04-12-2004 CC MIN - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ci~ Council Minutes April 12, 2004 Page 9 Councilrnember Kuester stated a concern with Human Resources, which deals directly with council, since council should be hiring and f'~ring, and she wonders how many levels we should have between the council and this position. Councilmember Kuester stated the person who is assigned that responsibility needs to be a designated policy person at a management or department head level. Lori Johnson agreed and stated that by default that has fallen under the Finance Department. She stated that this can be accomplished by moving the responsibility out of the Finance Department and can be under this one person. Councilmember Dietz asked if council was going to try to agree on a proposed organizational structure that would be shown to staff as council has the upcoming meetings with Brimeyer. Mr. I~daers stated that the meetings ~vith Brimeyer are to work on goal setting and the possibility of a governance model, and that he wasn't hired to work with organizational planning. Mayor I~dinzing stated that it was her understanding that council is going to do this organizational work. Once the council puts together a specific structure, this could create opportunities. Councilmember Kuester agrees with Councilmember Dietz that even though this may not be part of sessions xvith Brimeyer, she would like to go through those sessions and see this organizational structure come together after that. Jeff Beahen stated his concerns about what the council thinks in regards to the city prosecutor position and where it fits in this structure, currently under the city administrator. But the administrator is not the one that gets the calls from the county, sherifPs office, etc. He feels by moving the city prosecutor further away from the Police Department it may break down communication. Councilmember Motto stated that we might need to discuss the role of the city prosecutor, that this position should not be 95% working with police issues. Council felt that they need to know the reality of the work of this position and how is the flow of communication with the police. Mr. Klaers asked what Council's timetable is and he will work on the "bubble" (Finance/Administration or General Government) area. Councilmember Motin stated that we are moving forward on the Park & Recreation portion and doesn't like several months' delay between each new position. It was the consensus of the council to have this as a June Council Work Session topic. Other Business No additional business. Staff Updates Catherine Mehelich informed the council that a notice was received from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development that a portion of our grant application for commercial rehab ~vas awarded.