1996 AGN SEP 17 I34 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY OF COLTON AGENDA REPORT For the Council Meeting of September 17, 1996 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council FROM: Malik D. Freeman, Interim City Manager SUBJECT: Combination of Electric, Water and Wastewater Utilities DATE: September 9, 1996 BACKGROUND The director position for Water and Wastewater has been vacant for well over a year. Attempts to fill the position upon reorganization of these departments from Public Works failed to produce adequate candidates for the position following a lengthy recruitment and interview process. Recently, a second attempt has been made to secure an eligible candidate. However, these efforts have also proven to be less than satisfactory. DISCUSS IONIANALYSIS The Water and Wastewater Utilities have been without cohesive managemenUleadership for over a year. rN During that time, an interim director provided sufficient guidance to coordinate the handling of the cease and desist order and began the revamping of the wastewater treatment plant. Eventhough, this project was essential, other aspects of managing the Water and Wastewater Utilities fell by the way side. The City's attempt to recruit a Water and Wastewater Director have not produced a candidate which emerges with the qualifications being necessary to direct these operations. Therefore, it is being recommended that the Water and Wastewater operations be combined with the Electric Utility so that coordination, direction and control may be achieved in an efficient manner. In order to accomplish this, the existing job description for the Electric Utility Director would be changed to include the operations for Water and Wastewater. In addition, an Assistant Director would be hired for each of the divisions. This has already been completed for the Electric Utility and the applications for the Water and Wastewater Director includes candidates that are qualified at the Assistant Director level. Under this plan, applicants would be interviewed on the basis of appointing at the Assistant Director level rather than the Director level. Combination of the Utilities would promote a number of different objectives. First, coordination between the various utilities would be kept at one level. Second, common philosophies dealing with financial matters, rates, budgets, capital improvements, and personnel could be utilized. Third, staffing efficiencies could be realized by using existing personnel in common areas within the three operations. Fourth, the restructuring of the utilities would be similar to other operations in municipal organizations. For example, Los Angeles, Riverside, Anaheim, Azusa, and many other cities combine the utility operations in one department. Finally, overall departmental organization can be streamlined which will result in more efficient operations and cost savings resulting in increased reliability and improved customerservice. ITEM NO. 34