Politics & Government
City to Talk Strategy For a Downsized Future
Looking at future of city services with 114 fewer full-time staff in three years; planning session for Concord council set for noon Friday at the Willow Pass Center.
The Concord City Council is holding a special meeting devoted to strategic planning at noon Friday at the Willow Pass Center, 2748 Olivera Road.
The city will review a 108-page report by City Manager Daniel Keen that goes department by department, describing the long-term plans and challenges for the city.
The report details the problems in city government after substantial downsizing of staff, including:
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- Delayed implementation of necessary projects
- Overwork, burnout and frustration
- Shaky morale
- Gaps in skills and motivation are more obvious
- “Departments don’t work as well together as in the past due to the loss of institutional knowledge and knowledge/skills/abilities.”
The summary is a downer, but Keen also lists some positive adaptations:
- Using technology to achieve similar levels of service with less staff
- Adapting “normal” business practices to increase efficiency
- Contracting out to fill gaps in staff levels
- Using cross training to improve the capabilities of remaining staff
With the ongoing adaptation process, it’s an ideal time for the City Council to concentrate on strategic planning, Keen writes.
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The overarching challenge, Keen notes in his introduction, is doing more with less.
“As a result of downsizing since the 2008-09 fiscal year, 114 full-time positions and part-time positions that equate to 45 additional full-time positions have been eliminated,” he writes. “Additionally, all remaining non-sworn staff are subject to a 5 percent furlough” — a hefty loss of 356,000 staff hours annually.
