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best estimate of the number of separate (unduplicated) volunteers serving the city each year in one capacity or <br />another is 500 persons. This estimate is based largely on Parks and Recreation information but includes Police <br />Reserves, Citizen Advisory Commission Members, special projects volunteers, and others. <br />These volunteers come from all walks of life and they volunteer for a11 kinds of reasons. Most volunteers are <br />solicited by existing city staff within each department. In other words, volunteer recruitment and coordination <br />is decentralized; all city departments seek and use volunteers for a variety of proj ects. <br />Regarding interns, the City uses five interns on average each year within various city departments. These are <br />typically students in undergraduate or graduate school. Sometimes a portion of an interns pay comes through <br />the sponsoring school, grants, or other sources. These interns are sought by department staff who need help and <br />believe an intern can add value to our work. Using interns is also a way for current city staff to mentor students <br />and give back to their profession. <br />Policy Issues <br />I suggest the following focal points for Council policy discussion: <br />A. Need. <br />There has yet to be Council discussion about the services and needs that are not being met under the current <br />system of volunteers and interns. In other words, "Is the way we are currently approaching volunteerism in the <br />City broken or inefficient in some way? Where and how do we need to improve? Are the proposed Volunteer <br />Coordinatorand SeniorFellowshipsthe solution?" <br />B. Impact. <br />I have some concern that a centralized volunteer recruitment and coordination effort may undermine certain <br />relationshipswith volunteers that have been cultivated over many years. Currently, volunteers have <br />relationshipswith many department staffinembers that I believe are very important. Would a full-time, <br />centralized Volunteer Coordinator replace or reduce important contact between volunteers and various <br />department staff! <br />I also have some concern that Senior Fellowships may inadvertently hurt volunteer recruitment and retention. If <br />some persons are paid as Senior Fellows to perform certain proj ects or tasks for the city, we would need to <br />structure that program very carefully so that volunteers who receive no monetary compensation for their efforts <br />for the city do not feel slighted. <br />C. Competin� Positions. <br />It will require some amount of personal services dollars for the city to hire a full-time Volunteer Coordinator, to <br />pay stipends for Senior Fellowships, or to do both. <br />Several departments have identified current personnel needs that the City is having trouble meeting and that <br />may compete with the proposed Volunteer Coordinator and Senior Fellowships for limited personal services <br />dollars. The followingrequests have been identified by departments; many are not new to the Council since we <br />have discussed them at length during past budget review sessions; some are new as a result of the notion that <br />perhaps personal services dollars are available for a new position or positions: <br />Police - 1 Police Officer focusing on Commercial Patrol <br />1 Police Officer focusing on Domestic Violence <br />2 administrative support services personnel for data entry, block watch, <br />crime prevention, and community policing functions <br />