REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: GEORGEANNE A. WHITE, City Manager
Office of the Mayor & City Manager
TJ MILLER, Director
Personnel Services Department
SUBJECT
Title
Actions pertaining to the FY22 Position Authorization Resolution No. 2021-179:
1: ***RESOLUTION - Adopt the 5th Amendment to Position Authorization Resolution No. 2021-179, adding one hundred seven (107) full-time and two (2) permanent part-time positions Citywide. (Subject to Mayor’s Veto).
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that Council authorize the adoption of the 5th Amendment to Position Authorization Resolution (PAR) No. 2021-179 adding a total of one hundred seven (107) full-time and (2) permanent part-time positions; three (3) to the Mayor and City Manager’s Department, seven (7) to the Finance Department; one (1) to the Information Services Department; five (5) to the PARCS Department, eight (8) to the Personnel Services Department; nine (9) to the Planning and Development Department, three (3) to the Fire Department, forty-two (42) to the Police Department, four (4) to the Public Utilities Department, twenty-two (22) to the Public Works Department, and five (5) to the Transportation Department.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The proposed amendment will add one hundred seven (107) full-time and two (2) permanent part-time positions citywide to improve service delivery and project delivery throughout the City.
BACKGROUND
During the economic downturn of 2008 the City significantly reduced staff and attempted to maintain a steady approach to staffing growth which balanced available resources to the most important needs. The pandemic has brought about unanticipated financial opportunities and growth that have highlighted the need to increase staffing capacity to ensure that the over $300 million of Federal Funds along with State and Grant opportunities make Fresno an enviable place to live, work and visit. At each Council meeting and thru various Community engagement forums, Staff continue to hear the concern of not seeing tangible progress on projects - projects that are just not moving at a fast enough pace. Much of the constraints to project delivery are driven by the lack of staffing capacity. In a concentrated effort to reduce these barriers, Staff is recommending the approval of one hundred seven (107) full-time and two (2) permanent part-time positions that are critical to ensuring that investments made in the community progress in a timely manner and that the Citizens of Fresno can see their investments in the community flourish.
Office of the Mayor and City Manager
The Budget and Management Studies Division is requesting one (1) new Budget Analyst position. This position will be responsible for preparing, reviewing and communicating the monthly expenditure projections in comparison to budgets, preparing ad-hoc reports, processing appropriation transfer requests, for and to the Council Districts. This additional position will provide a needed rebalance of staff assignments that have also experienced increased workloads. Major assignments that have increased in workload include the development and publication of the City’s annual budget and the production of ongoing Administrative Amendment Resolutions (AAR). Over the last five years, a staff of five analysts, one technician, and a manager oversaw the formalization of the City’s FY 2022 budget for 17 departments that reached $1.4 billion, a $500 million or 46% growth while AAR’s have also increased dramatically by 69% percent during this same time period. Staff has continuously worked in excess of 50 hours weekly to meet the demand of this increased workload and continuation of this practice will increase employee burnout and potentially negatively impact critical processes.
The Office of the Mayor and City Manager is requesting two (2) new Deputy City Managers. The receipt of over $300 million in Federal Funds from CARES, ARPA, and ERAP along with other high profile priorities and funds have created a significant need to ensure that projects are properly funded, and consistently moving as prioritized by Council. The Deputy City Manager positions will be assigned the point of contact for coordinating and directing the completion of city-wide projects and will serve to eliminate the barriers that may hinder continuing project progression. The positions will also have a direct connection to the City Manager and Assistant City Managers to ensure communication and direction does not prevent the projects from moving forward.
Finance
With the receipt of over $300 million from multiple federal and state grants for the COVID pandemic, the demand for reporting, auditing, and collection of documents to support the City’s expenditures on these grants has significantly increased. The additional grant dollars have created a corresponding increase in the volume of payments being processing by Finance staff. Consequently, the Finance Department is recommending Council approve the addition of seven (7) positions to meet the increases in workload.
Federal awards of CARES, ERAP, and ARPA have extensive time sensitive reporting and auditing requirements which has become increasingly difficult to complete with the existing staff’s current workload. A team consisting of one (1) Senior Management Analyst, one (1) Management Analyst II and three (3) Accountant Auditors is proposed to meet the demands and minimize the risk of penalization or loss of revenue due to noncompliance in reporting. The team will oversee the large amounts of documentation that needs to be collected, prepare in-depth weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual reports for submission to the granting agencies, in addition to ensuring that any subrecipient of these funds, such as Community Based Organizations, are also complying with the regulatory guidelines. Other reporting requirements the team will be addressing include Single Audit, ad-hoc reports for operational evaluations, and analysis requested by Council, the Mayor, and City Manager’s Offices. The inability to add these critical positions will overly tax current Finance staff, and will likely prevent them from addressing the duties for which they were hired. This in turn can potentially lead to penalization for non-compliance and demand for repayment for reimbursements made that were not in accordance to the regulations. It should also be pointed out that most of the cost of these positions can be covered by the grants themselves, making the cost to the General Fund minimal.
Over the last few years, the number of payments processed and changes in the payment methods (check vs. ACH) have increased the amount of work necessary to process timely payments to vendors. In FY 2021, 60,977 payments were processed. For the first six months of FY 2022, the volume of payments processed has increased by 15 percent, or approximately 700 payments per month, over the same time period in FY 2021. At the current pace, Finance will process about 69,400 payments in FY 2022, which would be a record for the City. In an effort to address this additional workload while maintaining segregation of duties and internal controls, Finance is recommending the addition of two (2) Principal Account Clerk positions. These positions will create financial documents and assist Accountant Auditors in reviewing citywide vouchers that need to be processed for payment. Other duties will include preparing emergency check runs, confirming correct sales/use tax is being paid on each voucher, and paying Cal-Cards/City issued credit cards. The additional positions will ensure the continued timely and accurate payments to vendors.
