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Special City Council Meeting Thursday,July 18,2013 Page 22 remove silos and move services within the City's internal functions, she ques- tioned if it would prove ultimately successful across the board. Mr. Trudgeon again thanked the City Council for their comments; reiterating that this was intended as a start in attempting to begin alleviating stress on other de- partments. If the right trained person meeting the qualifications of the job description took on a different role than currently used to, Councilmember Etten opined that the change should be immediate with transition needed as people acclimate to things. Councilmember Etten noted that the recommendations represented a big change and everyone needed to be cognizant of that upfront. Mayor Roe concurred with Mr. Trudgeon advising that communications content came from department-specific expertise, but they were in fact creating actual media; and if that function is removed, there should be opportunities to use exist- ing levy funds by departments to focus on and perform their specific roles, or re- duce work hours accordingly. Councilmember Willmus concurred with Mayor Roe's comments. Councilmember Laliberte opined that, if someone new were brought in, they would be expecting to use their expertise and experience to lead communication efforts, and not just babysit the existing process. Councilmember Laliberte opined that, as part of the City Council's levy/budget discussions, it may make the process move faster than anticipated; and as dollars are moved around and func- tion support in different areas and resources in other areas, additional hours may be available for other functions, such as getting a department implemented with the asset management software or taking on the volunteer coordinator role. Councilmember McGehee spoke in support of the Communications Manager po- sition as a totally new position, needing to hit the ground running with everyone on board. Councilmember McGehee cautioned that the City was still in the City Manager Search position; and sought to ensure that the City Council didn't set up a whiplash situation for employees and to be mindful of other changes in process or pending. Councilmember McGehee stated that she was very supportive of get- ting a person hired to do this job and thereby freeing up staff time; opining that she had heard from some departments that it could be a real positive for them. Referencing Mr. Trudgeon's question on the level of support or priority from the City Council for these initial recommendations, Councilmember Willmus opined that this type of thing was desperately needed by the organization; and offered his encouragement and support of pressing forward.