ABSTRACT: The City’s Community Planning and Building Department has not had a full-time Director since Christi di Iorio abruptly and unexpectedly left the City in 2003. After four years, at the November 6, 2007 City Council meeting, the City Council decided to contract with Ralph Andersen and Associates for “the recruitment of a Community Planning and Building Director in an amount not-to-exceed $20,500.” Comments are made and relevant References are cited.
City Council Agenda
Regular Meeting
November 6, 2007
VII. Consent Calendar
These matters include routine financial and administrative actions, which are usually approved by a single majority vote. Individual items may be removed from Consent by a member of the Council or the public for discussion and action.
G. Consideration of a Resolution authorizing the City Administrator to execute a contract with Ralph Andersen and Associates for the recruitment of a Community Planning and Building Director in an amount not-to-exceed $20,500.
Meeting Date: November 6, 2007
Prepared by: Jane Miller, Human Resources Mgr.
City Council
Agenda Item Summary
Relevant excerpts, as follows:
Council authorized the position of Community Planning and Building Director with the adoption of the 2007/08 triennial budget.
The firm has provided a quote of $16,500 for professional services for plus expenses not to exceed $4,000.
Carmel-by-the-Sea
Planning Director Recruitment Proposal
(Task Sharing Approach)
Task 1-Review Project Management Approach - $500
Task 2–Develop Position Profile - $1,000
Task 3a–Outreach and Recruiting - $9,000
Task 3b-Advertising Strategy and Placement - $500
Task 4–Candidate Evaluation - $3,500
Task 5–Search Report - $1,500
Task 6–Selection – City Staff
Task 7–Negotiation – City Staff
Task 8–Close Out - $500
TOTAL: $16,500
COMMENTS:
• Another example of the City understaffing a City Department.
• For the City to fail to act to fill the Community Planning and Building Director position from 2003-2007 is a dereliction of responsibility.
• With annual budgets in excess of $12 million and reserve funds nearly $10 million the last few years, it is unconscionable for the Mayor, City Council Members and City Administrator to have allowed the Community Planning and Building Department to remain leaderless for four years.
• Whether the Mayor’s and City Administrator’s failure to expeditiously fill the Director position in 2003 is due to incompetence or an unarticulated motive, the result is a dysfunctional Community Planning and Building Department which has failed to fulfill its duties and responsibilities in a professional manner.
REFERENCES:
COMMUNITY PLANNING AND BUILDING
The Department of Community Planning and Building is responsible for the management of land use and environmental quality in Carmel-by-the-Sea. The planning function maintains the General Plan and ensures that capital programs, zoning and other activities of the City are consistent with the goals and policies of the Plan. The Department also provides staff support to the Planning Commission, the Historic Resources Board and the Design Review Board.
The Building function is responsible for review of construction plans and inspections of City and private development projects to ensure compliance with building codes. Enforcement of zoning, design, building and fire codes is also a responsibility of the Department.
Revised FY 2007/08
Community Planning and Building $721,001
Total: $ 13,094,894
City of Carmel-by-the-Sea
ORGANIZATIONAL CHART
FY 2007-2008
COMMUNITY
PLANNING & BUILDING
DIRECTOR
Building Inspector
Planning Services Mgr.
Senior Planner
Assistant Planner
Note: Overseeing the department are the Planning Services Manger Brian Roseth and Senior Planner Sean Conroy; the City has not had a Director since 2003, Building Inspector Tim Meroney retired this past summer and Assistant Planner Nathan Schmidt recently left the City.
MINUTES
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA
October 2, 2007
C. Announcements from City Administrator.
Planning Department vacancies
City Administrator Guillen noted the efforts to fill the positions of Code Enforcement Officer, Assistant Planner and Community Planning and Development Director.
Ralph Andersen & Associates
Heather Renschler, President/CEO
5800 Stanford Ranch Road, Suite 410
Rocklin, CA. 95765
(916) 630-4900
Web Site: http://www.ralphandersen.com/
For more information about Ralph Andersen & Associates, click on Post title above.
