by Bailey White
Staff Writer
When Dana Farris was appointed chief of the City Council Legislative Services Division in October, there were a few changes she wanted to make.
“I wanted to bring the office up to the 21st Century,” said Farris, who began her career with the City 13 years ago.
Farris plunged head first into getting the most out of the Legislative Tracking System, a computer program which files bills in an easy-to-retrieve system that had been established shortly before she took the position.
“I wanted to maximize its use,” she said, adding the program wasn’t being used to its full potential. “Now, we can build all agendas electronically and we keep the minutes electronically. Some of our duties now take half the time that they used to. We can generate the minutes in five minutes.”
Their website uses a similar bill search method, so those looking for a certain bill can find it by the year, the Council member supporting it or by keyword.
“We want to make ourselves accessible to the public,” said Farris, noting a phone call usually solves any problem.
All of this technology requires maintenance and Farris attends as many training courses as she can.
“I love to learn new things,” she said. “I’m always up for a challenge.”
Farris also set up a training library in the Legislative Services office where staffers learn about upcoming training sessions, find books, manuals and other materials that lead to what Farris calls “self betterment.”
“They’ve done a great job,” she said. “We pretty much trained ourselves [with the new computer program].”
And of course, the technical support team is always there when Farris needs it.
“They’re very familiar with my voice,” she said.
Another change Farris made was helping create a more tightly-knit team. Having worked in Legislative Services for about eight years before being appointed chief, Farris decided that as supervisor, she’d like to change the role of management.
“I wanted to make a difference in the position and I wanted to make my staff love to come to work. I wanted to empower the team,” she said.
Farris said she was a little nervous about becoming the supervisor of an office where she worked.
“It was a little scary at first, but I jumped in with both feet and haven’t stopped running since,” she said.
And so far, the transition has been a smooth one — for her and the staff.
“They are a wonderful team, with a lot of support and dedication,” she said.
Legislative Services has seven members: Philip Zamarron, Marilyn Allen, Lori Sanders, Suzanne Griffin, Karen Underwood, Carol Owens and Chief Assistant Elaine Febles. They are assigned to either City Council or committee meetings.
“Our main duties are covering meetings, recording votes and doing anything else the chairperson needs us for,” said Owens.
Staffers are also responsible for preparing agendas, organizing legislation and “other duties that go towards building an agenda.”
The staffers have their favorite committees. They agree that Land Use and Zoning, while interesting, can mean dauntingly long hours.
“I worked nine overtime hours one day because of an LUZ committee meeting,” said Allen.
Assignments vary yearly, which gives staffers a chance to experience all aspects of the job.
“I like staff to be able to perform duties downstairs [in Council Chambers], as well as upstairs [in Council offices]. They are very well rounded,” said Farris.
All the meetings and bills — which can number a 100 per week — require highly organized staffers.
“There are so many meetings at one time, you have to be organized,” said Owens.
Legislative Services is also somewhat of a history vault.
“We have records that date back to consolidation,” said Farris. “And we have copies of actual ordinances and resolutions that date back to the 1800s in the records room.”
There are even videotape recordings of City Council meetings, dating to the 1970s, and all are available to the public.
From her office, Farris can watch meetings in progress from a small television set, a testament to her close involvement with the Council.
“Legislative Services is the central nervous system of City Council,” she said.
Adds Owens: “We’re the connection between City Council and the constituents, the glue that holds it all together.”