The Lincoln Park City Council approves a resolution to restructure the city’s Parks and Recreation and Community Development and Planning departments by a 4-3 vote during the Feb. 7 council meeting.
Move prompted by Doreen Christian’s retirement
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
LINCOLN PARK – Separating the directorial position of Parks and Recreation from Planning and Development was approved by the City Council during its Feb. 7 meeting, a move prompted by Doreen Christian’s retirement.
The resolution, which narrowly passed by a 4-3 vote, was supported by Councilmembers Michael Higgins, Lylian Ross, Tracy Duprey and Mayor Thomas Karnes, with Councilmembers Larry Kelsey, Carlos Salcido and Maureen Tobin opposed.
City Manager James Krizan made the recommendation following a Jan. 3 council study session, which was held to discuss restructuring the way in which the city administers its Community Development Block Grant program, the Parks and Recreation Department, and Planning Services.
Recently retired Christian had directed both Community Development and Parks and Recreation.
In a memo to the City Council, Krizan said that by creating three separate positions – CDBG coordinator, city planner and Parks and Recreation director – the need for a planning consultant could be eliminated.
“The expended increase in direct costs, the potential savings and the overall expended increase in cost to the general fund would be under $30,000,” Krizan outlined in the memo.
He said the worst-case scenario, if planning consultant fees were still incurred, the general fund would need a $105,000 budgeted increase.
“The purpose of the restructuring is to also have an in-house planner to avoid these fees,” Krizan said. “Without the need for contracting all planning services, the cost would decrease significantly.”
Two directorships, Parks and Recreation, and Community Planning and Development, were combined in 2007 as a cost-saving measure. The new director managed Parks and Recreation, senior programming and the city’s Community Development Block Grant program.
Lincoln Park City Manager James Krizan explains his recommendation to restructure the city’s Parks and Recreation and Community Development and Planning departments during the Feb. 7 council meeting.
Krizan said that without a dedicated director, the city’s parks have not experienced the same level of focus as they did before the positions were consolidated.
He said the new CDBG coordinator would create project bid documents and contract documents, and would ensure compliance with the program’s federal regulations.
Krizan said the new city planner position would oversee planning and zoning administration and the general direction of the CDBG program.
“This would allow for on-site customer assistance for new developments in the city, and should increase the overall customer experience with the development process,” he said in the memo.
Krizan said as the in-house planner takes on more of the workload, less will need to be contracted to an outside provider.
He did note, though, that outside planning assistance may still be needed for some future projects.
Krizan noted that the CDBG coordinator would be funded through the CDBG fund, which is separate from the city’s general fund.
Councilmember Larry Kelsey asked if the salary of the CDBG coordinator was less than the cap established by the program, and Krizan assured him that the salary was below the maximum allowed, even when including the clerk who administers the housing program.
Krizan said the planner position is budgeted with a salary comparable to other cities, and noted that the city many use its contracted planner until it hires its own person for the position.
Kelsey asked why more city positions are being created.
Krizan said the reasoning behind it is to improve the overall direction of Parks and Recreation and to have someone who is fully dedicated to it, as opposed to someone whose responsibilities are split.
He said an in-house planner hopefully would allow the city to have a quicker turn-around time, and said it will help speed up the development process and help streamline it.
“We will be able to go after more grants, and to really try and implement those five-year Parks and Rec plans,” Krizan said. “We haven’t been able to hire anyone yet because we have been waiting for this resolution to come through.”
Councilmember Carlos Salcido asked why a new position was needed to facilitate the opening of new businesses in the city.
Krizan said the city would be able to offer businesses better one-on-one support for people who have questions about zoning.
Higgins said the positions were combined in 2007 because of the urgent need for substantial cost-cutting. He said the two positions are not a compatible fit, and Parks and Recreation was short-changed because it did not have a director that could devote all of their time to the department.
“We need somebody in Parks and Rec to rebuild it, to make it what it once was,” Higgins said. “This would be a very large step toward that direction.”
Salcido said funding for the parks is needed, as well, to accomplish what Higgins suggested.
Tobin said she did not see an event coordinator as a budgeted position on the proposed organization chart for Parks and Recreation.
Krizan said the organizational chart was just highlighting the proposed changes.
Tobin said that receiving grants to improve Parks and Recreation is not conclusive, and added that with a full-time director, she would expect the parks to be better maintained.
“Where is the funding, besides the grants you are talking about,” she asked. “We need definite answers on what we are going to have.”
Krizan said it would have to be budgeted through the general fund at some point.
“Having a dedicated Parks and Recreation director in there to put together a plan for what it is we need to do and prioritize will help us identify how much funding and what funding we need,” he said.
Tobin expressed concern with what would happen if Parks and Rec did not get grants to improve the parks, citing concern that the positions could be separated, but without funding, the parks could still not get needed attention.
Councilmember Tracy Duprey said she supported the proposal because she felt it would focus more attention on the city’s parks.
“Money is an issue, obviously, but, one way or another, we are going to have to spend it,” she said.
Kelsey wanted to put the resolution on hold until the council received job descriptions for each position.
“Grants are great, but we don’t have a grant writer, and if we hired a grant writer, I would be more inclined to do this,” he said. “Those grants aren’t easy to write, so putting the structure in place without duties or money doesn’t make sense to me.”