ISD
The Information Services Department is responsible for maintaining the citywide inventory for all technological hardware. This inventory has grown over the last few years due to the impacts of COVID-19 and now includes over 4,000 laptops/desktops and does not include monitors and ancillary equipment that has become necessary in the day to day needs of the workforce, including telework. Due to the need to accurately maintain inventory and control costs, one (1) Account Clerk is necessary. This position will manage orders from departments, coordinate deployments with City users and schedule the Desktop team, assign fund/orgs to the devices and oversee the inventory system. The position will also conduct ongoing inventory audits of equipment which will be used to build the annual budget allocations. Currently, some of this work is performed by a temporary employee who is limited to 29 hours of work per week, and because of the nature of temporary work there is turnover which then requires additional work to train replacement staff. The conversion of the temporary staff to a permanent is anticipate to reduce employee turnover and to more effective continue to streamline the inventory process.
PARCS
The Parks, After School Recreation and Community Services Department is requesting the approval of five (5) additional positions, one (1) position for the consolidation and improvement of customer service, two (2) of these positions are intended to transitions service delivery by temporary staff to permanent staff in order to create sustainable community based knowledge and consistency; one (1) additional position to meet the regulatory requirements and oversight of the Department’s finances; and one (1) will be responsible for all safety, guest services, programming, and operations of Camp Fresno.
One (1) Community Coordinator who will provide oversight for the PARCS Customer Service Team which is responsible for centralized customer service for all reservations, enrollments, bookings, and coordination of work orders. This position will oversee the modernization and standardization of the software utilized to track request and work orders, implement best practice training models thru continuous process evaluations. The current staff is fully tasked with the day to day operations, this position will require a Supervisory level class that can move the goals forward.
Two (2) Recreation Specialists to support and maintain long term service level sustainability in the Therapeutic Recreation Program and the Action Sports & Bicycle/Pedestrian Safety Programs. The PARCS Therapeutic Recreation program utilizes recreation and other activity-based interventions to address the assessed needs of individuals with illnesses and/or disabling conditions, as a means to psychological and physical health, recovery and well-being. The program operates at two locations - Inspiration Park, and Ted C. Wills Community Center. The Action Sports program is responsible for coordinating the BMX, Skate, and Bicycle & Pedestrian Safety activities including: operation of the Woodward BMX track, providing lead direction and training for temporary staff who attend three skate parks (Lions Park, Mosqueda Park, and Todd Beamer Park), and implementing the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety program, which implements strategies to reduce the number of persons killed and injured in crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists by conducting classroom education, bicycle rodeos, community events, presentations, and workshops. Both of these programs are currently supported by temporary employees. The sophistication of these programs requires specialized, long-term support from dedicated employees who strive to understand and implement best practices in their respective fields and build long-standing relationships with the community. By utilizing temporary staff, the programs experience a higher level of turnover which results in a training burden and lower service levels while onboarding new staff. Supporting these programs with permanent specialists will allow them to acquire institutional and community-based knowledge in order to maintain service levels at existing locations as well as identify opportunities for program evolution and expansion.
One (1) Accountant/Auditor II will support ongoing budget evaluation, midyear and annual budget efforts, and provide ad-hoc reporting to assess cost-effectiveness of operations and programs. The PARCS Budget has increased from $26.4 million in 2021 to $58.1 million (an increase of 120%), and additional funding sources have been added with specialized monitoring, tracking, and reporting requirements including Measure P and various grant programs including CalVIP, OJJDP, and Proposition 68. This position is necessary to ensure that accounting information is entered accurately, and to support quick turnaround of budgetary and financial assessments and information. Without the added support this position is intended to provide, the result would be less-frequent reporting and monitoring of financial performance potentially leading to missed opportunities in realizing financial efficiencies, staff burnout, and increased risk associated with compliance to the requirements of specialized funding sources.
One (1) Division Manager will be responsible for all safety, guest services, programming, and operations of Camp Fresno. Camp Fresno was previously supported by a 6-month limited Division Manager, however during the Summer 2022 operating season it became apparent that, in order to provide sustained programming and operational continuity from year-to-year, the operation requires year-round management. The operation of Camp Fresno requires a high-level of planning, institutional, and specialized knowledge - not only to provide the best services to City of Fresno youth attending the Camp operations and service to the public for reservations; but also to maintain compliance to all federal, state, and local guidelines related to the operation of a youth camp and hospitality operation. These requirements include the provision of on-site medical staff, certification for food handling, and specialized safety requirements for persons providing overnight services for youth. Without a permanent, year-round Division Manager, the Department will face difficulties in opening the camp on-time, providing a full scope of services, raising revenue from reservations, and may be faced with the choice of reducing service levels of existing City-centered community services & recreation programs or operating the Camp in the event that the same human resources are utilized for both operations.
Personnel
The current labor challenges have highlighted the need for the City to attract and retain the best talent. In order to accomplish this, the Personnel Services Department (PSD) will require eight (8) additional positions to increase the staffing capacity that will move the City forward and make it the employer of choice, not only for the City of Fresno, but the entire San Joaquin Valley. PSD’s goal is to reduce the City’s vacancy rate through proactive, focused recruiting efforts with efficient onboarding; improve employee retention by providing employees with a competitive benefit plan as well as organizational leadership and employee development; reduce employee injuries through a proactive approach to safety and training; manage workers’ compensation claims to return employees to work; and reduce liability and risk and to control costs. The following positions will help the Department meet these goals.
One (1) Senior Human Resources Technician is necessary to provide support in Benefits Administration by creating a team approach in each division, particularly for those divisions that currently only have one employee, such as Employee Benefits. PSD processes, on average, over 795 FMLA requests each year; hires/rehires on average throughout a year 640 benefit eligible employees which requires data entry enrollment and coordination through a 3rd party administrator; reconciles health plan benefits and flex spending benefits; educates employees on available benefits; coordinates the employee assistance program and establishes Health Retirement Arrangement accounts. These duties are currently performed by a Benefits Manager and due to the significant workload being administered by one person, it does not allow the flexibility to become mobile and bring benefit information to employees in the various remote work locations. The addition of this position will allow the Benefits Manager to focus on maximizing cost effectiveness and developing attractive benefit packages that would help the City become the employer of choice.
