CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA

Council Report
January 5, 2014
To:

Honorable Mayor, Members of the City Council

From:

Douglas J. Schmitz, City Administrator

Subject:

The Municipal Organization Past, Present, and Future Status

Report

RECOMMENDATION(S):
Receive a Status Report regarding the Municipal Organization
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
On 4 November 2014, the City Council and the community received a report on the
status of the municipal organization as requested by the Council in October. Eight (8)
recommendations were made to Council, asking for its endorsement. To the staff list of
recommendations, the Council added five (5) of its own.

ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION:
Listed herein is a status report on the thirteen (13) items:
1)

Whistleblower Policy: the report stated that a policy would be brought to

Council within the next two months. STATUS: A draft policy is on the
Councils agenda for 5 January.

2)

Audit of all City issued credit cards by JJACPA, the Citys auditor. STATUS:
JJACPA is concluding its work and expects to report to me later this month.

3)

Audit of the Deposit Fund by JJACPA, the Citys auditor. STATUS: JJACPA is
concluding its work and expects to report to me later this month.

4)

Create as part of the monthly warrants the cumulative total of each listed
contractor or, if too time intensive to do each contract due to the antiquity of
the Citys IT system, provide the information for fifteen (15) contracts listing
both the authorized limit and the cumulative total to date. STATUS: This
effort did prove too labor intensive due to our antiquated equipment and thus,
for the last two warrant reports, the cumulative totals and the authorization
limits for fifteen (15) contracts are listed. (Note: The packet for 5 January
contains only the cumulative total. An updated version with the contract

City Council Meeting of January 5, 2015

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Agenda Item: 7.F

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authorization limit will be distributed on the 5th when Finance staff members
return.)
5)

Authorize the staff to seek proposals from private companies for payroll
services. STATUS: The Citys RFP has been advertised and distributed and
responses are due on 16 January.

6)

Initiate quarterly in 2015, a meeting of Council, citizens, department directors

and managers and the City Administrator for Prime Ministers Questions
wherein any question can be posed to any of the officials. STATUS: The
Council adopted a recommendation in December 2014 that these forums will
be held on the second Tuesday of the second month of each quarter. The first
session will be on 10 February.

7)

Schedule a future study session for the purpose of discussing scaling back
the projects list for 2014-15. STATUS: This session was held in December
2014. The Council is to consider adoption of its goals, reflecting a reduced
work program for 2015, on 5 January.

8)

Authorize the staff to commence a rewrite of the Personnel Code. STATUS:

No action has begun on this effort since I am awaiting the hiring of an
employee in our HR Department.

9)

Authorize a letter be sent to the Grand Jury regarding events within the
municipal organization in 2014. STATUS: The Mayor signed a letter in
November to the Civil Grand Jury.

10)

Authorize outsourcing of Human Resources functions. STATUS: The RFP for

payroll (#5 above) also includes a request for providing HR services with
proposals, due on 16 January.

11)

Authorize moving forward with a new IT system. STATUS: I have met with
several private tech company representatives to solicit their opinions on the IT
Plan. The agenda for 5 January contains a revised job description for the
IT/Network Manager position. I will not move forward on the IT plan until this
position has been filled.

12)

Seek best practices information from the League of California Cities.

STATUS: After consultation with a League representative, it was
recommended that the City seek information via the Leagues List Serve. That
effort produced responses from several agencies and that information has
been studied by staff for possible inclusion in a revised contract system. In
addition, staff has met with a local citizen whose career was primarily in

City Council Meeting of January 5, 2015

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Agenda Item: 7.F

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contract administration and who has provided staff with multiple suggestions
for revisions to our purchasing ordinance .
13)

Authorize the above twelve projects to be "fluid" and added to or subtracted

from as efforts proceed. STATUS: At this time, the staff is proceeding with the
twelve (12) items above.

FISCAL IMPACT:
None.
Budgeted (Yes/No)

Funding Source (General Fund, Grant,

State)

N/A

PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION/DECISION HISTORY:

Douglas J. Schmitz, City Administrator gave an oral report to the City Council in
November 2014 as requested by the City Council.
ATTACHMENTS:

APPROVED:
I

Date:

?/ ~ . /y

Administrator

Agenda Item: 7.F

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City Council Meeting of January 5, 2015

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