AGENDA DATE: 8/4/2021
TITLE:
Title
Albemarle County Fire Rescue (ACFR) Administrative Reorganization
BODY
SUBJECT/PROPOSAL/REQUEST: Consideration of approval of two additional positions to support the ACFR Administrative Reorganization
ITEM TYPE: Consent Action Item
STAFF CONTACT(S): Richardson, Walker, Kamptner, Eggleston, Mezzoni
PRESENTER (S): Eggleston
LEGAL REVIEW: Not Required
REVIEWED BY: Jeffrey B. Richardson
BACKGROUND: In an effort to keep up with call volume increase and an increased need to support volunteer stations with career staffing, ACFR has seen a significant increase in operational personnel in recent years. This increase has increased support needs on administrative personnel, whose numbers have remained stagnant.
During the last 15 months department growth, retirements and long-term leave of key personnel, and the availability of new tools to accomplish work prompted ACFR leadership to evaluate key positions and changing department needs.
STRATEGIC PLAN: Quality Government Operations - Ensure County government’s capacity to provide high quality service that achieves community priorities
DISCUSSION: A series of retirements and long-term leave for key personnel within ACFR during a period of department growth and increased need for service prompted ACFR to evaluate the current structure of our administrative personnel against the changing needs of our department. During this process, we evaluated costs, known needs, and feedback from employees in affected positions. As a result, ACFR proposes restructuring the Member Services and Operations administrative staff to better meet the needs of our department (Attachment A).
During the employee feedback process, we consistently heard that employees struggle with work/life balance due to capacity, workload, and the need to take on responsibilities outside the scope of their position. To combat this and stabilize our administrative workforce, ACFR proposes the addition of non-uniformed positions - a fleet mechanic and a member services analyst (Attachment B). The cost of these two new positions will be offset by other fleet repair and personnel savings.
Additionally, ACFR will convert three existing positions from uniformed to non-uniformed roles. After careful evaluation, ACFR determined that the functions of these positions could be accomplished at the same level of effectiveness with non-uniformed personnel while recognizing significant benefits. Filling this position with non-uniformed personnel will allow us to expand our applicant pool to find the person with the right knowledge, skills, and abilities for the job. Additionally, this allows us to eliminate the need for rotating the uniformed personnel back into the field and creates stability in those positions. Finally, converting uniformed positions to non-uniformed positions is more cost-effective.
This proposal realizes a net cost savings while ensuring that our office staff are best aligned to meet the needs of our growing and changing department. Restructuring these positions created additional capacity in the department, addresses unmet needs, and allows work to be accomplished more effectively.
BUDGET IMPACT: This proposal utilizes personnel savings from retirements and the conversion of uniformed personnel to non-uniformed personnel, as well as operational savings from fleet maintenance savings. As such, there is a net cost-savings for this proposal (Attachment C).
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Board authorize two new positions, a fleet mechanic and a member services analyst, for Albemarle County Fire Rescue.
ATTACHMENTS:
A - Organizational Chart Showing Proposed Changes
B - Scope of new positions
C - Budget Impact