Newton reorganizes community services to parks & rec

Coupled with the upcoming retirement of a city staff member with 30-plus years of service and the budget crunches caused by House File 718, the city says it must reorganize community services staff into the community development department and then rebrand parks staff to Newton Parks & Rec.

Although the city council inevitably approved the reorganization, there was one council member who voiced opposition to the proposal, leading to a 5-1 vote.

Newton Community Services Director Brian Laube will retire in January 2024. With a heavy workload as leader of the community services department, manager of several projects and handler of issues he took on as a past member of the public works department, there is no way to reasonably “replace” Laube.

According to city documents, staff had discussed the potential of merging community development and community services departments. Further conversations with city staff showed a strong desire to be organized as a stand-alone parks and recreation department, rather than to be a secondary division.

Those who spoke with the city administrator also advocated for a name change, which they felt would be a more accurate description of the work they do and make it easier for residents to recognize them and contact them. Currently, they are referred to as community services staff, which is confusing to residents.

Newton City Administrator Matt Muckler leaned towards a recommendation to council to allow the community services department to remain a stand-alone department and to rename it the parks and rec department. Muckler shared the recommendation to council in an email, asking for their feedback.

If parks and rec remained as a stand-alone department, portions of Laube’s current workload would have been distributed to at least eight employees.

Another option that was considered was hiring a new parks and rec director and then allowing current employees and external candidates apply for the position. While it may be the ideal solution from the perspective of service delivery, Muckler said it poses challenges in terms of budgeting.

Which is only exacerbated by some restrictions placed upon cities like Newton by House File 718, a law that offers tax relief to Iowans but also discourages growth.

Feedback from staff advocated against spreading existing staff too thin with extra work, which made Muckler revise his recommendation to council. The new recommendation does not hire a new community services director or have the city administrator serve in that role, as what was originally proposed.

Instead, it places the parks operations supervisor under the direction of community development director Erin Chambers and places all existing community services staff in the community development department. The staff moving to community development would be rebranded to parks and rec staff.

As a result of this reorganization, the city would make the following changes:

• Create a new full-time senior city planner position to take on staff liaison to the Newton Municipal Airport, project management, staff liaison to new set of boards and commissions, etc.;

• Hire an entry-level city planner position to start June or July 2024;

• Add one part-time summer rec intern;

• Increase the Maytag Pool part-time seasonal supervisor position to $21 per hour for 40 hours per week and 13 hours of pay during the summer;

• Add an additional groundskeeper to be paid with golf funds;

• Create a new Westwood Clubhouse manager position to be paid with golf funds;

• Provide modest salary increases to the community development director, parks operations supervisor, assistant parks operations supervisor, administrative specialist and recreation specialist for taking on additional duties; and

• Add contracted services of $10,000 on general fund items to assist with project management and other duties.

Council member Melissa Dalton was open for a change, saying the staff affected by the reorganization are on board with their responsibilities. Council member at-large and mayor-elect Evelyn George was confident staff would be picking on the responsibilities that need done upon Laube’s departure.

Randy Ervin, the other at-large council member, ultimately voted against the reorganization, but he at first raised a number of questions and shared his thoughts on the matter. Ervin is a firm believer in having a director overseeing the parks and rec/community services staff.

While the salary may not be favorable with the general fund dollars the city is expecting to work with in the future, Ervin said a director maintains a position of authority over those respective city services. He also echoed concerns from citizens regarding city directors living in Newton or the Newton school district.

“We need people to live in the Newton school system,” Ervin said. “That is our rule. That is our regulation … I’d like to see more of the finance options and see if we can afford a director, and I think that director process needs to go through inside first.”

By the city’s own rules, Muckler explained the city administrator must live in the city, and that department directors live within the Newton Community School District boundaries, which extend beyond city limits. However, a number of employees, including directors, were granted exceptions to that rule.

George emphasized it is not a new policy and that directors have lived outside the city limits for decades. Ervin said he did not expect current directors to be held accountable to that rule, but going forward he would like to see the rule applied to all new hires.

“People that are going to run our city need to live in the city,” Ervin said. “…Going forward, that has to be something this council has to take into consideration.”

Ervin also disagreed with the budget being used as a “catch all” reason for the reorganization, saying the council should look at what funds are available for a director. He also disagreed with giving current and already busy directors, specifically Chambers, more responsibilities. Chambers was eventually called on for her opinion.

Ultimately, she said she wants to be a team player and understands the budget constraints placed on the city and the value in reorganizing.

“My department currently has five members in addition to myself. If you look across the department directors and the number of employees they supervise, my department is currently a much smaller size compared to the load some other directors have,” Chambers said.

Evin asked Chambers if the budget wasn’t an issue would she support putting a director in place.

“I think so,” she said, noting budget is always a consideration. “…I can’t remember a year when it hasn’t been a consideration. In a perfect world, of course. But I do think with the staff we have and the talents we have, it can happen. We can provide seamless service.”