Matthew
01-10-2008, 09:47 AM
A plan to reorganize an El Dorado County Department that for the past decade has overseen everything from vehicle and airport maintenance to parks and museums has received preliminary approval from the Board of Supervisors.
Laura Gill, county chief administrative officer, said the board asked her to recommend changes in the General Services Department because of concerns about the frequent turnover in department directors.
Parks and trails advocates and county museum volunteers urged the board last week not to alter a system that they said is working well.
But board members said changes are needed to better manage the multitude of activities that currently fall under the General Services umbrella.
At issue, Supervisor Jack Sweeney said, is "How can we best supervise people and get the most bang for the buck."
Gill said the core mission of the department is to provide facility and fleet services, and her initial plan was to reassign ancillary functions to other departments.
After a proposal presented in October drew protests from the public and county employees, Gill said she met with a number of commissions and employees and revised her recommendation.
The plan the board endorsed Tuesday calls for establishing maintenance, facilities and parks divisions within the department, which Gill said she intends to rename, though a new title has not been determined.
The maintenance division would provide vehicle fleet, cemeteries, grounds and custodial services, while the facilities division would handle facility planning and construction, building maintenance and airport lease management. The parks division would oversee parks and trails planning, and river management.
Several functions, however, would be transferred to the Department of Transportation, including airport operations, trails construction and maintenance of the Rubicon Trail. Gill said the transportation staff has experience working on large projects that involve federal grants, which could benefit the two county-owned airports. They have experience building trails and bicycle paths, and in restoration and erosion control activities.
Gill recommended transferring oversight of the county museum to the Library Department, noting that both share an educational and archival focus.
Trails advocates said they were concerned about turning over trails construction to the Department of Transportation. Trails, including the 28-mile section of former Southern Pacific Railroad right of way that extends from the Sacramento County line to just west of Placerville, should be viewed as linear parks, they said.
Jerry Ledbetter, chairman of the county trails advisory committee, said the turnover in personnel in the General Services Department has made trails and park planning difficult because organizational memory has been lost. But he said the system is running well now under the direction Jordan Postlewait, manager of airports, parks and grounds.
"If it isn't broken, don't fix it," Ledbetter said. "We have about 17 projects that are now in the mill."
Several people said a separate parks and recreation department is needed to focus on developing the county's recreational resources.
Rich Platt, a retired resource officer with the U.S. Forest Service, said El Dorado County is the playground for the region, and the supervisors need to consider all its recreational assets.
Although Gill argued that with only two county parks, a separate parks and recreation department is not warranted, Platt said the county will continue to grow and more parks will be developed.
The Department of Transportation does a great job, he said, "but they're the folks that are engineers. They don't deal with social issues."
Members of the county's Historical Museum Commission also argued that the museum belongs with parks and recreation, saying they view their facilities as both a museum and park. Commission member Jeanette Barrett said the museum has an active group of about 75 volunteers who donate more than 15,000 hours of service annually, and they work well with the county parks staff.
Supervisor Helen Baumann said she did not understand parks advocates' objections to the reorganization, arguing that parks would seem to have more prominence as a separate division in the department than they do under the current organization.
Board members said a parks and recreation department may be warranted someday, but creating a separate operation now would cost an estimated $330,000, an expense the county can't afford as it contemplates potentially severe budget cuts.
Supervisor Norma Santiago supported the reorganization. "I can see this as a transition," she said. "I think this is a good first step."
Gill and board members stressed that the reorganization was not undertaken to reduce costs, but rather to improve management. The changes would be implemented in July and would be revenue neutral, resulting in no job losses, Gill said.
However, she said, "I can't say the same thing as we march through the fiscal 2009 budget."
But Supervisor Baumann said any job losses that occurred in the next fiscal year would be due to budget constraints, not the reorganization.
Laura Gill, county chief administrative officer, said the board asked her to recommend changes in the General Services Department because of concerns about the frequent turnover in department directors.
Parks and trails advocates and county museum volunteers urged the board last week not to alter a system that they said is working well.
But board members said changes are needed to better manage the multitude of activities that currently fall under the General Services umbrella.
At issue, Supervisor Jack Sweeney said, is "How can we best supervise people and get the most bang for the buck."
Gill said the core mission of the department is to provide facility and fleet services, and her initial plan was to reassign ancillary functions to other departments.
After a proposal presented in October drew protests from the public and county employees, Gill said she met with a number of commissions and employees and revised her recommendation.
The plan the board endorsed Tuesday calls for establishing maintenance, facilities and parks divisions within the department, which Gill said she intends to rename, though a new title has not been determined.
The maintenance division would provide vehicle fleet, cemeteries, grounds and custodial services, while the facilities division would handle facility planning and construction, building maintenance and airport lease management. The parks division would oversee parks and trails planning, and river management.
Several functions, however, would be transferred to the Department of Transportation, including airport operations, trails construction and maintenance of the Rubicon Trail. Gill said the transportation staff has experience working on large projects that involve federal grants, which could benefit the two county-owned airports. They have experience building trails and bicycle paths, and in restoration and erosion control activities.
Gill recommended transferring oversight of the county museum to the Library Department, noting that both share an educational and archival focus.
Trails advocates said they were concerned about turning over trails construction to the Department of Transportation. Trails, including the 28-mile section of former Southern Pacific Railroad right of way that extends from the Sacramento County line to just west of Placerville, should be viewed as linear parks, they said.
Jerry Ledbetter, chairman of the county trails advisory committee, said the turnover in personnel in the General Services Department has made trails and park planning difficult because organizational memory has been lost. But he said the system is running well now under the direction Jordan Postlewait, manager of airports, parks and grounds.
"If it isn't broken, don't fix it," Ledbetter said. "We have about 17 projects that are now in the mill."
Several people said a separate parks and recreation department is needed to focus on developing the county's recreational resources.
Rich Platt, a retired resource officer with the U.S. Forest Service, said El Dorado County is the playground for the region, and the supervisors need to consider all its recreational assets.
Although Gill argued that with only two county parks, a separate parks and recreation department is not warranted, Platt said the county will continue to grow and more parks will be developed.
The Department of Transportation does a great job, he said, "but they're the folks that are engineers. They don't deal with social issues."
Members of the county's Historical Museum Commission also argued that the museum belongs with parks and recreation, saying they view their facilities as both a museum and park. Commission member Jeanette Barrett said the museum has an active group of about 75 volunteers who donate more than 15,000 hours of service annually, and they work well with the county parks staff.
Supervisor Helen Baumann said she did not understand parks advocates' objections to the reorganization, arguing that parks would seem to have more prominence as a separate division in the department than they do under the current organization.
Board members said a parks and recreation department may be warranted someday, but creating a separate operation now would cost an estimated $330,000, an expense the county can't afford as it contemplates potentially severe budget cuts.
Supervisor Norma Santiago supported the reorganization. "I can see this as a transition," she said. "I think this is a good first step."
Gill and board members stressed that the reorganization was not undertaken to reduce costs, but rather to improve management. The changes would be implemented in July and would be revenue neutral, resulting in no job losses, Gill said.
However, she said, "I can't say the same thing as we march through the fiscal 2009 budget."
But Supervisor Baumann said any job losses that occurred in the next fiscal year would be due to budget constraints, not the reorganization.