Another study? Is that a new record?

Did we just outsource the city managers job?

Why don't we just let everyone go and start over?

Our city manager is a joke. He is paid well over $100,000 per year and is paid $600 per month car allowance to commute 5 miles from Clearview Heights. Yes, he doesn't even live in the city. AND the city hired a deputy city manager for finance last year. We also created another executive position last year... Deputy superintendent of street maintenance. Our city government is way too top heavy with "leadership". I find it pathetic...

We also have an assistant city manager. A city of under 30000 residents, 4 schools and very little prospect for expansion and we have 3 city managers!

"Good luck with your layoffs, all right? I hope your firings go really well." - Peter Gibbons

It's actually an insult to the intelligence and capabilities of Fredericksburg city staff to continually hire consultants to perform jobs that city staffs all across America perform every day. The typical City Council response to this is that city staff is too shorthanded or overwhelmed with other responsibilities to tend to such matters in house, which is doubly insulting when one takes the time to note several individuals could be hired permanently, full time, with just a fraction of what our city so impulsively spends on outside consultants each and every year. The either or factor here is almost comically depressing.

Hey, leave them alone! The money is coming from the surplus, OK? Besides, it only equates to $6.90 cents out of the property tax for every one of the 10,467 housing units in the city.
Hey, let's raise the property tax again so that we can "equalize" the spending of the surplus and have another surplus next year! A surplus year after year will show all those homeowners what good stewards of their money we are! We must be doing it right if we have a surplus, right?!?

<insert big "F'n" sarc tag here>

I think it's a reasonable price for that kind of service, I'm confident it will pay for itself several times over. Except these are the responsibilities of people we are already paying to do them. If they are overburdened and can't do the job that the consultants are being brought in to do why aren't we looking for ways to reduce the burden on the people we put our confidence in to get this job done in the first place. Seems like a poor decision to pay a consultant to fix the effects of a problem rather than fix the cause. How long will this solution last if the city remains unable to manage their own house after the consultants are gone?

what i would like to know is this... the council has guidlines and rules to operate under (spelled out!) just like any other dept. in this city or any other. there are rules to follow. how come we must spend 73k to have a stranger come in and tell our council what it should already be doing? wouldnt a new fire truck be a better purchase? how about fixing the two barely usable bridges across the river (rt1 & 3)?
this move by coucil really does show people in positions not deserved making more bad decisions. if they hadnt messed up, a need for this 73k company to come here would be non existant.

Interesting reading. The city reduced staff through attrition during the current economic downturn. In the past few years we have made, in my opinion, some questionable hires while more critical positions such as police and fire (we still do not have 24/7 ALS service in the city) have not been addressed. When this study came up I requested clarification on the point in the staff report that said the final report “may” present recommendations. I was told the report will present immediate, short, medium, and long-term recommendations.

I don’t think an in house review of the residents (employees) would get us to where we need to go. I would be interested if anyone would take issue with that statement. As with any report it comes down to results and actions. My goal for this report is to foster a public discussion to inform, solicit input and implement the agreed recommendations. We need to do this to focus on where there are needs, and savings; as opposed to the normal hiring creep that goes on. If done correctly the money will have been well spent.

In light of that comment Mr. Kelly I would agree that an in house review may not get things in order as well. I understand what you are saying but what I'm boiling it down to is that the hiring is reckless and the firing is relegated, neither of which is responsible or respectable. I would be interested in seeing in the report what actions could be taken to prevent the need for a city management consultant in the future.

Matt, I think 95 percent of the public here has NO IDEA what 24-7 ALS really means to them. Would they like to know what it means to them?

Advanced Life Support.

To my good friend Mr. Kelly: I will respectfully take issue and strong exception to your statement. You think this out of state consultant is going to know the strengths and weaknesses of city staff (strangers) better than the city management team? The consultant "recommendations" can only be generic. Unless you have no confidence in city management, they are the ones who should conduct these kinds of studies, just like managers of businesses, and regularly (by spending time on the internets, FOIA-ing other localities that have done similar studies, etc.). Our city is more than famous for commissioning studies, congratulating itself for doing so and then shelving those studies forever. Why is now any different? Bottom line Matt: would you bet your retirement or life saving the city will implement any significant number of the short, medium or long-term recommendations of this study?

24-7 ALS:
The City currently has career EMS employees working Monday through Friday, 5:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. After 6:30 p.m. on weekdays and all Saturday and Sunday, the City's rescue coverage is provided by the Fredericksburg Rescue Squad, a volunteer organization. While the career staff is exclusively made up of personnel capable of providing Advanced Life Support, the volunteer EMS members are more often than not certified in Basic Life Support. If a call comes in after career-staffed hours that requires ALS, such as a heart attack, then a BLS volunteer-staffed ambulance is supplemented by response from the Fire Department, which has firefighters on duty 24/7 who are certified in ALS. If that supplementation from the Fire Department occurs, a fire truck must necessarily be taken out of service because of the minimum staffing requirements of each fire apparatus.

