by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
After taking office, one of Mayor John Peyton’s first orders of business was to realign several departments under his purview. Almost two years later, more restructuring may be on the way.
Peyton is proposing the City’s Administration and Finance Department, which oversees the majority of the executive branch’s money matters, be broken apart and remade as three independent offices.
Legislation that would create freestanding Finance, Human Resources and Information Technology Departments will be introduced at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
“After a lot of careful consideration, we believe this restructuring is the smart and timely thing to do,” said top Peyton aide Susie Wiles. “The Mayor is ready to move forward with it.”
HR and IT currently are among the seven divisions in the Administration and Finance Department. Wiles said reestablishing them as freestanding entities would “give them the proper weight.”
“As far as customer service and efficiency are concerned,” she said, “giving them more heft is best practice.”
No budgetary impact is expected.
City Chief Administrative Officer Dan Kleman informed Council president Elaine Brown via letter last week of Peyton’s plans.
“The Human Resources department will deliver a healthy organizational culture and environment, develop people and provide strategic workforce planning,” Kleman wrote. “This concentration on our human resources will help us deliver the workforce of the 21st century.”
Similarly, Kleman said a freestanding IT department — it is responsible for the selection, procurement and maintenance of several City services — would be more productive.
The Council will have the ultimate say in the matter and Wiles said Peyton is ready to endure their due diligence.
“As always we welcome their input,” she said.
If precedent is a factor, input and scrutiny can be expected.
When Peyton attempted to eliminate the Regulatory and Environmental Services Department and reassign all divisions under its control two years ago, the necessary legislation lagged for months.
More than half of the 19-member Council was new on the job at that time and a litany of concerns was exhausted before the bill eventually passed.
Council president Brown said she was unsure what level of scrutiny would be employed by the Council’s Rules and Finance committees, but that a hasty decision would not be an option.
“I expect the administration will make a very good case as to why we should do this,” Brown said. “After that, our committees will certainly study the merits of the plan and make the appropriate ruling.”