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Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday,June 10,2013 <br /> Page 14 <br /> City in the long-run; and would be worth exploring. Councilmember Willmus <br /> noted that the Department had been looking at the possibility for a number of <br /> years, and opined that the timing was right and encouraged the City Council to <br /> look in that direction. <br /> Councilmember Laliberte agreed with a pilot program to prove it worked before <br /> other areas were brought in; and if the Commission already had bodies and pro- <br /> jects, it only made sense. However, Councilmember Laliberte expressed her pref- <br /> erence that this conversation continue and determine if a current staff person <br /> could be freed up from work they're currently doing, such as through reorganiza- <br /> tion of various departments. <br /> Chair Holt opined that the City's current Parks•& Recreation staff was already <br /> very short-handed; and they were seeing the need for an additional body. <br /> Councilmember Laliberte reiterated that her intent was to shift some of the work <br /> or responsibilities out of an existing position. <br /> Mayor Roe opined that there was no question that volunteer coordination was al- <br /> ready taxing existing staff, but if there was an opportunity to gain efficiency and <br /> refocus duties, it may still be necessary to add another person. Mayor Roe reiter- <br /> ated that this was part of the ongoing budget discussion and process, to provide <br /> volunteer coordination, sustainable maintenance of facilities and equipment, and <br /> other components, all entering into the big picture. <br /> Chair Holt expressed the Commission's desire that the City Council also look at <br /> the efficiencies to be realized by bringing another person in that would recruit ad- <br /> ditional volunteers. <br /> Councilmember McGehee concurred with Mayor Roe's comments about sustain- <br /> ability and budget constraints; noting that the City had just found out about the <br /> levy limits imposed at the end of the legislative session; with mandates and con- <br /> tractual obligations already in place, and no money available. Councilmember <br /> McGehee opined that it only made sense for the City to look at more efficiency <br /> and centralize functions to free up its currently overworked staff. While recogniz- <br /> ing that the City was certainly not overstaffed, Councilmember McGehee also <br /> recognized the need to have the money to pay staff. <br /> Mayor Roe suggested another option, while clarifying that he was not advocating <br /> for it, would be for the volunteer coordinator position to be funded by its user <br /> groups, and if that required an increase on user fees (e.g. 1%) to accomplish that, <br /> it may be worth discussion. Mayor Roe advised that it was not his intent to sug- <br /> gest a huge fee increase on its user groups, but it may be part of the creativity <br /> needed. <br />