One (1) Human Resources Analyst and one (1) Senior Human Resources Technician to support the citywide Training program. PSD just recently purchased Cornerstone software which is a full Learning Management system that will eventually integrate with Tyler Human Resources Management System. This complex software requires configuration, comes loaded with training videos that require vetting, has the capability to incorporate training modules built by PSD and much more. Additionally, these positions will analyze the current job specification and recommend modifications to include this training as part of employee development that will enhance career paths for staff. The positions will also be working with departments on succession planning as employees either promote or retire from the City. These positions will be instrumental in the day to day transactions of approving class enrollments, reconciling rosters, loading learning content, and customer service by assisting employees with navigating the software and ensuring the City consistently develops its employees and ensures their long term retention.
Two (2) Senior Human Resources/Risk Analysts to support the Labor Division in negotiations and management of eleven (11) represented bargaining units and over four thousand (4,000) employees. There are currently two (2) positions assigned to Labor Relations, the additional positions will create capacity to ensure our employees have up to date contracts and timely resolution for concerns and issues brought forth. With additional staff, pro-active analysis of contract language and provisions can be performed to improve the overall content and application of the Memorandums of Understanding. These positions are critical to improve timeliness in employer labor relations in general as well as allow for improvements in overall processes and procedures. Approval of the positions will restore the Labor Division to the staffing level prior to 2009.
Two (2) Senior Human Resources/Risk Analyst in the Operations Division to assist with the citywide outreach and recruitment efforts and to supervise recruitment and examination activities. The City’s vacancy rate is at an all-time high while the demand for services and projects continues to grow - it is imperative that the recruiting team put all efforts forth to open recruitments, advertise our positions, examine candidates, and connect job seekers with our open positions. This position will be critical in supervising these recruitment duties and will also be a key player when the City moves towards a new recruiting software system, which will require significant oversight, building the application process, and ensuring the new software is seamless to our applicants. Furthermore, the position will be tasked with performing high level, complex analytical assignments; analysis of applicant demographics; and ensure the City’s outreach efforts are robust and target diverse and underrepresented groups.
One (1) Risk Analyst to support the loss control efforts. The Risk Management Division currently has one risk analyst who’s solely responsible for all property claims within the City of Fresno. Claim count over the last five years has increased and this amount of activity cannot be completed by only one person, the additional position would help address the case load, process claims faster - returning resources to the departments more quickly, and would improve the City’s ability for quicker and increased subrogation recovery, with a potential of increasing recovery by over $1M annually.
Planning and Development
To maximize operational efficiency, increase response to demand, engage the community in inclusive economic development and address homelessness and housing challenges the Planning and Development Department is recommending the approval of nine (9) additional positions to meet these challenges.
In July 2021, the City Council authorized Ordinance No. 2021-028 recognizing the transfer of jurisdiction and oversight of Mobilehome Parks (MHP) from the State of California to the City of Fresno. This action involved 27 mobile home parks with 3,754 mobile home units within them. This assumption of responsibility includes the review and approval of construction and installation permit applications, including related building inspections, by the Building and Safety Services Division of the Planning and Development Department. Although limited information was provided by the state, per previous jurisdictional experience, the City’s Chief Building Official estimates an anticipated workload projection of approximately 150+ permits, 350+ inspections, and 45 plan reviews per month. Based on these projections, an additional (five) 5 positions will be needed to successfully carry out the tasks associated with this program. These positions include: one (1) Plans and Permit Technician to process all mobile home applications as well as receive specialty training on Title 25 requirements as required by the state; one (1) Residential Inspector to inspect all mobile home permits for compliance to state guidelines, Title 25 and the CBC as well as have specialty training specific to Mobile Homes. The residential inspector would also assist Code as needed for inspections; one (1) Commercial Inspector to inspect all mobile home community permits, such as clubhouses, laundry rooms etc. for compliance to state guidelines, Title 25 and the CBC as well as have specialty training specific to Mobile Homes. The commercial inspector would also assist Code enforcement as needed for inspections; one (1) Residential Plans Examiner to review all plans associated with mobile homes and parks in the City of Fresno, they will also receive specialty training related to Title 25 and one (1) Planner I/II to review all mobile home applications for compliance with setbacks and other mobile home regulations.
In October 2021, the City Council authorized an amendment to Ordinance No. 2021-044. These changes will involve the preparation of public hearing notice; development of mailing lists; and mailings for the average of 2-3 items on the Historic Preservation Committee agenda on a monthly basis. Currently, Historic Preservation Specialists receives numerous inquiries regarding historic preservation matters; numerous appointments and field visits that need to be scheduled and coordinated with members of the public; overall logistics have increased over the past year. With the amendment to the ordinance, administrative requirements will increase including, preparation of Historic Preservation Committee agenda; agenda minutes; increased interest in Economic Incentive Programs (Mills Act, Mitigation Program); annual report preparation to the State. There is a strong need for clerical support for the Historic Preservation Specialist. This position will be situated within the Historic Preservation Program and report directly to the Assistant Director. The addition of one (1) Administrative Clerk I on a permanent part time basis will ensure that the additional workload does not negatively impact the workload of current staff. The position will be tasked with the preparation of Historic Preservation Committee agendas and meeting minutes, scheduling for the Historic Preservation Specialist, organizing Historic Preservation library and electronic files, perform preliminary research for Historic Preservation Specialist, scan documents and assist with various Current Planning clerical duties.