7 comments:
Christy di Iorio was obviously hired for the job even though she was not qualified. Was she hired because the salary wasn't enough to attract qualified candidates? Or was it because she is a passive-aggresive person, who the mayor believed she could dominate as she has the city administrator? Since di Iorio wasn't qualified, she apparently couldn't meet even the lowered standards that McCloud was willing to put up with in order to have someone in the position that could be pushed around. The ostensible reason that a replacement wasn't hired for four years was that the city had no money. This has been the reason for a lot of misfeasance on the part of the mayor and city council. Of course to put it in the most polite terms, this is inaccurate. The money has been there our elected officals have simply refused to spend it. Was this the reason for failing to hire a department director or was it something else? Was it because no qualified person would apply for a job working for someone like Sue McCloud for the offered salary? Was it that no qualified sufficently passive person could be found? Is the problem that the city council is only willing to spend money to mitigate a disaster, which the department has become (It should actually be two departments for greatest effectiveness).
Why did the city have to hire another consultant to find people who might be considered for this job? Is the city administrator considered so incompetent that he's not allowed to hire the people who report to him? Is it that if potential candidates get to interact with him too much the best will drop out of the running? Why have this mayor and her city councils been so willing to spend money on consultants whose product is so often ignored yet been so unwilling to spend money on things that are really important to Carmel like maintenance, adequate staff etc.? What kind of sense does that make?
If this happened in any other Monterey County city, The Herald would be all over this story. I guess Carolina forgot to tell us Sue is Editor-in-Chief for all things Carmel.
Carmel Watchdog,
You really don’t appreciate how good you have it when these are the types of issues you complain about. As for the Planning and Building Department I am appalled by your comment, "the result is a dysfunctional Community Planning and Building Department which has failed to fulfill its duties and responsibilities in a professional manner." You obviously do not deal with the City staff on a daily basis. As a local contractor I have nothing but praise for the Planning and Building Department. I welcome the chance to deal with Carmel’s permitting process much more than any City on the Peninsula. Your comments are completely out of line and disrespectful to a well-run department. Yes I agree there are obviously political pressures from above (mayor) that may impact long-range projects (i.e. failed annexation, historic homes, general plan update). But given the political pressure from above within the City, the staff does the best job they can. Please reserve your critical comments for City administration.
To: Local Resident/Builder
From: villageinforest
The issue of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea not having a Planning Director for four years is worthy of attention and complaint relative to the issues facing Carmel-by-the-Sea. Without a Planning Director, the leaderless planning department has no direct accountability to the public and is by definition not a “well-run department.”
Dealing with the city over many years and having spoken with retired and active contractors, builders and planners, it is apparent the meager planning staff is not functioning as a city department should function. Just within recent weeks, information was conveyed to the Senior Planner, information which should have initiated a review of an issued building permit, but was instead only passed along to another employee who refused to enforce the Municipal Code. Were these actions by two Carmel-by-the-Sea employees representative of “the best job they can” do?
While you may “welcome the chance to deal with Carmel’s permitting process much more than any City on the Peninsula,” and feel the staff does “the best job they can” do under the circumstances, many others do not share your praise for the City’s Planning Department and City Administration with justification.
In my opinion, Mr. Builder confuses criticisms of performance and personal attacks. This reminds me of Sue’s spin of Larry Rodocker’s criticisms of her performance as a personal attack. It was a criticism of performance, not a personal attack. But Sue is quick to label criticism of her performance a personal attack because she is incapable of intellectually defending her unaccountability and incompetence. Hmmm. Mr. Builder sounds an awful lot like Sue. Labeling criticisms of performance personal attacks and confusing criticisms of performance and personal attacks should be beneath the dignity and intelligence of every human being.
I concur with the comments directly above. Too many vocal Carmelites shift focus to the messenger in an attempt to discredit the messenger and ultimately as a way of not addressing the message. Perhaps it is a failure of our educational system. Perhaps it is a lowering of professional standards. Or both.
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