Agenda Item 10BAGENDA ITEM # I OB
NOVEMBER 13, 2012
November 5, 2012
MEMORANDUM
To: Commissioner Jonathan Daughei
From: Jim Hanson, C'
Subject: Grant Applications
This memo is to confirm our discussion last week about possible ways to increase the number and dollar
amount of grants received by the City.
Your basic question was whether or not the City could spend money either for a person or to hire a
consultant to obtain more grants. The short answer is yes. We could not be as effective as we were when
David Thompson was devoting about 50% of his time towards finding and administering grants. However,
we can, with assistance, do more. Because of limited administrative time, we would need to focus on
grants for projects that would not take an excessive amount of time either with finding, applying for, or
administering those grants and we should look only for grants for projects that are on your strategic plan or
one of the adopted long range plans (water, sewer, storm water or Marsh Master Plan). Keep in mind that
some grants take considerably more time to administer than others.
The elimination of the Assistant City Manager had exactly the effects that were predicted in a memo of
September 11, 2011 which you originally requested. These included the shifting of the non -grant
responsibilities that David held to other top staff members, a reduction in the number and amount of grants
received, and having less time available to attend to the Commission's strategic priorities. A copy of that
memo is attached.
One project that fits the criteria of minimizing administrative time for the grant dollars received as well as
being a strategic or long term goal, is construction of the pedpath in the Marsh Master Plan. The next step
in this project would be to design the entire path from Tideviews to Dutton Island and obtain the necessary
permits. The estimated cost for this design is in excess of $100,000. If the entire pedpath could be
designed and permitted at one time, and if grants can be obtained, the City could construct the pedpath on a
much faster schedule than that which was presented to the Commission during the recent budget
workshops. Our anticipation at that time was that the City would be able to obtain grants in the amount of
50% of project costs over several years. If more grants could be obtained, then it could be finished sooner.
There are some possible sources of grant funding for the design work. We do not yet know what the cost
would be for a consultant to prepare a grant application(s) to get design funding.
If you agree, the best course of action to move forward would be to get the concurrence of the rest of the
Commission to request staff to get a proposal for preparing grant applications for design work and then
report back to the City Commission to get authorization to move forward. To minimize administrative
time, it would probably be best to get a proposal from the same consultant that prepared the Marsh Master
Plan because they are already aware of the project and up to speed on the details.
cc: Rick Carper, Public Works Director
AGENDA ITEM # I OB
NOVEMBER 13, 2012
September 28, 2011
b 81851
To: Mayor and Commission
From: Jim Hanson, City Manager
Subject: Assistant City Manager Position
This memo is to answer the request made by Commissioner Daugherty for a report on what would happen if
the City Commission were to defund the position of Assistant City Manager.
The short answer is, the City will continue to operate, staff will take up the responsibilities currently
assigned to the Assistant City Manager so that service levels would be continued and the public will
probably take little notice of the change, at least in the short term. The biggest effects of the loss of this
position would be a reduction in the City's ability to find, obtain and manage grants and in the amount of
top staff time available to accomplish the goals and projects set forth by the City Commission.
Before going into any more detail about the loss of the position, it is important to first understand the job of
the Assistant City Manager (ACM) and how that job has evolved over the years. The position for the ACM
and the individual holding it are more interrelated than most. If David Thompson were to leave and the
position were to remain, it could not be filled without out considerable restructuring because there would
literally be no one available with the same skills and knowledge to do what David Thompson does.
The ACM position evolved over a number of years. It was not a new position, but a new title. David
Thompson began employment with Atlantic Beach in 1983 as the Chief of Police. Later this job was
expanded into a Director of Public Safety when responsibility for the Fire Department was added. Over
time, other responsibilities were added. In 1999, Mr. Thompson served approximately eight months as the
interim City Manager while the search was conducted for a permanent Manager. David retired as the Public
Safety Director in 2008 and his title was changed to ACM. At the same time, Mike Classey was promoted
as the new Police Chief and the position of Assistant Chief was eliminated.
Many of the responsibilities that David Thompson held as the Public Safety Director were carried over into
the new ACM title. These include Code Enforcement, Lifeguards, administration of the fire contract with
the City of Jacksonville and Emergency Preparedness. The Building Department and Recreation were added
with the ACM title. In recent months, he has been assigned several of the responsibilities for administration
of the Community Development Block Grant Program.
Almost half of David Thompson's time is spent on grants. His experience in obtaining and administering
grants goes back long before his title change to ACM. These started as police related grants, but expanded
to a variety of other areas as David volunteered over the years to take on new projects. He has built
longstanding relationships with local, state and federal agencies that provide grants and with agencies that
can otherwise assist Atlantic Beach.
Last, David has been put in charge of a number of major projects. Some of these were directed by the
Commission through the strategic planning process. One of these is administration of the Mayport Road
Corridor project which, in staff's opinion, is approaching a transition point to work more on economic
redevelopment and less on crime. A second strategic goal has been related to the police building. Work on
this project has been ongoing over the last seven years and has remained as a strategic goal through several
city commissions. Replacing the City's mainframe enterprise software has recently been brought to the City
Commission's attention, but the project has been ongoing at the staff level over several years. Only recently
has it been possible for an efficient and non- disruptive transition to occur from the old "green screen"
AGENDA ITEM # l OB
NOVEMBER 13, 2012
software that the City has used for over 15 years. Successfully transitioning to this software will require
careful planning and training in each of the City's Departments. Horror stories abound from other cities that
made a quick and poorly planned transition to new software.
