Title
Staff Report for a City of San Leandro City Council Resolution to Accept an Amendment to the Fiscal Year 2020-2021 City Operating Budget to Add a Full-Time Administrative Assistant III to the City Manager’s Office.
Staffreport
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
On March 15, 2021, the City Council approved the Second Quarter Budget Amendment for the 2020-2021 City Operating Budget. Based on City Council’s direction, staff presents an augmentation of staffing in the City Clerk’s Division of the City Manager’s Office, in response to the increased demands placed on this Division. Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution to amend the 2020-2021 mid-year budget to add a full-time Administrative Assistant III position in the City Clerk’s Division of the City Manager’s Office.
BACKGROUND
The City Clerk’s Division has seen a dramatic increase in workload, which includes preparing heavy and time-consuming agendas, implementing complex virtual meetings for City Council and newly formed committees and task force groups, coordinating high level public engagement communications and interactions, and serving as the hub for general public inquiries within the City. In particular, the City Clerk’s Division has experienced a steep increase in the volume of California Public Records Act requests and public inquiries that has significantly impacted workload.
All public records requests are received by the City Clerk Division for coordination. In 2020, the City received 301 public records requests. In the first six weeks of 2021, the City has received 105 public records requests. The coordination of public records requests within legally mandated guidelines and deadlines is an extremely time-consuming task. While the respective department gathers responsive documents, they are then submitted to the City Clerk’s Division for review, redaction, compilation, and dissemination to the requester.
Currently the City Clerk Division is staffed with two full-time positions - the City Clerk and Deputy City Clerk. The addition of one full-time Administrative Assistant III in the City Clerk’s Division would greatly assist in the immense workload. The Administrative Assistant III is proposed to coordinate all public records requests and ensure timely responses, provide interdepartmental assistance with the administration of public records requests, route public questions/inquiries to relevant departments, and assist with records management and board and committee meetings.
Fiscal Impacts
The Administrative Assistant III classification is currently set at range 58 ($61,428 - $74,676 annually). The proposed addition of the position will have a fiscal impact of approximately $32,350 for the remainder of FY 2020-2021 and an annual impact of $129,400 which will be requested in the upcoming FY 2021-2023 biennial budget. Staff recommends allocating the new position within the City Clerk (010-11-030; 67%) and Records Management (010-11-033; 33%) budgets respectively.
PREPARED BY: Emily Hung, Human Resources Manager, City Manager’s Office