Shuffling the deck
First of all, Thanksgiving greetings to all the Redlanders and anyone else reading this on the Web today.
Secondly, I wanted to add a blog post on the reorganization that's going on at City Hall. I spoke with City Manager N. Enrique Martinez today on that subject and will be writing a story on the topic that will likely run this weekend. In the meantime, here are some highlights for all you city-watchers:
1) The Public Works Departments and Municipal Utilities Departments are being merged. Martinez said this will place all of the city's engineering activities under one banner and eliminate a department head's position from the city payroll. The City Manager expects to save $85,000 to $95,000 through the move and plans to funnel that money into new information technology investments.
2) Police Department spokesman Carl Baker and the city's Channel 3 video crew will be transferred from the PDs purview to the City Manager's supervision.
3) Leadership changes are in the works. Public Works Director Ron Mutter has already retired and is set to be followed by Community Development Director Jeff Shaw and Municipal Utilities Director Gary Phelps by the end of the year. Redlands also lacks a permanent Redevelopment Director (Steve Dukett is an interim employee). Martinez said a head-hunting firm has lined up finalists to succeed Mutter/Phelps and Dukett as well as job candidates to take charge of the city's human resources efforts. Panel interviews are set for next month.