Woodstock City Council wrestling with organizational shakeup that could add executive positions

Woodstock City Council members were split on Mayor Mike Turner’s proposal to add at least two, and perhaps three, new executive director positions to municipal payrolls for as much as $200,000 in annual salary and benefits for each job added.

The hires would be a part of a larger reorganization of the city staff hierarchy that Turner said he believes is overdue. The move could enable top officials to dedicate more time to long-term strategizing and more deliberate approaches to marketing the city and its services to businesses, artists, tourists and developers, Turner said.

In particular, it is meant to reduce the number of department heads reporting directly to City Manager Roscoe Stelford, who serves as the boss for 13 staffers now, a figure that Turner feels is too many.

The mayor’s idea to start the hiring process for two new executive directors later this year, and a third unfunded executive position to be filled in a few years, was supported by most of the council on Tuesday, with some caveats that the functions of the city he has proposed each job would oversee could be tweaked before final approval.

That plan could take the number of city staffers reporting directly to Stelford’s office down to four. It would put the city’s business-like funds for facilities such as its pool, the Opera House and recreation center under one umbrella; its growth strategizing, development regulation and human resources functions under another; and city maintenance of assets such as parks, public works including sewer and water delivery systems, the library and municipal court services under a third.

That third position which would oversee the public works department and parks, among other responsibilities, and serve as a buffer between the City Manager’s Office and those respective department heads, would not be funded until the fiscal 2022-23 or 2023-24, city staff has said.

“I see the value in doing it now as we’re coming out of COVID. Because there is a lot of investment out there right now. If we don’t catch this wave of growth we could stagnate,” council member Wendy Piersall said.

Council member Bob Seegers was on the fence about whether to support the mayor’s proposal, initially preferring an alternative option that would hire just two executives and hold off on bringing on a third.

But Seegers toward the end of last week’s discussion said he would get behind the mayor’s proposal, as long as it could be walked back in case it works poorly.

Council members Gordie Tebo and Tom Nierman were more hesitant to support the mayor’s pitch and wanted to look at adding just one executive and assess how that hire worked out before committing to a second right away.

“It seems to me there is a rush to throw a corporate structure in here,” Tebo said. “Are we lacking in strategy right now? Are we having trouble pointing to where the city is supposed to go? If we are, can we modify our present structure to get that?”

Council member Darrin Flynn pushed back, saying the city should hire all positions included within the original vision of the restructure and not just one.

“It’s been my experience in the restructures that if you go partway, it fails,” Flynn said.

He supported the mayor’s idea to bring on two new executives who could help develop metrics and measures to better develop city goals and gauge its performance, while freeing up Stelford to have more meetings centered around improving the city’s talent and leading the charge on initiatives of heightened strategic difficulty and importance.

Turner suggested Stelford’s focus may soon need to be more dedicated toward an attempt at expanding Woodstock’s borders to incorporate more of the area surrounding the city into its municipal limits, a project that could be backed by federal stimulus funding the city is expecting.

Adding a new layer of leadership could help Stelford be available to steer that mission, the mayor said.

“Talk about the ultimate in strategy,” Turner said of the potential annexation push. “That’s falling on [Stelford]. He could use some help from a strategist. And I don’t want to let economic development, the Opera House and other things languish – that’s the wrong word – but not get as much attention.”

The future of the Opera House took on a particular focus during the council’s discussion, as it has been described by elected leaders to be run “like a museum instead of a venue,” and they believe it has potential to become a self-supporting asset, or close to it, instead of one that is subsidized by Woodstock’s general fund.

If only one new position is approved it would be the Strategic Business Development Executive Director, and would oversee the city’s economic development, Opera House, recreation, grants and communications teams as a newly formed division.

City leaders believe there is strong financial planning capability within the current staff roster, but want to add more sales, marketing and creative skills with the potential new executive hires.

City staff was directed to continue working on the mayor’s proposal to add two new executives, and maybe a third one in the future when funding is available, with plans to discuss it again and potentially have a council vote on it next month.