City shuffles top employee positions

Starting at the top, changes in the City government’s jobs will trickle down to all levels, Mayor Don Jones said Monday.

After evaluating the workloads of employees recently, the mayor announced changes to the employees on November 17, 2009.

Former chief of police, Sam Livingston, will perform the duties of operations manager for the city.  As operations manager, Livingston will assist the city manager with operations of all departments of the City of Hohenwald, under the direction of the mayor and the City Council.  Mayor Jones was hired by the Council as city manager when he took office.

Included in the duties will be the oversight of three new projects the City has undertaken:  the sewer rehabilitation, a new lagoon system and the construction of a welcome center on Main Street, Mayor Jones said.  Additionally, the operations manager will be required to manage and supervise all departments and employees, make recommendations to the Council for improving quality and quantity of services to the public, report on equipment and buildings and enforce personnel ordinances.

He will also administrate property liability and health insurance for the City of Hohenwald.

By taking on personnel responsibilities, City Recorder Mark Graves will focus more on finances, allowing the City to discontinue the outsourcing of accounting services, the mayor explained.  Monies saved, totaling approximately $15,000 annually beginning with the 2010-11 fiscal year, will allow the City to re-focus the attention of the employees without the need for new money in the budget, he continued.

City Councilman Don Barber confirmed the mayor/city manager had informed the Council of the impending changes but was not required to seek permission for the reorganization of the employee positions.

“We want to make the most of the people we have,” Mayor Jones said.  “We are evaluating the current positions within the City and balancing the responsibilities among the employees,” he continued.

Also affected by the evaluations was Fire Department Captain Randy Hinson who will now also serve the city as purchasing director.  Hinson’s responsibilities will include negotiating supply and material purchases for all departments, soliciting and receiving bids on purchases, issuing purchase orders and processing invoices to be paid.  The purchasing director will also maintain fleet records for equipment and track fuel usage for all City vehicles.

“This is born out of two things,” Graves said, “ making the City operate more efficiently and State of Tennessee mandated responsibilities for the CMFO.”  As Certified Municipal Finance Officer, Graves’ responsibilites will shift more to the financial and accounting side of the City’s operations and away from management issues, he continued.

Mayor Jones said Graves is expected to achieve the CMFO requirement by the end of the current fiscal year, June 2010.  Graves indicated the changes will more closely reflect the operation of a business with the mayor performing as the chief executive officer and the recorder as the chief financial officer, both under the direction of the City Council.

Replacing Livingston as chief of police is Larry Joe Hinson.  Assistant Chief of Police is Mike Simmons, who previously served as captain.  No promotions to captain were announced.

Operations manager will be paid $53,200 as will the City Recorder, a rate unchanged for two years. The City Recorder was eligible for educational incentives which will no longer be available with the change in title.  The Chief of Police will be paid a salary of $44,000.

As City manager, Jones is compensated $55,100 and as mayor he receives an additional $16,000.  No salary has been announced for the purchasing director or for the assistant police chief positions.

Announced changes were effective immediately.