1B, Public Works Maintenance Staffing & Workload

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v ' a g 7112/2008 Page 2 --The Superintendent is focused on planning, organizing,scheduling and assigning work to enable the crew to operate efficiently and effectively Cans --The Superintendent is firnited in doing maintenance work --The Superintendent is on job sites less than a working foreman Option B Pros: --The working Foreman can assist with the work of the crew --The working Foremen can be on the work site more with the creel Cons: --A working foreman is not separated from the union,so does not have authority regarding personnel issues --A working foreman is pulled between organizing 1-vork and doing work_ This can create tension, and can reduce the productivity of the crew i f too much time is spent doing vs_ organizing work- --A working foreman is generally focused on one or two aspects of maintenance operations,i_e_ water,or water and sewer, which does not facilitate priority setting among the multiple maintenance operations, i_e_ streets, parks, water, sewer, storm sewer, fleet maintenance_ --with a crew of 8,(with an additional 7 seasonal workers during the busiest portion of the year)and multiple maintenance activities. a single working foreman could not plan, schedule, and organize the work of the crew and still operate as a working foreman_ Either the "working"element would suffer, or the"'foreman"element would suffer- --multiple working foremen would be needed to manage the Public works maintenance operation_ Looking ahead to the development of TCAA-P, the scope of- maintenance operations will increase substantially, as well as the size of the crew, making it more difficult to manage the crew with one or more working foremen- --With two or more working foremen, the amount of time spent organizing work vs_ doing work becomes equivalent to a full-time maintenance position, resulting in a de facto loss of a maintenance position,although there are "workiwo_" foremen- --Having multiple working foremen reduces or eliminates the opportunity for maintenance workers to serve as project leaders at work sites --Assigning multiple working foremen to oversee specs operational areas can erode the philosophy of a cohesive group of cross-trained maintenance workers, as the working _ foremen will be focused on their specific operational areas, and will tend to surround themselves with crew members who have the same focus- -- working foremen focused on one or two operational areas will have a more difficult time coordinating among themselves in terms of priority setting regarding the needs of the various operational areas- Recommend ation On the basis of the above analysis, it is recommended that the Public works maintenance operation be managed by a Public works superintendent_