The department is also requesting one (1) Community Coordinator in the Planning Division. The current Planning Division presently acts as the liaison for six Council District Committees and two Design Review Committees. These Committees typically meet monthly but have met bi-monthly dependent on the number of projects that are submitted. It is estimated that work involved to prepare material for the meeting (agendas, minutes, project summaries, communications with applicants, etc.) can take as up as much as 20 percent of staff time per week. This workload spread over 8 Planners has had a tremendous impact on processing of projects that end up causing time delays. A Community Coordinator would increase the capacity of 8 staff members by at least 20% each, as result of the delegation of all Committees to a single staff member (Community Coordinator). Staff would then be able to focus on the analysis of projects and allow projects to be completed in a timely manner on more consistent basis. This also provides staff the opportunity to continue with Process Improvements that will continue to streamline the project evaluation process.
As a cornerstone of the One Fresno Vision, Inclusive Economic Development requires frequent and meaningful engagement of the city’s stakeholders, and the Planning and Development (P&D) Department’s FY22/23 project pipeline proves to provide the community with many of these opportunities. To successfully plan, organize, prepare, execute, and follow-up for each outreach effort, P&D requests one (1) Staff Assistant position. P&D will participate in or independently execute a variety of outreach activities across the many projects within each division. These activities will include surveys, stakeholder interviews, collaborative workshops, informational webinars, video shorts, advisory committee meetings, neighborhood pop-ups, and more. A typical project may involve all of these activities within a very short timeframe (3-6 months). Among the 15 active projects across the building and planning divisions, the Department is anticipating creating or facilitating at minimum: 5 question and response surveys, requiring collation, documenting, and summarizing; 6 stakeholder interview sessions, requiring the coordination of external and internal stakeholders over a multitude of meetings; more than 30 public workshops; each requiring noticing, logistical coordination, material preparation and distribution, and after workshop follow-up; more than 20 informational webinars or videos, requiring logistical coordination; and more than 9 advisory committees, all with at least one meeting a month to prepare materials for. Professional staff are currently responsible for all duties required to execute these activities, including basic scheduling and materials distribution.
Given the significant challenges of the city related to homelessness and anemic affordable housing construction, our Agency’s efforts to capture as much State and Federal funding as possible to address these needs, in addition to the Mayor’s and City Council’s leadership to prioritize resources has created an unsustainable workload for the Assistant Director of Development. Staff of the Housing Division are all grant-funded and can only allocate their time to grant-specific activities. Therefore, the work of building the housing continuum, including Real Property acquisition and project management requires specific expertise and capacity currently unavailable within the Division. The addition of one (1) Senior Real Estate Agent would add the necessary experience to manage the growing number of Real Estate transactions, including negotiations, environmental reports, closings, and renovations.
Fire Department
The Fire Department is requesting three (3) additional positions, two (2) of these positions will help meet an increase in demand for fire inspections anticipated with the approval of the Mobile Home Parks, Accessory Dwelling Units and Cannabis permits and one (1) position to replace temporary staffing with permanent staffing to ensure consistency and long term retention.
Two (2) Fire Inspector to address the increase in workload anticipated from the Council authorized Ordinance No. 2021-028 recognizing the transfer of jurisdiction and oversight of Mobile home parks which includes the review and approval of construction and installation permit applications, including related building and fire inspections, by both the Building and Safety Services Division and the Fire Prevention Division. Fire Inspectors staff will also conduct regular inspections in collaboration with the City’s Code Enforcement Division. In addition, in the past three years, the State has also addressed the ongoing challenge of affordable housing through legislation related to Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU’s). A current Mayoral Administration program includes City approval of ADU standard plans, and an abbreviated submittal and permitting process has recently been formed with the goal to create several City approved standard ADU plans. This abbreviated time for review and approval has two separate and distinct impacts on the FPD: First, for these applications staff must still review and confirm the existing fire hydrant spacing and fire hose pull distances (since these new dwellings will likely be in older areas with larger lot sizes) are acceptable and do not place undue difficulty for manual firefighting operations, and Second, in areas where the lot is of insufficient size to meet setback requirements, the ADU must be fire sprinklered to mitigate the new dwelling unit’s proximity to the adjacent property owners. In the event that any of these conditions are present, additional staff time will be required to address the conditions in and expedited manner. On the back end, these applications will also require additional inspections by Fire Inspectors when the ADU is required to be fire sprinklered. The third item that is anticipated to impact demand is the permitting of cannabis related business which will require staff time to review and process a number of specialty concerns, specifically, cannabis cultivation and extraction of terpenes and THC/CBD extracts have risks associated with them that need additional expertise to address. Cultivation of cannabis generally presents two specific concerns; these include the use of carbon dioxide enrichment systems and gas detection systems. The California Fire Code (CFC) has specific provisions and requirements related to the use of carbon dioxide enrichment systems. These systems present the risk of asphyxiation and/or frostbite injuries to occupants and operational staff, and these uses of large, permanently mounted tanks create hazards to adjacent properties. When solvent-based extraction of cannabis products is proposed, the list of hazards grows substantially, as the use and storage of flammable and/or combustible liquids is present, as well as the use of pressure vessels and other closed system components. The primary regulating official as noted in the CFC is the fire code official for both of these circumstances. The installation of these systems will also consume additional staff time for the subsequent field inspections of these operations and systems.
One (1) Senior Administrative Clerk to replace temporary staffing. For the last three years, the department has utilized a temporary Senior Administrative Clerk to fill front counter needs and increasing administrative work. With the increased administrative plan check duties, scheduling, and the additional administrative tasks associated with new programs identified with new Fire Inspector positions, it is vital that the department fill this position with a full time senior administrative clerk.
