City Council Focuses on Retaining, Attracting City Hall Staff at Goal-Setting Workshop
Council to discuss Alhambra Highlands, City Hall staffing at Wednesday's meeting; School Board to address student progress, funding, school safety and potential layoffs
Acknowledging that the success of their long-term goals depends first and foremost on building and retaining a skilled, engaged staff at City Hall, City Council members made that mission a major theme of their goal-setting workshop held Saturday at John Muir Elementary School’s Multipurpose Room.
The high turnover rate, including among top managers, at City Hall and challenge of filling vacant positions was a topic of concern during the November election and continues to be a focus of attention as new elected and appointed leaders take the reins of city government.
When council members were asked to vote on their top priorities over the next year to 18 months at the end of Saturday’s workshop, “staff attraction and retention” ranked highest, followed by “financial sustainability,” “strong downtown and commercial centers”; and “vibrant, sustainable waterfront and marina,” which all received the same level of support. Other themes the council discussed and prioritized for the near term are “cultural awareness: diversity, equity and inclusion”; “affordable housing and unhoused services”; “pedestrian and motorist safety”; and “accessible public parks and open space.”
A slide showing City Council priorities from Saturday’s workshop.
Led by the first new mayor in 20 years (Brianne Zorn) and a new city manager (Michael Chandler) and police chief (Andrew White), city leaders are focused on trying to bring some long-needed stability and continuity to City Hall after years in which the council leadership remained largely the same but the turnover among top administrators and staff raised concerns of workplace dysfunction. Even as Rob Schroder held the mayor’s gavel for 20 years (2002 to 2022), the tenure of city managers, who run the day-to-day operations of City Hall that are directly felt by residents, often lasted a few short years, if that, with departures sometimes coming suddenly and with little explanation. Chandler, a longtime city employee, took over the top spot this year after the sudden, and largely unexplained, departure of previous City Manager Eric Figueroa.
It was made clear from the discussion that, despite the fresh faces and new energy, the challenges at City Hall remain. Many positions remain unfilled, particularly with the police department, which struggles to maintain a minimum staffing ratio of at least four officers per shift. The workshop consisted largely of brainstorming and team-building exercises where staff and council members wrote their observations about the state of city government and hopes for the future on large poster-size sheets of paper taped to the walls around the Multipurpose Room. One of the themes that emerged was of a largely green city staff facing heavy workloads, backlog of tasks and demands on their time. Council members seemed to agree that boosting, and maintaining, morale and resources at City Hall will be the first step toward executing many of their ambitious plans, whether for the marina/waterfront, housing or commercial development.
A smattering of community members attended the workshop and offered public comments on issues of concern to them, often focusing on the same broad “themes” that dominated the workshop. Martinez Unified School District board member Yazmin Llamas also attended, asking the city for help in prioritizing resources such as tutoring centers and after-school activities for students who are struggling in the wake of disruptions caused by COVID-19. She noted that students living south of Highway 4 generally have more options for places to spend time after school, such as Sunvalley mall, than those who live/attend school north of Highway 4 closer to downtown and lack transportation.
March 1 City Council meeting preview
Keeping with the theme of the work environment at City Hall, Wednesday’s City Council meeting will include a presentation about the current state of staffing and ongoing recruitment. Other items of note include a services agreement with the John Muir Land Trust for “project evaluation tasks” related to the Alhambra Highlands Open Space project; and an application for an Alhambra Way Nature Mural to be created at the freeway underpass at Alhambra Way and Highway 4. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. and can be attended either in person or on Zoom. Click here for more information.
Feb. 27 School Board preview
The Martinez Unified School District Board of Trustees will hold a regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday. The board will receive a report on student progress under provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) looking at two benchmarks: Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) based on school-level outcomes (Title 1 schools) and Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI) based on school-level student group outcomes. The board will also review a resolution related to the possible layoff of certificated staff for the 2023-24 school year “due to lack of work and/or lack of funds”; discuss a recent survey of voters on a potential ballot measure to extend the district’s parcel tax; receive an update on funding from the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief III (ESSER) plan that was adopted in October 2021; and consider approving Comprehensive Safety Plans for each school site. The public meeting will be held in person at the district offices and can be viewed live on the district’s YouTube channel. Click here to access the meeting agenda.
Programming note: I need to carve out some time to work on putting together an article/podcast on my recent sit-down interview with Mayor Brianne Zorn, so posts may be a bit more infrequent or sparse during over the next week or two. I will try my best to keep you updated on any major news developments in the city.
It's a personal gripe for me. I believe the days of long term, committed employees is long gone by. That was a different generation. We were committed not because of the standards that were mentioned, or that there was any lack of knowledge for doing the job, but because we were usually long term RESIDENTS who knew the value of serving our community. Although if depth of knowledge has been OVERLOOKED in recent years, the City should: hire qualified people, and then invest in its employees by allowing them to add to their credentials through an educational assistance program. I left the Citys employment 30 years ago as part of a large layoff for lack of funding, and over the years a whole lot of long timers have left with their retirements intact; and they seem to have largely been replaced by what is considered the "mobile" generation. Remember? That was explained to us all as the reason why wages didn't need to have benefits attached. For some reason this MOBILE generation just doesn't care about retirement or healthcare. Or at least that was the line we were fed at the time (via different corporate responses to employees fleeing jobs). Now THIS report worries me that the issue is to raise wages instead of actually find qualified employees. ~But I would MAKE CERTAIN employees LIVE in this community.~ The price of gasoline alone is a good reason to want to KEEP your great job at the City. And in interview, they should seem rooted enough to stay. Pay a fair wage with decent benefits and the rest is gravy. And with Covid, more walls and doors and less direct access to seeing employees actually at their desks, like so many government offices it seems like they now hide their employees behind walls which doesn't add to the incentive to remain busy, so I don't like to be talking wage increases without public scrutiny of the desk itself. ~~~I like the list of goals and I would hope that list is part of an employees contract for work. Dedication needs to come at the promise to provide services along those areas that have been identified as critical to communities in Martinez. We need to stop thinking that they are going to respect the job, if they don't respect its community, and just come here for a paycheck. (The results of that is seen with high turnover in management for devades now.) Good chance at providing a long term job is-- providing fair treatment, fair pay, fair benefits that raise your whole family up, and a chosen commitment to the community you serve. (And accountability for management!) Going High.