Amended Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Recommendation Copyright 2014
City of Dubuque Action Items # 7.
ITEM TITLE: Amended Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Recommendation
SUMMARY: City Manager recommending the position of Training and
Workforce Development Coordinator be added to the list of
frozen positions for Fiscal Year 2017.
SUGGESTED DISPOSITION: Suggested Disposition: Receive and File
ATTACHMENTS:
Description Type
Amended Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Recommendation- City Manager Memo
MVM Memo
THE CITY OF Dubuque
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Masterpiece on the Mississippi 2007-2012-2013
TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Amended Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Recommendation
DATE: February 11, 2016
The position of Training and Workforce Development Coordinator in the Human Rights
Department is vacant due to a resignation.
The position of Training and Workforce Development Coordinator was created as part
of the FY09 budget process, and was filled in March of 2009. The creation of the
position followed an extensive process that began with the creation of a Diversity Task
Force in 2004. The Task Force involved a mix of government employees and
community members who designed a request for proposals and issued a
recommendation to the City Council to hire a consultant to perform an organizational
diversity assessment. Ultimately, the Council hired One Ummah Consulting, who
worked with the City from 2006 through 2008. During that time, they conducted an
organizational assessment, issued a report and recommendations, conducted initial
training for all staff, and also trained trainers and a steering committee in the
organization.
Throughout the Report and Recommendations, One Ummah Consulting emphasized
that the City's current staffing levels and organizational structure did not lend itself to
carrying out intercultural competence work, and that without the commitment of
resources and a focus on various pieces of the system at once, progress would be
minimal at best. The City Council approved creation of the Training and Workforce
Development Coordinator position so that the City could insure not only that training
efforts would be ongoing, but also that there was an individual devoted to investing time
into recruiting and retaining a highly qualified and diverse workforce.
Andre Lessears began work in March 2009 and was the first person to hold this
position. During the years he has been here, Andre has spent significant time working
with managers to examine and adjust recruitment, interviewing, hiring, and orientation
processes so that the City is able to attract and hire a diverse group of people with the
necessary skills. This is time intensive work that requires evaluation of position
descriptions and recruitment and interview processes on a position by position basis.
The chart below shows the progress that has been made in hiring since his position has
been in place:
Am.
Active Employees Asian Black White Hispanic Indian Male Female Total
2007 Total 2 6 881 5 1 567 328 895
2015 Total 5 34 1014 18 1 685 387 1072
2007 Full Time 0 1 497 3 1 391 111 502
2015 Full Time 1 10 575 6 1 456 137 593
2007 Part Time &
Temporary 2 5 384 2 0 176 217 393
2015 Part Time &
Temporary 4 24 439 12 0 229 250 479
;Sou rce: EEO-4 Reports fled in 2007 and 2015;those of Hispanic ethnicity may also be counted in the black or white number
In addition, the City added an on-line recruitment component with associated software,
developed a series of orientation workshops for new staff, and created an intranet for
employee use and sharing of tools and resources. The City also established a process
whereby department managers meet with Andre prior to beginning recruitment for an
open position in order to develop a recruitment plan and capture the information
necessary to begin to analyze efforts and continually improve. Andre also leads the
City's team of trained trainers, and carries out the intercultural workshops offered for
staff and residents.
Andre's last day of work will be February 26, as he has accepted a position with Ohio
University. Currently, the Police Department has put forth sufficient effort in the
recruitment arena that they likely can continue without Andre's assistance. Human
Rights Director Kelly Larson could continue to work with one or two Department
Managers on recruitment strategies, but there would not be staffing to work with each
department as recruitment opportunities arise. There also would not be staffing to
coordinate or carry out intercultural workshops in the community, or orientation
workshops for staff, though current Human Rights staff will work to ensure that the
trainings scheduled for this spring are completed. The work that Andre has recently
been doing around staff transition planning also would not continue, nor would
succession planning work related to anticipated retirements and/or areas with an
anticipated future skills gap. Finally, efforts to institutionalize a system for tracking and
evaluating the success of recruitment and retention efforts so that the City is able to
identify and remedy problems and continuously improve will be limited.
While the City has made progress having the dedicated assistance of a Training and
Workforce Development Coordinator, there remains work to be done. With all this in
mind, I still respectfully recommend that this position be added to the list of frozen
positions, in the hope that the City will be able to fill the position in Fiscal Year 2018 to
continue this important work.
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The impact of the Fiscal Year 2017 budget recommendation is a reduction in costs of
$99,118. This would reduce the tax rate from the recommended $11 .2152 to $11 .1731
(a 1 .34% increase from Fiscal Year 2016).
Impact on Property Tax Classes for
City Share of Property taxes:
Residential $ 8.41 1.12%
Commercial $ 57.53 1.83%
Industrial $ (380.16) -7.23%
Multiresidential $ (64.26) -2.89%
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Mic ael C. Van Milligen
MCVM:jh
Attachment
cc: Barry Lindahl, City Attorney
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
Teri Goodmann, Assistant City Manager
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