Title
Body
MEMORANDUM
TO: Tina Scott, Chair, Board of Supervisors
FROM: Brian L. Martin, Sheriff/Coroner
DATE: February 12, 2019
SUBJECT: Consideration of (a) Proposal to restructure the Sheriff's Department; and (b) Resolution amending Resolution No. 2018-132 establishing position allocations for fiscal year 2018-2019
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The Sheriff’s Department is requesting a management level reorganization as part of a restructuring and to significantly change its business practices due to a long history of vacancies in particular classifications and is requesting to reorganize in order to meet the demand in another way.
If approved, the results will be as follows:
Eliminate the existing Sheriff’s Lieutenant (2 vacant) and Captain (1 vacant) positions in the Sheriff/Coroner budget 2201 and change the title to Chief Deputy.
Eliminate the existing vacant Central Dispatch Manager (civilian) position in the Sheriff/Dispatch budget 2202 and change the title to Chief Deputy.
Eliminate the existing Correctional Captain (civilian) position in the Sheriff/Jail budget 2301 and change the title to Chief Deputy. The current unfunded positions will remain unfunded at this time.
Affected allocations by BU
BU 2201 BU2201
2 Captain (Sworn) 7 Chief Deputies (Sworn)
5 Lieutenant (Sworn)
BU 2202 BU2202
1 Central Dispatch Manager 1 Chief Deputy (Sworn)
BU 2301 BU2301
1 Correctional Captain 1 Chief Deputy (Sworn)
The department has a long history of failed recruitment efforts for the position of Central Dispatch Manager. Leadership struggles have been a reoccurring challenge and in response, the two previous Sheriffs have assigned sworn personnel to the facility to “right the ship” and turn it back over to the subsequent civilian manager. Formalized, POST approved Leadership Development Training, as well as assignment to various positions of increasing responsibility are required at many stages of a peace officer's career to advance in rank. The skills learned and developed over the course of a career generally enable them to be more effective leaders and managers than their civilian counterparts who don't always benefit from such training. Predictably, this has again happened, and a sworn employee currently oversees operations. It is my desire to reclassify the Central Dispatch Manager to a Chief Deputy and make that a permanent assignment.
The Lake County Jail/Hill Road Correctional Facility experiences similar events as described in the Dispatch Center. We are currently in the midst of a staffing crisis as there has been a mass exodus of employees. In speaking with the employees, they are frequently leaving County employment due to pay and benefit issues, but many of them are simply transferring to a different County department. Just as with the Dispatch Center, there has been a cycle of assigning sworn personnel to the jail to "right the ship". Sheriff Rod Mitchell assigned two Deputy Sheriff Lieutenants to oversee operations. They accomplished the mission and command of the jail was turned over to a correctional manager. The previous Sheriff (Rivero), upon realizing the reoccurrence of management problems assigned a Deputy Sheriff Lieutenant out to the jail to again "right the ship". I find myself in the same situation yet again. As is the case with the Dispatch Center, I have assigned a sworn Lieutenant to the facility and positive change is occurring. Assigning sworn managers to oversee operations has proven effective in the past, and it appears to be effective now. This practice also gives me the ability to have a larger pool of personnel to assign to these assignments to ensure that we have the best match for the position.
This proposal will keep one of the jail management positions in place. The maintenance and operation of a jail facility is a world of experience that a Chief Deputy will lack. Keeping a single manager with experience in facilities maintenance in place, and assigning that person to the task of maintenance, while assigning the Chief Deputy overall responsibility of the facility and personnel matters will be a significant change in business practice.
My proposal is to use the attached job description for Chief Deputy Sheriff-Coroner and work with HR to determine the appropriate salary step at which to reclassify existing employees.
FISCAL IMPACT: __ None __Budgeted __Non-Budgeted
Estimated Cost: $2,000/month estimated
Amount Budgeted:
Additional Requested:
Annual Cost (if planned for future years):
FISCAL IMPACT (Narrative): No additional funds are being requested
STAFFING IMPACT (if applicable): N/A
Recommended Action
RECOMMENDED ACTION: The Sheriff’s Department recommends approval of this restructuring.