The purpose of the reorganization and some measures taken were outlined for the City Commission in late July by Oberdorfer. The organization was evaluated with the human resources department, he said.
“We started evaluating the organization as a whole department by department to try to find operational efficiencies and... and reduce overhead. As we know high administrative overhead means less service,” he said.
As a result, some positions have been consolidated/reclassified while some have been eliminated. The city said 10 positions were reorganized.
The City Commission on July 23 approved amendments to the city code Chapter 33 relating to wages of certain municipal employees. The estimated savings year to date in total compensation including payments such as worker’s comp insurance and Ohio Public Employee Retirement System payments as a result of the reorganization is around $700,000, according to Brittany Van Horn, city public relations coordinator.
The city staff was being notified of changes, Oberdorfer told the commission.
“We are very excited to move forward,” he said.
Mayor Kris Lee agreed noting “Sometimes, it takes fresh eyes. You are taking a fresh look at it (the organization).”
During the reorganization, one unplanned departure took place with the July resignation of Finance Director Cynthia Holtzapple, who had been with the city since 2004.
The reorganization of the finance department was announced by the city in a press release July 15. The release said Holtzapple “will no longer assume the responsibilities of the finance director” and said another staff member was on paid administrative leave during an evaluation of staffing needs.
A copy of Holtzapple’s resignation was obtained later in July through a public records request and the position of the second employee, Assistant Finance Director Lisa Cavender, was abolished in the reorganization. In the one-sentence notice, Holtzapple said she was resigning effective July 9.
Documents obtained from the city showed Holtzapple and Cavender were placed on paid administrative leave in late June pending internal reviews. City documents showed both faced potential city discipline.
A notice to Cavender of a scheduled June 25 administrative meeting said there were questions regarding May and June 2021 “time entries and hours that you entered for city payroll purposes. Furthermore, the city is reviewing your payroll entries through at least January 2021 and may question you about the same.”
The position of assistant finance director was abolished, and no disciplinary action was taken, the city said.
A notice to Holtzapple said she would be asked in an administrative meeting questions “related to your supervisory control of the finance department, review of subordinate time records and your implicit continued permission for at least one finance department employee to continue working remotely following a March 24, 2021, memorandum forbidding remote work without HR or city manager permission.” That meeting was not held due to the resignation.
The city said an internal audit was conducted of the department with no concerns about missing funds. However, to comply with the city charter requirement for an audit following the resignation of the finance director, a request for proposals for an audit will be issued this fall.
As a result of the overall review of functions in the finance department, the decision was made to move some functions to other departments due to a conflict in procedure with the provisions in the city charter and in the overall oversight of operations, Oberdorfer told the commission.
The following changes are being made:
- Purchasing functions will move from the finance department to the city manager
- Payroll functions will go from finance to the human resources department
- Management of the city golf course was moved from finance to the parks department
- And utility billing will transition from finance to the Piqua Power department.
Employee Ben Goodin, who was named acting finance director in July has agreed to hold that position until Dec. 31, 2022, the city said.
Other changes were made in public works, sanitation, environmental and parks and recreation, Oberdorfer said.
Contact this contributing writer at nancykburr@aol.com
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