IRVINE : Panel Issues Report on City’s Operations

A review committee of city officials and a private-sector personnel officer recommended Friday that the city eliminate three managers and reorganize city departments to streamline operations.

The report from the Organization Review Committee, which spent four months examining the city’s structure, will go before the City Council for discussion Tuesday. The report was popular reading at City Hall on Friday, when it was released to employees.

The committee--Councilwoman Paula Werner, Councilman Bill Vardoulis, City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr. and Koll Co. Vice President Elizabeth Hallin--recommended that the city eliminate one of the two assistant city managers, the unfilled deputy city clerk position and a third-level manager in the Community Development Department. Should the recommendations be adopted, two employees would be added to the list of seven Brady this week recommended be laid off because of slowed development.

Brady said Friday that he agrees with all the review committee’s recommendations and that he will ask the City Council to lay off one of his assistant city managers and the eight other employees.

The Irvine government staff has been shrinking over the last two years as Brady began a hiring freeze and cost-containment program in response to the recession. The city has cut 91 positions and left 28 others unfilled after employees left. Overall, the cost of city government when compared to the city’s population has decreased 14% over the past two years, Brady said.

How the city government should be restructured with the loss of so many employees was one of the questions the review committee set out to answer. Critics have accused the city of having too many managers. The committee reported finding many layers of supervisors in several city departments.

Department directors should be given more equitable responsibilities, the committee also noted. For instance, Community Development Director Robert C. Johnson supervises divisions that include planning, building and safety, engineering and transportation. Public Works Director Robert A. Graham, on the other hand, is responsible mostly for city maintenance activities.

The council will discuss the report during its 6:30 p.m. session Tuesday at City Hall.