Mayor's Big Idea: Reducing Staff Support

The Mayor came armed with a big idea to Monday's city council meeting. (Bemidji Pioneer report) Unfortunately, his suggestion, to eliminate staff support for some city commissions and committees is misguided at best and self-serving at worst.

First of all, it is the manager's job to decide where and how staff should be used. According to the charter, the city manager ". . .shall direct and supervise all departments, services, and agencies of the city, except as otherwise provided by law or charter."

I take that to mean the manager will decide how best to use his staff's time. Additionally, the charter admonishes the council against interference with administration, ". . . the council shall deal with and control city administrative officers and employees under the jurisdiction of the manager solely through the manager."

I guess the Mayor forgot that staffing decisions are the responsibility of the city manager. 

One can presume that the purpose of the Mayor's suggestion is to save money.  Unfortunately, unless he is planning to cut more staff or reduce employee hours, his suggestion does not save money.  This red herring does however, reduce customer service and has already put dedicated staff on edge.  The affected employees appear blindsided by the suggestion. 

Policy issues are the purview of council--setting the budget and the like.  Personnel issues should be left to the manager. The Mayor knows that, so it is confusing why he brought up the issue at all.  Of course "reducing government" is the mantra of the Republicans.  Maybe he is polishing his conservative credentials for his run at the MN House?

Whatever the motive, this is one "big idea" that should be dropped.  Let's hope the rest of the council agrees.