6.5. ERMU SR 02-24-2009 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Elk River -;= Municipal Utilities .13069 Orono Parkway • P.O. Box 430 Elk River, MN 55330-0430 February 18, 2009 To: Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Jerry Takle John Dietz Jerry Gumphrey From: Troy Adams Subject: Proposed Staff Restructuring Phone: 763.441.2020 Fax: 763.441.8099 In January, the Utility Commission proposed for consideration a change in the organizational structure of the Utilities. The root of the proposed restructuring would be to not hire a replacement for the recently voided General Manager position. Instead, the existing staff would be utilized to meet the company needs through promoting from within, restructuring job duties, and reallocating responsibilities. One major difference would be that the Water Department would report to the City Public Works Department; however, the Water Department employees would remain employees of the Utility. The Utility Commission directed staff to work together and prepare possible solutions, identify limitations of the proposed restructuring, and provide recommendations for Commission consideration. The Commission is faced with a decision between two primary options. First would be to hire a General Manager and continue with the current organizational structure. Second would be to depend on the department managers to absorb most of the General Manager workload, promote leadership from within, and reallocate job duties. There are many reasons why the first option of hiring a General Manager should be heavily considered. The General Manager provides administrative, technical, and operational guidance through short and long term planning. The General Manager works closely with the City to promote growth and insure adequate infrastructure for future development. The General Manager is accountable to provide safe and reliable utilities at a competitive and fair price. But the most important role of a General Manager is that of leadership. Every organization will take on the personality of its leader. It is critical that an organization have a leader like a General Manager with a high level of integrity because this leader becomes the face of the company to the public. This leader holds the responsibility to unify the company under the policy guidance of the commission. Without a leader supervising all divisions or entities of a company (in other words, unity command), the company will not be able to operate at the highest level of efficiency.