Police Department
The Police Department is requesting the approval of 42 positions. The economic downturn of 2008 severely impacted the Police Department’s (PD) civilian workforce by reducing staffing levels which have not been restored since. The duties performed by these employees were not eliminated however, and PD was forced to allocate Sworn Officers to the completion of these task, precluding them from performing dedicated policing duties and reducing the presence of Officers in the field. The recent investments made in the Police Department and approved by Council also laid the expectation of service improvements. In order to relieve Sworn Officers from performing duties that would best be suited to non-sworn personnel at lower cost levels and allow the return of Sworn Officers to focus on the Department’s mission of providing excellent service in those areas that are valued most by our citizens, Staff recommends the approval of 15 new non-sworn positions, these positions include one (1) Senior Secretary, six (6) Background Investigators, six (6) Community Outreach Specialists and one (2) Risk Analyst. Additionally new ordinances, regulations and the need to better communicate with the citizens, have increased workload which will require the addition of one (1) Background Investigator and one (1) Community Coordinator positions. Furthermore, twenty-five (25) Cadet II’s positions are being requested to combat current staffing challenges that have uncovered opportunities for improvement in the recruitment pipelines, these new positions will allow the Department to better prepare and ensure the continued recruitment of staffing into various areas of public safety duties.
One (1) Senior Secretary position assigned to the Support Division. The Senior Secretary position will provide clerical and administrative support to the Deputy Chief assigned to the Support Division which currently lacks administrative support. Approval of this position will improve response time in processing requests and tracking information. Currently sworn staff are assisting with the functions, therefore, the addition of this position will assist in restoring capacity for sworn services. The department has four (4) Senior Secretary positions. Three (3) positions are assigned to provide clerical and administrative support to Deputy Chiefs assigned to the Administrative Services Division, Patrol Division, and the Investigative Services Division. One (1) Senior Secretary is assigned to the Internal Affairs (IA) Bureau to provide to provide clerical and administrative support to the IA Bureau Commander and five (5) sergeants. The addition of this position will allow for the Sworn staff to fully focus on policing duties.
Six (6) Background Investigators to the Unit in the Administrative Services Division. These duties are currently being performed by Sworn Officers. Background Investigators are responsible for conducting in-depth investigations that ensure applicants for positions in the department comply with all applicable minimum standards for appointment and screen out candidates who, based on their history or other relevant information, are found unsuitable for positions in the department. The responsibilities include conduct inquiries regarding the applicants’ character, conduct, driving history, use of illegal drugs, employment history, criminal history, credit history, education history, residential history, personal and professional references, and citizenship and age verification. Daily tasks include conduct interviews with applicants, contact employment supervisors and co-workers, personal references, neighbors, and landlords of applicants. Use a computer to complete standard, formatted background investigation reports consistent with POST guidelines. Make serious attempts to verify all negative or derogatory information gained in investigations. Maintain the confidentiality of all investigations, including all applicant file contents, investigation working documents and reports. Forward background investigation materials to the Personnel Bureau Commander at the conclusion of investigations. The new positions will allow the return of Officers to policing duties with an anticipated saving to the performance of these specific duties.
Six (6) Community Outreach Specialist to be assigned to the Duty Office in the Patrol Division which will allow Sworn Officers to maximize the presence of officers in the field. The on-duty sworn officer responsible for security operations at the Fresno Police Department and Police Annex. The duty officer coordinates the daily schedules to meet minimum staffing needs, achieve training objectives, and minimize overtime expenditures, and overall operations related to the daily patrol matrix. The duty officer assists in the Patrol Matrix construction, duty assignments, transfers, and documentation of patrol operations. The duty officer coordinates department response to critical incidents including officer involved shootings, in-custody deaths, SWAT or Crisis Negotiations Team callouts, mutual aid requests (fires), and other unusual occurrences. The duty officer maintains sufficient emergency inventories of firearms, radios, and specific miscellaneous equipment needed by members after hours. The duty officer answers phones, directs messages, and points of contacts, and takes citizen complaints. Check hundreds of e-reports weekly, all daily, weekly, monthly overtime reports staff requires, maintain logs for loaning officers, mandatory overtime, volunteer overtime, vacation logs, all OTTO entries for all patrol, DCB, EPCD monitoring and maintenance including resetting passwords, maintaining all department operation manuals. Responsible for three (3) vehicles used for out-of-town training. Conduct audits as staffing members require based on information maintained. Responsible for scheduling ride-alongs, and maintaining all forms required. Oversee all contract services which is a full-time assignment and assist with crime stoppers. Open 24 hours a day.
Two (2) Risk Analyst assigned to the Workers’ Compensation Unit in the Administrative Services Division has been identified for civilianization. The Risk Analysts will be responsible for all worker's compensation paperwork for the department. Daily tasks include ensure Form DWC-1 is given to every member the day the department has knowledge of a work related or potential work-related injury. Ensure Form Supervisor’s Report of Injury/Accident is filled out within 24 hours of being reported. Enter claim information into the City’s third-party administrator software system. Light duty coordinator duties. Employee assistance program referrals. Receive, track and file medical provider work status reports. Maintain confidential member medical files. Receive, process, track, and file FMLA/CFRA requests. Maintain and distribute the department’s LTA/LD list of industrial and non-industrial absences and light duty assignments. Maintain Cal/OSHA Form 300 including annual closeout of prior year log and begin new log, obtain required signatures, and post prior year summaries. Participate in interactive process meetings. Telephone and email communications with members, medical providers, third-party claims adjusters, Risk Management, and department executive and supervisory members.
One (1) Background Investigator will be assigned to the Special Investigations Bureau in the Investigative Services Division to complete the required background checks for a commercial cannabis business permit. Pursuant to FMC Section 9-3318(c): At the time of submission of an application for a commercial cannabis business permit, all operators, owners, investors, and managers of a commercial cannabis business or cannabis retail business shall submit information for a background check.
One (1) Community Coordinator (CC) position will be assigned to the Office of Media and Community Engagement in the Chief’s Office. The CC serves as the liaison between the police department and the media. The CC acts as a confidential aide to the Chief in matters of the media and may attend meetings on behalf of the Chief as directed. The CC has a variety of job duties, but written and verbal communication is the basis for all they do. They liaise between the department and the public and may be responsible for issuing press releases, social media updates, answering queries from the media, and arranging interviews with department members.
