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June 21, 2007
The Fixer
 |
| In today's E-R
article on a second city planner leaving the Planning Department some
of Mayor Holcombe's comments are reported as... Holcombe said the close-together resignations are part of a natural turnover. He said a turnover is part of a normal evolution of any office or city... I've been told that Assistant City Manager Dave Burkland has been dispatched to the 2nd floor of the municipal building (where the Planners live) . He's been given a few months to try and fix the department. That kind of response to natural turnover would be pretty extreme. I think there's more going on, and I think people at the city are more concerned about this than the Mayor's public comments would lead you to believe. It would be unfair to lay all difficulties planning staff are facing at the feet of the Planning Commission. But the disregard shown to some of the staff work by some of the commissioners probably doesn't help. Planning Director Steve Peterson is a recent hire by the city. And, assuming my information is correct, it can't bode well for him that the Assistant City Manager will now be looking over his shoulder. |
Posted by Lon at June 21, 2007 06:05 AM
Comments
He’s right in that there is always some rate of employee turnover.
However, anyone with even a dinky bit of employee relations training and experience would look at the current rate of employee turnover and realize that something is seriously wrong, and in need of corrections. (But, hey, I thought the same thing about the General Fund & RDA budgets a long, long time ago)
Similarly, anyone with real world experience realizes that the departing employees are not about to air any dirty laundry in public (should any exist). They are professionals who will probably be looking for future employment in the same field, so I would not expect to hear (in public) one peep of negativity.
You can bet that City Management is concerned on many levels. Among them is that the Planning Department is fully constipated, and seriously lacks the people and institutional knowledge to handle the Planning that needs to be done.
Posted by: Mark Sorensen at June 21, 2007 09:16 AM
"...the Planning Department is fully constipated..."
That explains the many calls I've heard for "s... or get off the pot" when it comes to plan submissions
Posted by: Anthony at June 22, 2007 02:51 PM
I agree that the entire city government has lost valuable institutional knowledge. But I don't think they're short of talent (beyond losing employees unexpectedly).
For example, I really like Greg Jones as City Manager. And Brendan Vieg, the only "planner" I've dealt with, has always impressed me. If either lack "institutional knowledge" both have the capacity to get it.
On another note, I wouldn't expect the Mayor to advertise problems internal to city departments if he's even aware of them. I really have no idea what, if anything, is going on with vacating city staff. But it certainly appears like something is going on.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at June 22, 2007 11:25 PM
Lon, no disagreement here. We've got some great, bright folks. But, let's face it, someone new to the planning dept (for example) is unlikely to walk in with the sort of in-depth knowledge of the people, place and issues of Chico, and all of its "nuances".
That is what I mean by institutional knowledge (AKA: Institutional memory).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutional_memory
Not the institution of city governement, but of this City and it's history.
Posted by: Mark Sorensen at June 23, 2007 09:02 PM
Hey Mark,
I knew what you meant, or was at least thinking along similar lines. I just wanted to point out that good employees can reconstitute that knowledge, so once lost it's not lost forever. And I think we have some good people working at the city.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at June 24, 2007 06:23 AM
The 2006-2007 Grand Jury Report is out...
http://www.buttecounty.net/Default.aspx?tabid=30
Go to page 132 (of the report) for the section on "The Planning Process in the City of Chico"
It also notes the issues of low morale and a loss of institutional memory among many other observations and opinions....
Posted by: Mark Sorensen at June 26, 2007 04:00 PM
Mark,
Thanks for the heads up. That's quite a report.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at June 27, 2007 11:29 AM