MANSFIELD — Mansfield City Council had a litany of questions Tuesday evening about a proposal to reorganize personnel in the codes and permits department.
When local lawmakers weren’t getting the answers they wanted, they simply decided to delay a vote on the matter until their next meeting Oct. 4.
The questions began with At-large Councilwoman Stephanie Zader, who raised “major issues” with the proposal at council’s last meeting.
“As I expressed at the last council meeting, I am not on board with the codes and permits changes,” said Zader, who had asked the city administration to consider a more thorough overall review of the department.
Sharon May, the city’s human resources director, said the city had been unable to hire a new chief building officer since Steve Risser left the slot, a position that requires an architectural or engineering degree.
The reorganization would increase the salary ranges of the city’s licensed building official, residential building official and residential inspector positions. For example, under the proposal, the licensed building official would have a salary range of $37,000 to $63,000.
The salary range for the chief building official is between $48,000 and $85,000.
“We attempted quite diligently to fill that (chief building official) position through multiple advertising venues. We were unable to successfully fill that position. So in doing this, we are kind of reorganizing those job duties and those responsibilities to address an immediate need,” May said.
“In addressing that immediate need, it could be the reshuffling of some existing employees … possibly will bring in another outside employee. But I think the key feature of this also is that it does not burden their existing budget. All departments here are very cognizant of living within their existing budgets.”
Building and Codes manager Marc Milliron said the proposal also included training the department’s housing inspectors “so they can identify some different pieces that would be more related to building issues, concerns, demolition … getting them the education that they need. So that’s what we’re gonna provide.
“The other piece that we’re working on is trying to get the position filled for the building official. Right now, if we do not fill the building official position, the interim that we have could expire on us. So it’s very critical that we definitely fill the position that’s empty right now, which is a building official. Mansfield does not have that,” Milliron said.
He said another goal is to hire an extra housing inspector to work with the two currently employed by the city, though there is nothing in the proposal that mandates filling either of the two vacant housing inspector positions that are authorized.
“We have to get them trained so that they’re certified, not just for housing, but they can also handle the position for inspecting buildings and kind of get them a whole round of training, rather than just being isolated to the one position of a housing inspector,” Milliron said.
“So this is going to really create a more diverse building department/housing department. So that’s the goal for this.”
Zader didn’t like the answers, saying it appeared the plan was to add more responsibilities to already overburdened housing inspectors, while not addressing the larger overall issues.
“We shouldn’t be piecemealing things. We should be addressing the major issues,” she said. “If you’re going to restructure a department, then restructure it in a way that is going to work for the long haul. Don’t put a band-aid on something that needs stitches.
“Your department (is second among those) that I get the most complaints about in the city of Mansfield. The number one complaint that I get is about homes that are not kept up, which is what our housing inspectors do,” Zader said.
Mayor Tim Theaker said budget realities limit additional hiring.
“Utopia would be that we have enough housing inspectors,” the mayor said. “It would be great to have one in each (council) ward. The budget is a deterrent for doing something like that.
“Council approves the budget. We propose it and we have to have a balanced budget. That’s where the problem is … the rubber meets the road in the budget,” Theaker said.
Zader said the budget process is where the decisions should be made.
“It’s all the more reason to look at the department as a whole. If we look at the department as a whole, we could see what the best possible use of that budget is rather than piecemealing positions in to try to fill an immediate need,” she said.
“Planning ahead would be a very good thing for us to do. I think we are a very reactive city, rather than a proactive city. This would be a proactive measure to make sure that we’re making the best use of that budget.”
Fourth Ward Councilman Alomar Davenport said he didn’t understand how the proposal was designed to work.
“You’re looking to fill the duties of an engineer or architect with someone who does not have an engineering degree or architect degree. I don’t know how long it’s going to take, how much training it’s gonna require to bring that person up to speed,” Davenport said.
“I’m just not confident that aspect of what they’re trying to do here will actually work and (Milliron) hasn’t explained how it would work. I’m just baffled how you can use just anyone to fill architectural or engineer (positions),” Davenport said.
At that point, 6th Ward Councilwoman Kimberly Moton, chair of the employee relations committee, spoke up.
“I’d like to (make) a motion to delay the vote for tonight so that we have more time to discuss this. And if there’s any changes that need to be made, they will be made and presented to us (Oct. 4),” Moton said.
In other action Tuesday, City Council:
— approved honoring former City Council member Walden A. “Butch” Jefferson by placing a street sign with his name on a section of Johns Avenue between Harker Street and Longview Avenue.
— voted to honor former Mansfield police Det. David Scheurer, who retired Sept. 9 after 30 years with the department.
— approved a resolution in support of a Mansfield City Schools tax levy renewal on the Nov. 8 ballot. The levy, which would result in no tax increase for local residents, would generate $7.9 million annually for day-to-day operations of the district.
— approved acceptance of a $123,500 violent crime reduction grant from the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services. The grant will pay for the installation of 32 license plate reader camera systems throughout Mansfield for the police department and other law enforcement agencies.
— approved acceptance of a $130,418 violent crime reduction grant from the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services. The money would be used to purchase license plate readers, cameras, drones and other technology for Mansfield police and other northern Ohio law enforcement agencies.
— approved the purchase of a new Ford E450 Braun Chief XL Ambulance for the city fire department at a cost of $264,092.80. Funds for the purchase were previously approved by council using American Rescue Plan Act funds.
— discussed during caucus the purchase of a new front mount snow blower and chassis from M-B Companies Inc. for use at Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport. The $786,151 equipment will be paid for using airport funds with annual payments through 2028. By paying over time, the city will also pay $96,779.16 in interest costs, making the total price $882,930.16. No vote was taken.
–– approved acceptance of accept a $6,173,701 grant from the FAA to rehabilitate Apron “A” and selected taxiways and taxilanes at the airport. The city will contribute $385,029 and the Ohio Dept. of Transportation $343,983 as part of a $6,920,714 overall project.
