Council Action Requested:
Amend the County Code to change the Deputy County Administrator position title to Assistant County Administrator.
Points to Consider:
With the pending vacancy of the Deputy County Administrator position (currently called Assistant County Administrator) the County Administrator would like to formally change the title of the position from Deputy County Administrator to Assistant County Administrator to better reflect the duties and current function of the position.
The County currently operates with a Division Structure, whereby the organization chart is structured around five divisions -- general services, financial services, public services, development services and emergency services. Each division is led by a Division Director, who also has general department head responsibilities, including the Assistant County Administrator, who oversees the general services division, which includes the departments of Human Resources, Information Technology, Communications and Marketing, Parks and Recreation, and Risk Management.
This model is sufficient and an appropriate role for an Assistant County Administrator position to have departmental responsibility as well as organization-wide responsibilities, such as strategic plan oversight, training and development initiatives and service delivery evaluation.
However, the role of a Deputy Administrator, is viewed differently whereby that role is generally without any direct daily department oversight, but has an organization-wide role to work with all department directors on departmental and organization-wide issues from policy development and implementation to service delivery enhancements and Council priority implementation. This structure allows the Deputy Director position to serve as an interim department director during times of leadership staff transition, as well as serve as a true second-in-command role to the County Administrator to focus on organization-wide needs.
While not presently seeking a Deputy County Administrator position, just a name change to reflect the current duties of an Assistant County Administrator, the Deputy Administrator role would be a natural promotion or advancement position for an Assistant County Administrator and help to delineate a succession line for the County Administrator.
Given the growth of Lancaster County and the growing complexities of services in the County, there could be a need to have both positions of a Deputy County Administrator and an Assistant County Administrator, but that is not the request at this time.
.
Funding and Liability Factors:
The salary range for an Assistant County Administrator is less than the salary range for a Deputy County Administrator.
Recommendation:
Approval of Ordinance 2023-1850.