Agenda - Council - 11/14/2000 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Human Resources Manager Heryla stated that on September 5, 2000, staff re~/i~:a'd with Council the difficulties experienced in recruiting and hiring a City Planner. A~:~thai:: meeting, Council agreed to offer a higher salary to Aaron Buffington if necess~'?{~'~-'~':§~ure his employment as a City Planner; however Mr. Buffington declined,' Conside~'~:~the alt~fi~es, staff is recommended recruiting a Senior Planner in the hopes of dr~M~'~k a larger qualified applicants to meet the needs of the Commun/ty Development~'Depa~nt, At this in time, staff does not believe that re-advertising the City Planne~lSon ~'~'~'d yield results that the pervious recruitment measures. Both the Human!'Sd§:°ur~e"Manager and the City ....... :~.:.~,, -~. . . Administrator have contacted other mumc~pallt~es who have.?cently recruited City Planners. Their results have been s~mflar to Ramsey s m that ~ey:¢~ave rece}y~ few apphcants from mostly inexperienced candidates. With this in mind,.,!tS¢:alternatives ~fb?~o.~hire a consultant or recruit a Senior Planner. Because of the need in:}:.~dnity Dever~ent to handle daily ........ "t' '~ ~ , 4' ~:~,.~"¢. 'il' '~.', ;~;" responsibihtms, ~nctudmg being accessible to c~t~zens or cOn~actoi's)~ anawer questmns and address concerns, staffrecom ne ded r cruitinga Senior elan~'~r~s hiring a consultant. A Senior Planner would ~ve more adequate backup to the Commui~Developm~n_t'Direct0r and her staff. Furthermore, the addition o(a Senior Planner at this p~i~¢in tim~'i'."'kilI allow for pro~ession along a learning curve i~li~ting .familiadty with the chali~g~}if~:~ing the City of Ramsey prior to lifting the building."m31-ato~dm~and the resulting in~'e in development inquires and community conc~:~' A~'ording'~b:'~i{~:'2000 Stanton su~ey, the average salary range from Group 6 cities for'a~? Seni~¢Planner is be~4e~:~42;,t-.~7'and $54,384. In Group 5 cities, the average salary range is betweei4:'$47,232:.~t:i~'59,84-~!~i~i4. minimum requirements of 6-8 years of experience and an advanced ~a~ee;i'~ is 'cons~t a professional level position and would thereforenot be considered part'~th)~:~nion. ' TM Councilmemb~ H~ndrikse'nl ~aggested that st~-'shoOd use a consultant on a temporary basis to -.. ;5:Z~ · _ assist the Community Devqlb'pment Depart ~' they are in the process of recruiting a Councilmemb~iZimm~'ai~n-h~f~fre~h~-::(he City would need a Senior Planner at this time when they have alre~dyspent $100,000 on writing a Comprehensive Plan for the City. .,.?71?i;::; ? iby X istrator No'rm n_rep!ied that the Community Development Director would prefer to hire some0newith expefien~e"~b:'~hat they could immediately help her with the work flow. Councilmemb~::Connell'~)::~tated that staff should consider work experience in lieu of advance degree when ad¥6rtising for the position. Motion by M~yor Gamec, seconded by Counciimember Anderson, to recommend that City Council upgrade the City Planner position to a Senior Planner position and authorize staff to initiate the: recruitment process for a Senior Planner with the advertisement indicating that work experience will be considered in place of education. Personnel Committee/September 13, 2000 Page 6 of 7