Twenty-five (25) Police Cadet II positions will allow the Department the flexibility to onboard and ensure that the positions are being accorded the proper benefits. Per City policy, Cadets in the approved Position Control Numbers (PCN) approved by Council are considered benefited while those that are not hired in a PCN are treated as temporary staff. The creation of these PCN’s is merely a procedural allowance that would build a pipeline that would improve recruitment efforts; create additional capacity for non-sworn police services; and create a steady pipeline of recruits that as they cycle through the cadet program in the various areas of public safety. This would also allow the Department the ability to continue striving to meet the mayor’s goal of hiring 120 new officers in 15 months to deliver on its commitment of providing excellent service. These positions will not require additional funding, they will merely afford the Department the flexibility to transition staff in the pipeline and expenses related to these positions will be entirely covered with savings generated from vacant approved positions. In 2021, the department hired 24 new recruits from various academies; 11 from FCC 163; 1 from COS 151; 12 from FCC 165. The department anticipates hiring additional new recruits from the current academies; 24 from FCC 166 (Recruit hire date March 28, 2022); 19 FCC 167 (Recruit hire date July 4, 2022); One (1) additional candidate is in the hiring process who is currently enrolled in FCC 167. The additional 25 Cadet II positions will allow the department to hire cadets who are 20.5 years of age and sponsor directly into the upcoming academies - FCC 168 commencing April 18, 2022, and FCC 169 commencing June 6, 2022. The department anticipates sponsoring 40 cadets to the April academy and 20 to the June academy. In partnership with the Department of Defense, Skill Bridge Program, military personnel who are at the end of their contract are allowed to intern at the department with the option to apply for cadet positions. The department hired two (2) cadets from Skill Bridge. One is sponsored to FCC 166 and one to FCC 167. Two (2) Cadet II recruitments have been completed, one in November 2021 and one in January 2022. 95 candidates from the January recruitment are invited to the physical agility test on Saturday, February 5, 2022. There are 57 candidates in the hiring process from the November recruitment. The approval of these positions, coupled with the available PCN’s from vacancies will allow the Department to ensure that all cadets are afforded the benefits allotted to them by City policy and increase retention and attractiveness to future candidates.
Department of Public Utilities
The Department of Public Utilities is requesting four (4) positions that will assist the Department with meeting several upcoming Federal and State regulatory mandates and standards as well as provide support to Capital Projects and several Water Management Plans.
The Solid Waste Division is requesting one (1) Solid Waste Manager to meet existing and upcoming Federal and State regulatory mandates established for solid waste operations and to achieve the goal of delisting the Fresno Sanitary Landfill (FSL) from the US National Priority List. This manager will also manage the resources to meet requirements set forth on a Consent Decree to protect groundwater on areas impacted by the FSL. The manager will be involved on the regulatory aspects of AB 939, AB 1826, SB 1383, all legislative mandates regarding solid waste reduction and recycling programs, and will help provide the Solid Waste Assistant Director with the best course of action to implement those regulations. The Solid Waste Division only has one Manager supervising 10 Supervisors providing oversight to 84 residential drivers and 63 field service workers in operation clean-up, litter control and HART program, that provides service to 114,544 residential customers. The addition of these duties to the current manager can severely impact the ongoing operations while increasing the risk of penalties for not meeting these mandates in a timely manner.
The Wastewater Management Division (WMD) is requesting one (1) Laboratory Assistant for the WMD Environmental Laboratory, an accredited laboratory with the State of California. The Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (ELAP) is the accrediting body for all environmental laboratories in California. In January 2021, ELAP adopted a version of The NELAC Institute (TNI-2) Standard for managing all factors that could potentially affect the quality of laboratory results. All accredited laboratories in California are required to meet and continuously comply with TNI-2 standards within three years of implementation of the new ELAP Regulations. The TNI-2 standards dramatically increase the tracking and documentation requirements for testing, document control, training and meetings will increase the workload of laboratory technicians, senior laboratory staff and the supervisor of the laboratory. The current staff is dedicated to laboratory work and without a new position, these additional duties will have to be absorbed by existing staff resulting in overtime costs, delaying test results which are highly time sensitive and overall impacting current workloads that can result in negative audit reviews, and a potential risk to losing laboratory accreditation.
The department is also requesting one (1) permanent part time (PPT) Projects Administrator position to provide additional necessary special projects support work on various department administerial activities as well as overseeing preparation and execution of extra-territorial agreements, coordination with other public utilities agencies within the city, preparation of various city council materials and agenda items. The position will also coordinate with the Utilities Planning & Engineering Capital Improvement Projects on an as needed basis. These duties are currently performed by temporary Supervising Professional Engineer, however, given the current demand for higher level administerial support, the Department would significantly benefit from a permanent Projects Administrator instead to maintain consistency and to ensure that these activities progress in a timely and efficient manner.
The department is also requesting one (1) Supervising Professional Engineer (SPE) Position to provide additional necessary lead, oversight and management of the Utilities, Planning and Engineering Division staff in the activities of engineering work of capital improvement projects, to include, but not limited to; tank projects, recharge and water banking facilities, new pump station and pipeline installations, reclaimed water system for landscape irrigation, technical review on large planning and environmental documents such as the, Metropolitan Water Resources Management Plan, Downtown Neighborhood Community Plan, Fulton Corridor Specific Plan, and the Upper Kings Basin Integrated Regional Water Management Plan. These duties are currently performed by temporary Supervising Professional Engineer, however, given the current demand for Engineering staff and turnover rates experienced with temporary labor, the Division would significantly benefit from a permanent administrator to support, maintain consistency and to ensure that these projects progress on schedule.