For many staff level projects that are likely to grow in importance like the replacement of the enterprise
software, David has become the "go to person" because of his experience, maturity and willingness to take
on new projects. There are several of these ongoing projects at any given time.
Now, to answer the question about the effect of losing the position for the Assistant City Manager more
directly, there are five types of impacts that the City Commission should consider;
1) Duties would be shifted to other staff members With the loss of this position, there would be a
major shift of responsibilities to the City Manager, Department Heads and ultimately down the
chain of command to different employees. The effect of this would be having less time available
for other work. Most of the City's top staff already have plenty of other responsibilities. Many
serve as liaisons to various City's boards and committees requiring nighttime work in addition to
the commission meetings. Virtually every Department Head works considerably more than 40
hours per week already.
2) The currently vacant slot for Planning and Zoning Director would have to be restructured and filled
The low level of zoning activity in the City caused by the economic downturn has allowed for this
position to remain vacant since Sonya Doerr's retirement. Her responsibilities related to the
Community Development Block Grant Program including loan applications and other paperwork
necessary for working with the City of Jacksonville, as well as taking applications for the septic to
sewer conversions, have been transferred to the ACM while this position has been vacant. This slot
may need to be filled for other reasons not associated with the loss of the ACM position.
3) The number of grants received by the City would be reduced in future years. If the position were
eliminated, City staff would work diligently to see that the currently approved grants could be
completed and funds obtained. This is contingent upon adequate time being allowed by the City
Commission for a successful "hand off" of responsibilities. More will be noted on this later. The
City would not stop receiving grants. Many of the formula based and simpler grants would be
handled by Department Heads and other staff. However, there would no longer be time for some of
the more complex and unique grants.
The City's responsibilities for administration vary dramatically from one grant to the other. Some
require a considerable amount of effort after we have been notified of the award. For example,
Atlantic Beach currently has two energy grants totaling over $338,000. To comply with the 50+
pages of regulations and 70 pages of purchasing guidelines in the contract, David Thompson is
currently spending up to 16 hours per week on these grants alone. The project to rehabilitate the
sewer lines in the Donner area is another example of a unique grant received by Atlantic Beach that
has been time consuming to administer, but provides a very important project to maintain our
infrastructure.
Some people have speculated that it is possible to simply hire a consultant to prepare a grant
application. While some consultants provide assistance in writing grant applications, we have been
unable to find any consultants who provide the level of grant administration that is needed on these
unique projects. The City of Jacksonville hired people on a fulltime basis to administer their
portion of the energy grants.
4) There would be a loss of historic knowledge. David Thompson's executive level experience with
the City of Atlantic Beach for 28 years has been extremely useful on several occasions. One recent
AGENDA ITEM # 1013
NOVEMBER 13, 2012
example involves the Transition Report provided to Mayor Brown by Jacksonville staff earlier this
year. That Report contained some incorrect information about the origination of the fire contract
between Atlantic Beach and Jacksonville. An understanding and appreciation of the historical facts
may prove to be extremely useful if Jacksonville seriously considers termination of the contract.
5) Less time would be available for the Commission's priorities. Perhaps the biggest impact of the loss
of the ACM position would be in the loss of available administrative time for discretionary projects,
particularly those assigned by the City Commission through the strategic planning process. For a
small City, Atlantic Beach has accomplished a tremendous amount over the last 12 years through
the strategic planning process which has combined long -term vision and support from the City
Commission with having available administrative resources to see that those visions become reality.
If the City Commission chooses to eliminate the position for the Assistant City Manager, adequate time
should be provided for transition. There are numerous ongoing responsibilities and projects that would need
to be finalized or handed off. A six month timeframe would be prudent and reasonable.
Each new Commission brings with it its own list of dreams and desires for the future of our community.
These change between Commissions and there are always more goals to propose than the City possibly has
the time, money, or other resources to accomplish. There has always been a need to prioritize through
strategic planning. It does not appear that the next Commission brings with it any less of a desire for a
bright future or any fewer dreams or goals to propose.
The Commission should rest assured of the continued drive and commitment of the City staff. We work to
the best of our abilities to diligently support the strategic initiatives set forth by the Commission. To be able
to support and pursue those at the same level as we have in the past will require adequate staffmg.
Attachments:
1) Job description
2) Organizational Chart
� �' _L�.'.'.i. �ll:xr.S��'� r ^ 'S� :y ' '�• VI M Trr
4'3.f . � i s 7•Th�3,• ` �
���.�X �.. ;;frf..alb.nY?1R*SCC •'� �+ • 'Vi1L�7PS.iVi+� +
� � - � •�Y��neFY.�'G'S�r� : _ �o' `lr� r . y � rtw� - ?b.
1 K}y ...j I TS ' } .. (�
4 _ . ._ ••- - �'`��y`FTb F t� ICJ�6�i"
T. - �'E.�" + V i�a�+ wcF'aw+ S�fC11i'
Aff