by departmental savings and staff will work with Finance to
identify ongoing trade-offs in future budget cycles to fund the position on an ongoing
basis.
Discussion
The ACM position provides essential support and leadership for management,
emergency, and interdepartmental functions across the City organization. This position
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plays a key role in performing these duties, in part, to enable the City Manager to focus
on Council, community, and partner priorities. After the position was removed from the
budget starting in fiscal year 2020-21, the Interim City Manager at the time, Lane Dilg,
functioned without critical support for more than six months. Strain and fatigue on the
organization was demonstrable over that period.
After several months, as it became apparent that the elimination of this position resulted
in an unsustainable absence of focus on these areas, the Assistant City Manager
position was filled on an acting basis using savings. Since the appointment of an Acting
Assistant City Manager in January 2021 , the ACM has spearheaded the City’s
reopening efforts, overseen the Office of Emergency Management, which is responsible
for the City’s response to the public health emergency with a focus on vaccine rollout,
coordinated efforts to respond to issues at the Santa Monica Pier, supported City efforts
to address homelessness, and worked with City operating departments to resolve
operational and interdepartmental issues to ensure the reliable delivery of City services.
The permanent addition of this position for seven months of this fiscal year would cost
$199,021. Staff has identified departmental savings to cover the costs of this position
this fiscal year. This savings is a result of lower than anticipated costs for the Public
Safety Inspector General. As part of the reforms made by Council this spring, $225,000
was set aside to hire an Inspector General. Council directed staff to assess whether it
was best to contract for this service or create a staff position. Following a request for
proposals, the cost to contract for the Inspector General was lower than filling a staff
position. As a result, the department has $100,000 in savings from professional
services, $55,000 in savings from funds for travel, food and other supplies that will not
be used while COVID restrictions remain in place, and $46,000 in salary savings from
the delayed start of the City Manager. Staff will work to identify additional offsetting
savings to cover the continuing cost of the position in FY 2022-23 and beyond.
Financial Impacts
The addition of the Assistant City Manager position for seven months of this fiscal year
would cost $199,021 and includes salary and benefits. No additional appropriation of
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funds would be required this fiscal year, as the costs would be offset from $201,000 in
savings in the City Manager’s Office departmental budget. Staff will return to Council
with additional budget adjustments to provide ongoing funding for the position as part of
the Fiscal Year 2022-23 Exception Based Budget.
Prepared By: Christopher Smith, Assistant to the City Manager
Approved
Forwarded to Council
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