Department of Public Works
With the passage of Measure “P”, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), and the new Federal infrastructure bill, the Public Works Department is in need of increased capacity for Project Management and Construction Management functions. The Facilities Management Division is in the process of restructuring their service delivery to best meet the building needs of the City, through the consolidation of services that create efficiencies and extend the life of city assets. With the intent of meeting these goals, Staff recommend the Council authorize a total of 22 additional positions, three (3) in Project Management, three (3) positions in Construction Management and sixteen (16) in Facilities Management for these critical infrastructure and maintenance projects, in order that the projects may be delivered as efficiently and expeditiously as possible.
In the Engineering Services Division, the Department proposes to add two (2) Projects Administrators to serve in senior project management roles and one (1) Professional Engineer to serve in a project manager role for the capital program. One of the Projects Administrator positions and the Professional Engineer will be added to a new Site Development Project Management Section within the Engineering Services Division. This new section will also include three existing staff positions acting in the project manager role. This new section will manage the project workload that is currently managed by the Facilities Management Division within Public Works and the additional new infrastructure projects proposed under the Measure “P” Program. These additional positions will provide the senior project manager and technical engineering expertise that the new section needs to deliver the complex project workload. The second Projects Administrator position proposed in the Engineering Services Division would be added to the Special Projects Section, which currently manages projects such as Veterans Boulevard, Blackstone and McKinley Grade Separation and the Midtown Trail program. This new position will provide additional senior project manager expertise to assist in project delivery of some of the most complex projects in the City. This section will also play a significant role in delivering projects under the ARPA and the new Federal infrastructure bill.
In the Construction Management Division, the Department proposes to add one (1) Engineering Inspector I/II for field inspection, one (1) Engineering Technician I/II for the office support of field inspection staff, and one (1) Contract Compliance Officer to handle duties associated with the new Measure P projects and the Project Labor Agreement (PLA) that was approved by the Council in September 2021.Currently Construction Management is administering over 99 active projects with a construction value of over $190 million dollars and it is anticipated that the Measure P and PLA projects will place a significant increased workload on the Construction Management Division in three key job areas. The first is the Engineering Inspector II who performs inspections services and ensures the projects are constructed in accordance with the plans and specifications, verifies installed bid item quantities for payment, drafts monthly payments to the contractor, drafts correspondence to the contractors, and drafts any needed Contract Change Orders. The second new position is the Engineering Technician II who will be assigned the complex administrative project tasks such as monitoring the contractor’s Requests for Information and product submittals and routing them to the appropriate Consultant or Engineer, assists the Engineering Inspector in the preparation of payments to the contractor and any Contract Change Orders. Lastly the Contract Compliance Officer position will be used to provide much needed backup assistance to the current Contract Compliance Officer who currently is the only person monitoring and tracking all certified payroll requirements on the nearly 100 construction projects overseen by Public Works. With the recently approved PLA by City Council in September 2021, the new Contract Compliance Officer will also verify and track compliance with the new PLA. This position will verify that City of Fresno residents are being utilized and registered local trade apprentices are being hired. In addition, this position will track and create labor usage data derived from actual labor utilized and provide that data to the City Administration.
During the Great Recession the Facilities Management Division was severely impacted and a significant portion of the workforce was reduced to meet budgetary constraints. Much of the preventative maintenance was discontinued and focus to emergency repairs were prioritized, at times by the skeleton crew of remaining internal staff or by outside contractors at an increased cost to the City. Over the last decade, Facilities has regained some of the positions but not enough to fully address the building maintenance needs and deficiencies of City buildings that have been outlined in various Facility Condition Indexes. The inability to attend to the maintenance has caused that the Division pay more for repairs and diminished life expectancy of critical assets such as HVAC’s and the aesthetics of many City Buildings have also been impacted by the reduction in the Painter classification. Facilities is changing the way it does business by shifting the focus to maintenance work only and through the consolidation of similar functions and to address the maintenance functions of the new Public Utilities Administration Facility. The Division is requesting a total of 16 positions to enable it to meet these goals.
One (1) new Capital Development Specialist has a working title of Project Manager. Facilities Management currently has four (4) Project Managers and is averaging 70 -80 projects at any given time. This means close to 20 projects per Project Manager, which is an unacceptable workload. Considering Measure P funding, that number of project is expected to increase. Facilities Management needs to add a Capital Development Specialist to assist with this workload.
Four (4) new A/C Mechanic positions. Facilities Management currently has two (2) A/C Mechanic positions to maintain all units at City Hall, the MSC, PD sites, DPU sites, Santa Fe Depot, the MET, Fresno Art Museum, Parking Garages and all PARCS locations. Sometimes it is necessary to call in outside vendors to assist with the workload. Analysis shows the current average time between the time a work order request is assigned to the time the work is finished is 17 days. We consider this to be unacceptable particularly during intense heat waves and need to reduce this response time. Facilities will also be taking on the maintenance responsibilities of several additional sites, such as the DPU Admin building (Old Fresno Bee), which is approximately 220,000 square feet with aging equipment. In addition to this, the positions will assist in developing and delivering a manageable, comprehensive Preventative Maintenance program. Without the increased staffing capacity, imminent failures of system can prove to more costly.
Four (4) new Property Maintenance Worker positions. Facilities Management currently has six (6) Property Maintenance Worker positions, 2 of which are dedicated to the Fulton Fountain maintenance. The other four (4) are tasked with all of the building maintenance needs for City Hall, the MSC, PD sites, DPU sites, Santa Fe Depot, the MET, Fresno Art Museum, Parking Garages and all PARCS locations. Sometimes it is necessary to call in outside vendors to assist with the workload. Analysis shows the current average time between the time a work order request is assigned to the time the work is finished is 14 days. We consider this to be unacceptable and need to reduce this response time. The positions also must address ongoing vandalism at multiple City locations, which recently have included: Santa Fe Depot, the H Street Warehouse, Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Romain Park, Roeding Park, Fresno Art Museum, Fulton Fountains, Gottschalks and the Meux Home. Facilities will also be taking on the maintenance responsibilities of several additional sites, such as the DPU Admin building (Old Fresno Bee), which is approximately 220,000 square feet was built in 1977. In addition to this, the positions will assist with developing and delivering a manageable, comprehensive Preventative Maintenance program, without these critical positions, response times and necessary preventative maintenance will not be completed and can potentially increase repair and replacement costs of systems in the future.
