Title
Increase Community Outreach and Enhance Administrative Oversight of Day to Day Operations (Ordinance S-48060)
Description
Request to authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to increase budgeted resources for City Council offices by $75,000 each for the remainder of the fiscal year ($100,000 annually) and the Mayor's office by $124,000 for the remainder of the fiscal year ($165,000 annually) to provide added resources for community engagement and involvement; constituent services; and other resources necessary for elected officials in the fastest growing major city in the United States. Also request authorization to add an additional Assistant City Manager and one administrative support position to provide necessary executive oversight over several new or recently expanded programs in the City Manager's Office. The expansion of these programs coupled with the recently announced Department of Justice Pattern and Practice investigation requires significantly more executive level leadership than is currently available. Further request to authorize the City Controller to disburse all funds related to this item.
Report
Summary
Reports show the population of Phoenix has grown from 1.4 million in the 2010 US Census to 1.6 million residents based on the recent 2020 US Census, an increase of 11.2 percent. As a result, each Council district serves over 200,000 residents. Administrative support staff in the Mayor and Council offices was reduced by 25 full-time employees after the Great Recession. A mid-year adjustment of resources will allow Councilmembers and the Mayor to adequately serve their constituents in the nation's fastest growing major city. The proposed additional executive level leadership will facilitate oversight and direction of recently expanded or enhanced programs and enhance coordination of new Council and community initiatives. For example, the City was awarded $398 million in State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). As discussed previously these funds will be distributed in two separate allocations of $198 million each. The first allocation of $198 million of ARPA funds added over 47 new City programs. The second allocation of $198 million, which is anticipated to be received in the first quarter of 2022, will add even more programs to the City's portfolio. The additional staff support in the City Council, Mayor and City Manager offices will ensure proper coordination of these programs among Phoenix residents.
Financial Impact
Funds are available from General Fund budgetary savings in the current fiscal year.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by City Manager Jeffrey Barton.