Currently operating with a bare-bones staff, Solvang City Manager Xenia Bradford thinks projected increases in transient occupancy tax (TOT) could be a way to rebuild the city’s staff.
During the March 8 City Council meeting Bradford said there haven’t been any complaints in terms of processing requests or services during the pandemic, however, the turnaround time is always “down to the minute.”
City staff consists of Bradford, a public works director, and a management analyst working as an assistant to the city manager. The city is using contractors per a vacancy policy adopted in 2019 to fill in some of the gaps, which still doesn’t provide 40 hours per week of services in all operation areas.
Bradford has had to take on the duties of the city manager, city clerk, and acting planning director. She called the current staffing structure unsustainable in the long term.
During public comment, resident Nancy Emerson echoed Bradford’s concerns and asked the council to vote in favor of filling those vacancies.
“I think that we have been asking a great deal of our city manager over the last year. And it seems appropriate to provide a bit more help for her,” Emerson said.
The council voted 4-1 to reallocate $75,000 for the remainder of the 2020-21 fiscal year
to fill two maintenance positions, an assistant planner, and a full-time city clerk and to change the office assistant position from part time to full time. It also unanimously voted to end the vacancy policy that resulted in a lack of city staff.
According to a staff report, in October 2019 the former City Council adopted a vacancy policy that determines whether a vacant position can be handled through reassignment of duties to existing staff or through outsourcing. Under this policy, filling a position requires council approval.
City staff was working on an organizational assessment in early 2020, but due to an emergency public health crisis declaration and the statewide stay-at-home order, city operations were reduced to essential services only. General fund operating expenditures were reduced by $1 million on an ongoing annual basis.
The action resulted in the formal removal of 12 city staff positions. City legal counsel David Fleishman said the move wasn’t viewed well by the union, resulting in the union filing unfair labor practice charges against the city.
“We are working to try to resolve that with the union,” Fleishman said.
With statewide stay-at-home orders lifted, Bradford said the city has seen a slight increase in TOT but projects that the revenue will continue increasing as soon as Santa Barbara County moves to the red tier and things “begin to go back to a type of normal.”
“The city of Solvang has historically recovered rather well during situations like this. For example, the Great Recession. Travel becomes too expensive or it’s not feasible to go to Europe so we have a good clientele base that instead elects to come to Solvang,” she said.
This article appears in Mar 11-18, 2021.