Title
a. Support amending the Personnel Policies and Practices Resolution (PPPR) No. 98-394 Appendix A and B to create the classifications of County Communications Director and County Media Analyst as indicated in Attachment A;
b. Support amending the County Administrative Office Budget 1050-CAO004 Unit 8054 to allocate one (1) FTE County Media Analyst as indicated in Attachment A and provide direction to staff to incorporate the position as a priority in the FY 21-22 Budget;
c. Authorize the Auditor-Controller to amend the FY 2020-21 Adopted Budget by increasing appropriations by $43,556 in the County Administrative Office 001-1050-CAO004-8054 financed by a decrease in appropriations in General Fund Contingencies 001-1050-CAO020-8034 as previously approved by the Board of Supervisors on Feb 9, 2021; and,
d. Support directing the Auditor-Controller and County Administrative Office to incorporate the position changes in the FY 2020-21 Adopted Budget and the Human Resources Department to implement the changes in the Advantage HRM System.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Budget Committee support the following actions:
a. Support amending the Personnel Policies and Practices Resolution (PPPR) No. 98-394 Appendix A and B to create the classifications of County Communications Director and County Media Analyst as indicated in Attachment A;
b. Support amending the County Administrative Office Budget 1050-CAO004 Unit 8054 to allocate one (1) FTE County Media Analyst as indicated in Attachment A and provide direction to staff to incorporate the position as a priority in the FY 21-22 Budget;
c. Authorize the Auditor-Controller to amend the FY 2020-21 Adopted Budget by increasing appropriations by $43,556 in the County Administrative Office 001-1050-CAO004-8054 financed by a decrease in appropriations in General Fund Contingencies 001-1050-CAO020-8034 as previously approved by the Board of Supervisors on Feb 9, 2021; and,
d. Support directing the Auditor-Controller and County Administrative Office to incorporate the position changes in the FY 2020-21 Adopted Budget and the Human Resources Department to implement the changes in the Advantage HRM System.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
During the past year, the County has responded to several catastrophic events including the COVID-19 pandemic emergency, 2020 wildfires and 2021 winter storm events. During these catastrophic events, coordinating and disseminating timely and accurate information has been critical to ensure public safety. To aid in this endeavor, the Board of Supervisors created an ad hoc COVID Communications Committee intended to develop COVID related communications/messaging strategy and to guide staff in the dissemination of vital information to members of the public. Due to the multiple catastrophic events and limited staff resources available to develop and disseminate messaging needed to respond to the overwhelming informational needs/demands of the community, the Board of Supervisor authorized the CAO to bring on additional contractor provided communications resources. After a process in which several firms were interviewed, TMD Creative of Salinas was selected to augment and help guide the County’s communication efforts. TMD came on board in June 2020 with a 6-month contract in the amount of-$409,959 funded by CARES Act dollars.
The TMD contract was extended in December 2020 and is currently set to expire in May 2021. This extension was in the amount of $335,000 funded by a release from the Cannabis Assignment. A one-month contract extension with additional Spanish language translation capability will be processed in the next several weeks. The proposed TMD extension will provide service only through the end of the current Fiscal Year.
The COVID 19 pandemic has shed light on certain areas for improvement related to the County’s communication capabilities which both the ad hoc COVID Communications Committee and the staff feel must be addressed in both a short term and a more long-term manner. The most immediate and pressing need is for the County to have, on staff, an individual who can provide expert, quick turnaround, Spanish language translation as well as proficiency in social media messaging. The ad hoc COVID Communications Committee and the staff also believe that the County should devote resources and attention to developing a comprehensive communications strategy which can provide the public with accurate and timely information across a variety of media platforms. Along with this strategy and need for robust communication delivery is the need to coordinate and potentially restructure the County’s currently decentralized communications function. Staff believes that this more comprehensive approach to a County communications function can best be accomplished by adding a County Communications Director job classification within the CAO department. An augmentation request has been submitted to the Budget Office for both of the positions described above. It is staff’s recommendation that the position of County Media Analyst should be added now (in FY 2020-21) and included in the recommended 2021-22 County Budget. Therefore, we request the Budget Committee and ultimately the Board’s support and direction to add the County Media Analyst position now and include in the Recommended 2021-2022 Budget. The County Media Analyst will be recruited immediately and will be required to possess oral and written Spanish language proficiency.
Staff also has requested in the budget process that the Board add the position of County Communications Director in the FY 2021-22 budget. Both the ad hoc COVID Communications Committee and the staff believe that the position of County Communications Director is critical to the development and implementation of a comprehensive communications strategy and also to unify and coordinate County communications assets, currently spread over several departments. Both of the positions described in this report are consistent with prior direction to the CAO to
“prepare a plan to ensure a robust and consistent public information capacity going forward”.
In effort to support the County’s future communication needs with internal resources, the ad hoc COVID Communications Committee of the Board of Supervisors requested the County Administrative Office and Human Resources Department to create a County Communications Director classification and a County Media Analyst classification as follows:
• The County Communications Director classification will be responsible to plan, direct, and implement a comprehensive Countywide communications, community and government relations, crisis management, and media relations programs and activities; as well as coordinate assigned activities with other County departments, officials, outside agencies, and the public.
• The County Media Analyst classification will report to the County Communications Director and will be responsible to perform a variety of professional-level communications, crisis management, media relations duties to include preparing communication campaigns for the County’s Spanish only speaking community.
The Human Resources Department conducted a labor market study with our comparable agencies and identified multiple counties with classifications that are responsible for strategic County wide communications. Therefore, the County Communications Director is recommended to be created with the salary range as indicated in Attachment A, based on the labor market average of our comparable agencies. There were not sufficient matches within the comparable agencies to recommend a salary range for the County Media Analyst. An internal compensation review was conducted and it was determined that the proposed classification of County Media Analyst most closely aligns with the Management Analyst III in terms of scope and complexity and it is recommended to create the new classification of County Media Analyst with the same salary range of the Management Analyst III as indicated in Attachment A
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
The County Administrative Office has reviewed and concurs with the recommendations.
FINANCING
On February 9, 2021 the Board of Supervisors allocated $100,000 to the CAO budget for Spanish language translation services. Staff proposes that these funds be used to fund the position of Media Analyst until the FY 21-22 budget is approved.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS’ STRATEGIC INITIATIVES:
The proposed recommended actions address the Board of Supervisors Administration Strategic Initiative. The actions demonstrate the County’s commitment to meeting the Board’s initiatives in recruiting, retaining, and attracting a diverse, talented workforce that supports the mission of Monterey County.
__ Economic Development
X Administration
__ Health & Human Services
__ Infrastructure
__ Public Safety
Prepared by: Kim Moore, Assistant Director of Human Resources
Nicholas E. Chiulos, Assistant County Administrative Officer
Approved by: Irma Ramirez-Bough, Director of Human Resources
Charles J. McKee, County Administrative Officer
Attachments: Attachment A