Agenda - Council Work Session - 07/11/2017

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Personnel Requests: 2018 Budget Position Justification/Description of Duties Administrative Assistant — Administration - NEW Position Justification: • The number, size, and popularity of City run events has grown tremendousely over the last five years and residents have come to expect well executed events that show the City's commitment to its residents, businesses and families. These events promote citizen engagement and community image which are both discussed in the City's strategic plan. At the same time, the City's ability to recruit new volunteers and new donations for events has plateaued, placing an increased demand on City staff. • The City's communications efforts have also grown which includes defining and promoting the Ramsey Brand and all-purpose marketing efforts with an emphasis on social media. Additionally, as technology, media devices, and social media continue to advance, the demand for staff dedicated to modern/ timely communications has increased year -after -year, for all organizations. This trend is consistent for the City of Ramsey. • Currently both of these roles (city run events and communications) fall primarily on one staff person; the Public Information and Events Specialist (and the supporting administrative intern). The volume of work for this one position is becoming unmanageable and is not meeting expectations. • The request to add one fulltime administrative assistant would be partially offsett by the elimination of the annual administrative intern (currently, full time for six months). While the administrative intern has been helpful in the past, there is a great deal of inefficiency that falls back to regular staff, including: recruitment time and cost, training time and costs, onboarding and IT costs, followed by a brief period of productive time on the job, followed by separation from the City employment after just 67 or 100 days on the job, and the potential for an unemployment claim from the State. Internships are limted to either 67 or 100 days on the job due to Minnsota Statute 179A, Public Employment Labor Relations. • The current staffing for City run events and communications (1 FT plus 1 item) also exposes the City to the risk of being unable to recover from staff turnover. In the event that the Public Information and Event Specialist leaves the City, or goes on a significant leave, a trained back up does not exist. Considering the standard in which the City's events and communications are currently operarting at (and continue to increase each year), not having a plan in place to address turnover is a major risk. Having at least one full time employee in place, trained on events and communications, will address this concern.