At its meeting Monday, City Council approved adjustments to the City budget that will allow changes to be made to the City of Hilliard’s organizational structure and number of employees allocated to certain departments.
These changes move money within the existing 2020 operating budget and therefore do not change the total amount of allocated funds.
The most significant of the adjustments, which were based on a request by City Manager Michelle Crandall, allows for the creation of the Community Development Department, which is comprised in part of divisions previously part of the Public Service Department.
This new department, operating under the newly created position of Community Development Director, will include an Engineering Division under City Engineer Clark Rausch, a Transportation/Mobility Division under Director Letty Schamp, a Planning Division under Director John Talentino, and a Building Standards Division under Chief Building Official Michael Hulsey, who begins work with the City Sept. 28.
Operations will become a separate division under the leadership of Director Larry Lester.
“All of this allows the previous Public Service Department to evolve and be replaced with a structure better suited to our future needs,” Crandall said. “Since joining the Hilliard team as City Manager in January, I have spent a great deal of time working with staff and City Council to identify priorities for the future. That assessment has included reviewing the existing City staff organizational structure as it relates to the opportunities and challenges we will be tackling in the coming years.”
Other changes approved by Council Monday night include:
- The Special Event/Sponsorship Recreation Aide position will move to the Economic Development Department. The title for this position will become Economic Development Administrator. This move expands the capacity of Economic Development to attract, retain, and grow businesses in Hilliard. Sponsorship responsibilities will continue to be part of the position’s responsibilities as the department works to engage and build relationships with local companies.
- Payroll functions will move from Human Resources to Finance. This is a more typical and logical structure for the organization.
- The two-person GIS team will move from Engineering to Information Technology, creating greater focus on GIS, asset management and related analytics functions.
- The position of Public Safety Director position is being eliminated, allowing the Chief of Police to report directly to the City Manager.
“Hilliard is at an important time in its history, and what we do now strategically will set our course for future success,” Crandall said. “These changes structure us to better plan for and address our future opportunities and challenges.”
