ThisWeek CW 7/31/2014
http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/canalwinchester/news/2014/07/28/groveport-city-council-community-affairs-will-be-reorganized.html
Groveport officials are looking to replace several part-time positions in the community affairs department with one additional program coordinator in the fall.
City Administrator Marsha Hall asked City Council July 21 to approve the change to the organizational structure in an attempt to provide more-stable staffing and a clearer line of responsibility for the historic Town Hall building during business hours.
Hall said the position will bear responsibility for the coordination of programs and for the facility. She said the latter is in response to the potential for issues such as the faulty plumbing that caused the building’s closure earlier this year.
“We have such a beautiful old building and for several hours a week to have a part-time, minimum-wage person responsible for it — well, we don’t think that’s the best practice,” Hall said.
The new position, which will be offered to internal candidates first, will replace three of the eight part-time positions assigned to the department. Currently, only seven of the eight posts are filled and, according to Hall, there isn’t a plan to fill the vacant position in the near future.
“Before Linda (Haley) retired, she was having trouble keeping some of the part-time people coming in for their hours as well as filling those part-time positions,” Hall told council. “With Patty Storts coming on board (as Haley’s replacement) we talked about adding another full-time program coordinator with more responsibility, and who can be managed more easily.”
Council member Ed Rarey asked about the number of part-time positions and whether they were all necessary. Hall said officials are always reviewing staffing levels, and that some of it depended on the success of the programming being offered.
“We will still have a need for some part time, but we have eight approved and we won’t need eight. We’ll still need a couple and they’re part of our compensation program,” Hall said. “One of those part-time people deals with the children’s programs and that person has a very successful program, so we would want to keep those hours.”
Council was expected to vote on a third reading of the legislation Monday, July 28. If approved, it requires a 30-day waiting period before going into effect, so the soonest the new position would be posted internally is the end of August.
The salary range for the position will be $15.16 to $24.38 an hour, though the maximum the city will pay initially is $19.76. If an internal candidate is not selected, the position would be posted externally.
The new post is expected to cost the city about the same as the three part-time jobs but improve accountability.