Fountain Valley looks to ease 911 dispatch staffing crunch and reorganize other jobs

A more financially optimistic Fountain Valley is adding and expanding jobs and boosting pay at City Hall.

Staffing adjustments include eliminating some vacant jobs, with a net increase of two full-time equivalent positions (FTEs), and adding about $344,000 to next year’s budget, according to an assessment the City Council approved Tuesday.

New jobs include:

• One 911 dispatcher to alleviate short staffing that has dispatch single-staffed eight hours a day.
• One senior planner to serve as the primary project manager for the city’s upcoming general plan update and to keep up with state housing regulations. This would be funded by reallocating a budgeted, but unfilled, code enforcement position.
• One management aide, split between the human resources and city manager’s offices. This also is created by repurposing existing positions.
• A field services manager to oversee all city yard operations, including the utilities and general services divisions. This position was created from two eliminated division manager positions.
• A management analyst in the Finance Department to act as the city’s purchasing officer.
• Reinstating a technician position in the housing and community development division.

Expanded or enhanced jobs include:

• Bumping up a Police Department secretary from part time to full time.
• Adding 8% premiums for certifications for the three water supervisors in the utilities division. Lower-level water workers already receive the premium.
• Elevating an assistant engineer in public works to associate engineer.
• Reclassifying a recreation coordinator to community services supervisor and reclassifying two community services supervisors to community services managers. All will have increased responsibilities.

The city has 221.75 FTEs. Before the recession in 2008, it had 250.

“The city runs very efficiently with a lean staff, and it is not proposed that the FTE count grow back to the old levels,” City Manager Rob Houston wrote in a staff report. “However, there are some areas where workload and new challenges merit the addition of a few new positions in order to provide the right amount of effort toward those needs.”

Capital improvements

Houston suggested a few possible, smaller capital upgrades citywide.

He said the two fire stations could use light remodeling in the kitchens, new storage cabinets for the firefighters’ turnouts, new landscaping, driveway repair, “gender diversity” remodels to the bathrooms and sleeping quarters to provide better privacy for female firefighters, and automatic gates to replace the manually operated ones in place now.

The kitchen and a meeting room at the recreation center could be remodeled and modernized, making them more attractive as facilities that can be rented to the public.

Recreation also could see outdoor pickle ball courts, shade structures for the ball field bleachers and LED lighting at the sports park.

City Hall could pick up some solar panels, and security cameras at fire stations, the city yard and the sports park could be upgraded.

Houston said the city is still a few weeks away from its 2018-19 budget presentation.

hillary.davis@latimes.com

Twitter: @Daily_PilotHD