360 Fireworks Party

Sunday, July 15, 2012

REPORT: REDEVELOPING COVINGTON WILL REQUIRE PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS

THE RIVER CITY NEWS MORE COVINGTON NEWS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE
"The City government does not have the personnel and financial resources to develop the City; private/public partnership is essential," writes the Management Partners team in its report that the Cincinnati-based consulting firm was contracted to produce after reviewing the operations of every department within the City. The firm recommends that the City give preference to funding the staffing and program of the Urban Partnership, an entity created by the Covington Business Council, over its own agencies and programs. In fact, Management Partners recommends a complete overhaul of the community development department, the director of which, Jackson Kinney, resigned last month.
|

|
Because City Manager Larry Klein has too many department heads reporting directly to him, according to the firm, it is recommended that the City bring on a second assistant city manager that would oversee the newly envisioned department that would encompass community development, code enforcement, parks & recreation, and Section-8 housing. "Our recommendations are based, in part, in the reality that Covington does not possess the resources to solely implement the aggressive redevelopment initiatives set forth in the Covington Center City Redevelopment Plan," the report notes.
|
It continues, "Currently community development, Section 8 and code enforcement functions are organized and staffed as separate departments. While the programs of the departments are distinct, they are also complementary. Creating a consolidated department to address planning, economic and community development will allow for better coordination and leveraging of limited City resources."
|
Organizational restructuring
|
The City Manager has thirteen department heads or supervisors directly reporting to him and Management Partners says that is too many and recommends that seven direct reports would be more in line with effective management strategies. While a new assistant city manager would oversee the newly redesigned Development Department, a second assistant city manager would oversee administration issues. One recommendation is for the human resources director to report directly to the assistant city manager of administration instead of directly to the City Manager. This assistant city manager would also serve as the communication officer for City Hall, streamlining its communication efforts with the public and the media.
|
Additionally, the position of City Ombudsman would be moved out of the City Manager's office and into this new Development Department, which would be divided into residential and commercial development units. Currently, the ombudsman handles business retention and barrier removal issues in addition to serving as a liaison to community and neighborhood groups. Management Partners contends, however, that business retention and barrier removal should require the position's full-time attention and that the task of communicating with community and neighborhood groups should be outsourced to the Center for Great Neighborhoods.
|
Other recommendations:
-Transfer the planning & preservation specialist and the zoning specialist to the residential development division
-Transfer neighborhoods, parks & recreation staff to the commercial development division

1 comment:

  1. Let me get this straight, the MP report first states the City Manager has too many dept heads reporting to him directly but recommends a centralization of power under the direct authority (via an additional ACM)of the City Managers office??? That's some fuzzy math!

    ReplyDelete