CC SR 20220621 R - PW Reorganization
city COUNCIL MEETING DATE: 06/21/2022
AGENDA REPORT AGENDA HEADING: Consent Calendar
AGENDA TITLE:
Consideration and possible action to approve certain organizational structure and
classification modifications to the Public Works Department.
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
(1) Affirm the City Manager’s modifications to the organizational structure of the
Public Works Department; and
(2) Approve converting one of the two Senior Administrative Analyst positions in
the Public Works Department to Project Manager.
FISCAL IMPACT: The fiscal impact for FY 2022-23 is estimated to be up to $5,000.
Amount Budgeted: N/A
Additional Appropriation: N/A
Account Number(s): Various salary and benefit accounts
ORIGINATED BY: Julie DeZiel, Human Resources Manager
Ramzi Awwad, Public Works Director
REVIEWED BY: Karina Bañales, Deputy City Manager
APPROVED BY: Ara Mihranian, AICP, City Manager
ATTACHED SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS:
A. Modified Public Works organizational structure (page A-1)
B. Current Public Works organizational structure (page B-1)
BACKGROUND:
The City of Rancho Palos Verdes operates with a small staff of dedicated professionals.
Within the constraints of the City’s limited budgetary resources, Staff must accomplish a
variety of tasks in support of the community. It is prudent to periodically review whether
the current arrangement of staff positions and duties is the most effective and efficient
way to deliver City services to the residents of Rancho Palos Verdes.
In recent months, the Public Works Department (PW) has experienced several vacancies,
which created an opportunity to evaluate, among other things, whether or not the
department’s organizational structure and positions meet today’s needs.
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This evening, Staff seeks City Council consideration of the following:
1. Affirming the City Manager’s modifications to the Public Works Department’s
organizational structure; and
2. Approving converting of one Public Works Senior Administrative Analyst position
to Project Manager.
1. Modifications to the Public Works Organizational Structure
The current Public Works organizational structure (Attachment B) has been in effect for
a number of years and has been found to no longer effectively and efficiently meet the
needs of the larger organization and the community it serves. To better align Public Works
staffing with City Council priorities and more effectively manage operations, in early April,
the Director of Public Works sought approval of the City Manager to reorganize the
structure of the department (Attachment A). The City Manager approved the Director of
Public Works’ proposed modifications to the Department’s organizational structure.
The proposed modifications to the Department’s organization structure reflects a new
approach that is needed for the efficient and effective delivery of services to constituents,
as well as for the professional development of Staff, which also ultimately leads to higher
quality services to constituents.
Key components of the proposed modifications to the Department’s organizational
structure include:
• Dedicating positions to specific Public Works disciplines (i.e. transportation,
utilities, facilities, maintenance, etc.) and hiring Staff with qualifications and
backgrounds in those specific disciplines.
• Improving manager mentoring and training of front-line Staff through a vertical
reporting structure that creates closer working relationships between front-line
Staff and senior managers.
• Increasing career development through more paths for certain positions to senior
management.
• Moving certain positions to areas of greatest need based on projected future
workload.
The proposed modifications keep the same number of positions within the Department.
However, there is a recommendation to convert one of the Senior Administrative Analyst
positions to the classification of Project Manager for the reasons described in the next
section.
Pursuant to Section 2.08.070 of the Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal Code, the City
Manager has the authority to conduct administrative organization or re -organization of
offices, positions or units as may be indicated in the interest of efficient, effective, and
economical conduct of the City’s business with concurrence of the City Council. Thus,
this evening, the City Council is being asked to affirm (or concur) with the City Manager’s
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modifications to the Public Works Department’s organizational structure as reflected in
the attachment (Attachment A).
2. Convert One Senior Administrative Analyst Position to Project Manager
The Public Works Department currently has two incumbents in the classification of Senior
Administrative Analyst and one incumbent in the classification of Project Manager. One
Senior Administrative Analyst position is responsible for budget and related duties. Staff
is not recommending any changes to this position. The second Senior Administrative
Analyst position has had varied responsibilities over the past few years related to budgets,
contracts, grants, research, coordination, and similar work. Moving forward, Public Work’s
workload for the foreseeable future consists of project management work rather than
administrative analyst work. Because the incumbent is retiring in July and the position will
become vacant, prior to advertising the position, Staff recommends converting the second
Senior Administrative Analyst position into a Project Manager position to better align with
the anticipated breadth and scope of work for this position.
If the second Senior Administrative Analyst position were converted into a Project
Manager position, then the overall project and program management responsibilities
could be distributed so that one Project Manager position focuses on environmental
projects/programs (solid waste, fuel modification, and environmental sustainability) and
the other Project Manager position focuses on facilities projects/programs (asset
management, capital projects, and major maintenance). Because of available capacity,
the Project Manager focusing on facilities would also play a lead role in the CIP
development and serve as the liaison to IMAC. This alignment of responsibilities would
better fit the overall goal of matching staff skill sets to specific public works disciplines.
The job classifications of Senior Administrative Analyst and Project Manager are both
exempt positions and are both represented by the Rancho Palos Verdes Employees
Association (RPVEA). The Senior Administrative Analyst classification has a salary range
of $88,805 - $115,356. The Project Manager classification has a salary range of $95,608
- $124,148. Therefore, the proposed conversion results in a higher salary range and may
have an impact on the Public Works operating budget for Fiscal Year 2022 -23, depending
on the starting salary. Although the top of the range for a Project Manager is
approximately $9,000 higher than the top of the range for a Senior Administrative Analyst,
because of the benefits structure of the new position, the fiscal impact for FY 2022-23 is
estimated to be an increase of up to $5,000.
The proposed conversion of the one Senior Administrative Analyst classification to Project
Manager is reflected on the attached modified organizational chart for the Department
(Attachment A).
Thus, Staff seeks City Council approval to convert one Senior Administrative Analyst
classification to a Project Manager.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
The City and labor representatives of RPVEA met and conferred on May 24, 2022, on the
proposed Public Works organizational re-structure and converting one Senior
Administrative Analyst to Project Manager. RPVEA had no objection to the modified
organizational chart or conversion.
CONCLUSION:
Staff recommends City Council affirm the City Manager’s modified organizational chart
for the Public Works Department and approve converting one Senior Administrative
Analyst position to Project Manager with an emphasis on environmental programs and
projects.
ALTERNATIVES:
In addition to the Staff recommendation, the following alternative actions are available for
the City Council’s consideration:
1. Do not accept converting Senior Administrative Analyst to Project Manager.
2. Do not affirm the modified organizational chart for Public Works.
3. Take other action, as deemed appropriate.
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ORGANIZATIONAL CHART
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS
SENIOR ADMINISTRATIVE
ANALYST
(Budget)
DEPUTY
DIRECTOR OF
PUBLIC WORKS
PROJECT
MANAGER
(Facilities)
SENIOR ENGINEER
(Transportation)
ASSISTANT
ENGINEER
(Transportation)
ASSOCIATE
ENGINEER
(Transportation)
LEAD WORKER
SENIOR ENGINEER
(Dry Utilities)
PRINCIPAL
ENGINEER
ASSOCIATE
ENGINEER
(Wet Utilities)
PERMIT
TECHNICAN
PERMIT
TECHNICIAN
MAINTENANCE
SUPERINTENDENT
ADMINISTRATIVE
ASSISTANT
PROJECT
MANAGER
(Environmental)
MAINTENANCE
WORKER I/II
MAINTENANCE
WORKER I/II
STAFF ASSISTANT
A-1
City of Rancho Palos Verdes Public Works Department
Organization Chart FY2021‐2022
B-1