Off topic and a story for another day, which I just won't be able to get to.

Tom, I requested the internal study 2 years ago after having been told that no such study has ever been done within the City. In my 25 years as a banker, we had several studies that produced trememdous results. One of my goals in this study is to see what exactly it is we do within City Hall; once we know that we can start addressing consolidation of task and or doing away with many tasks that are being done "just because we've always done it that way". Internal "eyes" can not be objective in my opinion. I know our record on studies Tom but even with that knowledge I asked for and support this external organizational study. Bea Paolucci

Tom--Friends do not always agree. No need to explain yourself on that point. You are correct that most studies are filed away and forgotten. And the responsibility for that rests with the council. I have posted on this issue in the past on my blog (nice to know you read it--not). My job will be to make sure that doesn't happen on my watch.

Bea and Matt: Thanks for taking the time to comment. I respect your reasoning even though I happen to believe differently. Let's hope you all can make it work and worthy by ensuring there is follow through. Cheers.

I agree with Arnold Smithson.

Even if there were professors at UMW with city management consulting expertise, which I think is unlikely, why should their services be expected to cost less? It was an RFP, if they wanted a shot it was an open invitation. Whether they knew about it is a separate and serious issue. It's more than irritating to expect that local skills should automatically be a bargain or donated. Ask any number of local artists what their experience is with this.

I'm not a proponent of giving local services priority over anyone else in the selection process, but I do think extra effort should be made to make local services aware of these opportunities. Too much money leaves town, we should work harder to get more local proposals in the mix but still let the best proposal win.

I think the expectation to hire local, with respect to government management talent, is similar to the expectation with hiring local artistic talent. Fredericksburg is full of artists with international appeal, and even more government management specialists live right here in Fredericksburg

Please explain why they are worth far less money just because they are local.

Sorry Stephen, I don't think buying local means spending less

First, a Request for Proposals (RFP) was put out which should have given any interested party the opportunity to submit a proposal. As for the issue of preferential treatment for local firms it needs to be understood that procurement laws were established to provide ALL qualified groups and equal opportunity bid. The two biggest factors in making a decision are qualifications and cost. While exception have been enacted, local business preferences is not on the list. Not saying it cannot be a factor but it can’t be THE factor in deciding which firm is hired. Just stating the reality—not making a judgment on the merits.

At the last meeting the issue of using local firms was brought up by Councilman Howe. There will be discussions on what we can do to encourage the use of local firms and/or to ensure that they are made aware of RFP opportunities.
Here is the link to the staff memo on the Organizational Study RFP and resolution for those who want a bit more detail.

http://fredericksburgva.gov/agenda/2012/0814/11b.pdf

Thanks Matt. I believe RFPs should be weighted to local responders (which you point out this one wasn't), but just enough so that the advantage does not compromise the worthiness of what is being procured. I would pay a little more to a local qualified responder, for example. We obviously want the best service when seeking bids, but this example is not the best one for me to argue because I don't believe the city needed to go outside to accomplish this specific goal, respectfully to Bea and those who supported this initiative. I also believe some local RFP responders might charge less just to give back and to support the home team.

I agree that a local responder may be more valuable and yet charge less in some cases. But, I also believe that they shouldn't be given any favor in the selection process, my opinion is the selection should be blind, no weight on locals, no weight on incumbents. I do think that local AWARENESS of the RFPs should be weighted. Not to say that general awareness should be reduced, just that additional steps should be made to ensure that potentially qualified local responders are aware of RFPs.

Arnold--Big unsubstantiated leap on your part. It’s not about politics but rather practical experience vs. the theoretical. I would hope you would agree that a person with practical work experience in an area brings more to the table than those who have the education but have not applied it in the real world. Regarding your leap I would tell you that I probably have had more interaction with the UMW faculty than most. Whenever there has been an issue regarding preservation I would consult with the Historic Preservation Dept. faculty.

One of my favorite quotes is from Otto Von Bismarck who said, “Only fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the experiences of other.” Not only have I consulted UMW faculty I try to get input from many other sources as I can. I post on Patch, FredTalk, my Facebook page, and on my blog, to try and getter a better perspective on issues as well as test the validity of my own positions. To paraphrase Tom Paine—Through debate and argument the best solutions come forward.

Mr. Kelly, you're spot on concerning practical experience. I have had much luck with adjunct professors at universities in which they bring their practical experience to the classroom and offer much more than the theoretical cloud of textbook rhetoric. However, their expertise is not always appreciated. Some may recall this summer's brouhaha at the VCU firing of adjunct professor Jim Sparks because he protested a new introductory biology text for this Fall that will be brainwashing students with religious propaganda, i.e., creationism aka intelligent design while making a hit on evolution. Richmond's STYLE WEEKLY, a magazine of the local movers and shakers, did an excellent job reporting this.