Four (4) new Painter positions. Facilities Management currently does not have any Painter positions. Painting work has been limited to requests from departments and has been completed by a vendor which can increase the cost in comparison to in house performance. The additional Painters would participate in the implementation of a maintenance painting program to bring all of our City buildings back to an aesthetically pleasing state and contribute to the overall goal of Beautifying Fresno.
Three (3) new Electrician positions. Facilities Management currently has three (3) Electrician positions to address all of the electrical needs for City Hall, the MSC, PD sites, DPU sites, Santa Fe Depot, the MET, Fresno Art Museum, Parking Garages and all PARCS locations. Sometimes it is necessary to call in outside vendors to assist with the workload. Analysis shows the current average time between the time a work order request is assigned to the time the work is finished is 11 days. This response is unacceptable and this response time needs to be reduced. Electricians also have to address ongoing vandalism at multiple City locations, which recently have included: Santa Fe Depot, the H Street Warehouse, Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Romain Park, Roeding Park, Fresno Art Museum, Fulton Fountains, Gottschalks and the Meux Home. Facilities will also be taking on the maintenance responsibilities of several additional sites, such as the DPU Admin building (Old Fresno Bee), which is approximately 220,000 square feet was built in 1977. In addition to this, the positions will participate in developing and delivering a manageable, comprehensive Preventative Maintenance program.
Department of Transportation
In an effort to sustain the City-provided services effectively, FAX is requesting approval of the following five (5) additional positions to help meet these critical functions.
The department requests one (1) Principal Account Clerk (PAC) position to add to the 2-person team that is currently tasked with processing the payroll activities of a 543-employee department. These duties include posting, balancing, and preparing departmental payroll documents, adjusting for employee sign-ups (up to 8 times per year over several Bargaining Units), tracking/posting Workers Compensation claims (appx. 200 cases), Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) (appx. 250 cases), light duty, COVID-19, time donations, State Disability Insurance, and Federal Labor Standards Act. Other tasks include audit\research regarding overtime, FMLA, Employee Development Department claims and timecards, as well as the administration of acting, provisional and certificate pay. The magnitude of these duties has had significant impact on the current staff which has been required to consistently work overtime, to delay scheduled vacations in order to meet the critical deadlines of the positions. The performance of current staff is not sustainable, and the new position will alleviate the workload and provide flexibility and consistency while ensuring that sufficient coverage exists in case of long-term absences and employee burnout.
The department requests two (2) Communication Technician II positions to perform preventative maintenance, repair, and installation of transit technology system-wide, which is relied upon to provide service daily. FAX’s current systems have aged and require additional repair and preventative maintenance well exceeding available resources. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) requires FAX to maintain our assets in state of good repair and malfunctions of these systems may prevent compliance with FTA regulations, including both State of Good Repair and the reporting of key passenger data to the FTA’s National Transit Database. Frequent repairs are required to the onboard camera systems which are heavily relied upon for internal use, including defending the City’s position in vehicle collisions and injury claims. FAX has increased its cellular-based equipment onboard buses, as well as deployed real-time bus arrival displays to Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), Manchester Transit Center, and Courthouse Park. Additionally, the radio systems, computer-aided dispatch/automatic vehicle location (CAD/AVL), automatic passenger counters, automatic Americans with Disability Act (ADA) announcements, real time information communication and displays, and security cameras require constant software management. These resources will also be responsible for the installation of new/upgraded vehicle technology as FAX works to replace the fleet.
The department requests one (1) Risk Analyst II (RAII) position in the Personnel section of the Administration Division. Due to the extraordinary impacts of long-term absences of the operations staff, a division with more than 300 FTEs, the current workload exceeds the capacity of the one dedicated analyst. This RAII will be tasked with confidential duties to include, managing caseloads and analysis of Worker’s Compensation, Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), providing specific payroll activity oversight, Annual Evaluation compliance and partnering with a peer RAII who is tasked with writing discipline to find the nexus of all the variables with the goal of improving reliability and attendance throughout the department.
The department requests one (1) Management Analyst II (MAII) position in the Administration Division. The department lacks a dedicated staff member to manage mandated statistical analysis and Federal and State reporting compliance and currently relies on several overburdened staff members to achieve compliance. The FTA and Caltrans require regular reporting and data analytics, as well as a comprehensive annual audit of all key performance indicators. Failure to meet these requirements jeopardizes eligibility for existing and new grant funding. If not approved, these tasks, which include National Transit Database (NTD) annual reports for both fixed route and paratransit, NTD monthly service statistics report, NTD monthly safety and security/accident report --“major” and “non-major” accidents, monthly statistical report to director (attendance, productivity), audit participation (FTA, TDA, NTD, Single Audit, etc.), APTA quarterly reporting (fixed route and paratransit), State Controller’s Office (SCO) reporting--fixed route and paratransit: ridership, employee hours, Vehicle Revenue Miles (VRM), and Vehicle Revenue Hours (VRH) for use in the City’s report to the State Controller’s Office, Triennial Automated Passenger Count (APC) validation studies (APC/DavisWeb requires validation for the FTA), will be at risk for timely and thoughtful compilation, completion and submittal.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
This is not a “project” for the purpose of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) Guidelines Section 15378 and is therefore exempt from the CEQA requirements.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference is not implicated because this item does not involve public contracting or bidding with the City of Fresno.
FISCAL IMPACT
The addition of one hundred seven (107) full time and two (2) part time positions will not result in increased salary and benefit expense in Fiscal Year 2022, as there is sufficient funding in the respective Department’s budget as appropriated in the Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Appropriation Resolution.
Attachment:
5th Amendment to Position Authorization Resolution (“PAR”) No. 2021-179