Bell Council Receives Plan to Reorganize

Councilmen Ray Johnson and Rolf Janssen submitted a plan at Monday’s City Council meeting to reorganize the city’s administration and eliminate the position of director of community development.

The proposal, unwrapped for the first time at the meeting, would create a new Administrative Services Department comprising all of the functions currently managed by the Community Development Department and the Business Services Department.

To emphasize the role of the chief administrative officer in community redevelopment, the CAO, currently Byron Woosley, would head the Community Redevelopment Agency, and an “economic development specialist” would be hired to “market Bell” and its three redevelopment project areas, Johnson said Wednesday.

Johnson and Janssen had written the proposal over the last two weeks after a months-long review of municipal government structure, and said in the report that the suggested changes are designed to make government more cost-effective and stream-lined.

William Vasquez, the current director of Community Development, had been director of Community Services since November, 1985, until the October resignation of ex-director David Meyer. Vasquez was appointed to his new position on Nov. 3. No one’s job is at stake, Johnson said. “We’re going to reshuffle the duties.”

The proposal was tabled until Monday’s city council meeting.