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As a result of the fact that the single greatest determinate of the ability of the City of Fall River to exist and succeed will be its capacity to manage and grow financial resources, I have devised what I believe would be the most efficient and effective organizational chart for the City going forward. I do this for the following reasons:
* Revenues into the City determine all budgetary decisions, hence the ability of the City to provide all of its services,
* Prior administrations have not paid sufficient attention to budget and revenue administration and growth, requiring intense and permanent efforts,
* The City will face numerous administrative issues related to non-finance areas to occupy the City Administrator for the foreseeable future.
I propose several actions:
First - Charter change to increase the term of Mayor to four (4) years, because constant fiscal pressures do not allow a Mayor to manage those issues sufficiently to bring about meaningful change within any single two (2) year period. In addition, have regional representation on the City Council with the current number of members unchanged, but with three (3) of those members elected "At Large", allowing for political coverage for all taxpayers and citizens of Fall River. The length of City Councillor terms to remain unchanged.
Second, create the position of Director of Budget and Finance/Treasurer, with all departments having any functional responsibility for City finance and property tax base generation to report to, and be directed by, this position, including Board of Assessors. It makes no sense to have the Board of Assessors , which has responsibility to complete administration of property valuations, which determine the City's tax revenues, not to report to this position. In addition, in order to coordinate the City's financial administration, which takes up the overwhelming number of data processing activity, and because I can envision additional internal financial management information needs arising, a Management Information Systems department will be created from what is currently Data Processing, and it also will report to the Director of Budget and Finance .
For far too long the City's finances have lacked the kind of concern and attention , and, to be frank, professionalism, needed by a City with a $200+ million budget and 90,000+ residents. A very rigorous job description will have to be written for this position, requiring a minimum of ten (10) years of similar professional municipal management experience, an MPA, MBA or MS in Accounting, and a minimum of five (5) years prior experience as a municipal treasurer in MA. There should NOT be a residency requirement for this position, in order to attract the most qualified candidate. Quite frankly folks, the local talent has OBVIOUSLY not been talented enough to do the job. That's just the fact of it. If you've got any proof to the contrary, make a comment, drop a line, tell me a story, you know, make your argument heard.
This Director of Budget and Finance position MUST report directly to the Mayor, NOT the City Administrator, to emphasize the need and importance of the position. Therefore, it must be paid commensurately with the other department positions reporting directly to the Mayor. The position must also be hired via a contract.
The creation of this Department of Finance should cost LESS than what we are currently spending because it does away with the needless Budget Coordinator position created under the current administration.
The organizational chart above probably misses some important non-financial functions, but they can easily be added. Also, the City Clerk and Elections Division probably must operate independently to ensure impartiality of elections and "personal" ( births, deaths, marriages) license matters, so that adjustment could easily be made. The main thrust is that in a City this size, with the permanent financial management issues Fall River has seemingly had for generations , there is a need to address these concerns now and in the future.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
You forgot to put the schools in--- I assume the superintendent reports to the school committee--- where do they fit in to this chart? Did you leave them off on purpose because they don't belong on it?
ReplyDeleteI simply wanted to show the departments reporting directly to the Mayor...THEORETICLY, that does not include the School Department, but that reporting relationship could easily be added, much like my "finance myopia" induced omission of the the City Clerk and Elections Division, which should be broken out as an independant Department away from the City Administrator. I admit, I must spend more time reading and becoming familiar with the specifics of the Fall River City Charter. THE MAIN POINT IS TO ESTABLISH THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CITY'S FINANCE FUNCTIONS AS CRUCIAL TO THIS CITY'S PROGNOSIS AS A GOING CORPORATE CONCERN. FINANCIAL FUNCTIONS NEED TO BE DIRECTED BY ONE PERSON, THAT PERSON NEEDS TO REPORT DIRECTLY TO THE MAYOR, AND NOT TO THE CITY ADMINSTRATOR WHOSE PRIMARY ROLE HAS BEEN AS A POLITICAL EXTENSION OF THE MAYOR.
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