HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-06-11; Proposed Realignment of the City Engineer and Deputy City Engineer Functions and Responsibilities; Gomez, PazTo the members of the:
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June 11, 2020
Council Memorandum
To:
From:
Honorable Mayor Hall and Members of the City Council
Paz Gomez, Deputy City Manager, Public Works
Via:
Gary Barberio, Deputy City Manager, Community Services
Geoff Patnoe, Assistant City Manager @
{city of
Carlsbad
Memo ID# 2020119
Re: Proposed Realignment of the City Engineer and Deputy City Engineer Functions and
Responsibilities
This memorandum provides information on a proposed realignment ofthe city engineer and
deputy city engineer functions to improve efficiencies, maximize effectiveness and more closely
align the positions with associated roles and responsibilities.
Background
The primary role of the city engineer is to ensure that city infrastructure such as roads, bridges,
facilities and related improvement projects comply with adopted engineering standards and
practices while adhering to budgetary and environmental requirements. The position oversees
the execution and construction of capital improvement program (CIP) projects and works closely
with engineers and construction contractors. Close working relationships are needed because
the person serves as the final authority over whether a project (1) complies with city engineering
standards, approved plans and specifications, and (2) should be accepted into the city's capital
assets maintenance program. The city engineer manages multiple contracts throughout the
engineering process and is responsible for resolving contract disputes. In most jurisdictions, the
city engineer is located within the public works department because they are typically
responsible for building and maintaining the city's infrastructure and capital assets.
The city engineer's responsibilities are often delegated to various deputy city engineers who are
assigned various roles and functions and make decisions as the city engineer designee on
relevant matters. They may report to a different manager within the organization but will
typically consult with the city engineer as required.
Currently, the role of city engineer has been assigned to the Land Development Engineering (LDE)
manager, who currently resides within the Community Development (CD) Department. Because
the LDE manager is not part of the Public Works (PW) Branch, the LDE manager does not actively
participate in the review and development of CIP projects and therefore must spend extensive
time getting up to speed in order to make decisions and resolve conflicts. To address this
organizational issue, PW and CD are pursuing an organizational change (Carlsbad Municipal Code
Public Works Branch
1635 Faraday Ave. I Carlsbad, CA 92008 I 760-602-2730 t
Honorable Mayor Hall and Members of the City Council
June 11, 2020
Page 2
(CMC) amendment) to better align the city engineer's roles and responsibilities with current best
practices.
Discussion
Historically, the city engineer position was in the former PW Department until a previous
reorganization resulted in transferring the duties to the LDE manager. This change was made in
2011, when CMC Section 2.08.035 was amended to define the city engineer as the LDE manager
(Ord. CS-164 § 4, 2011). Currently, the LDE manager has the primary responsibility of reviewing
grading, drainage, stormwater and road improvements that are associated with private
development projects. The LDE manager does not have oversight on matters such as CIP
contracts, CIP project and construction management or CIP inspections. As a result, the LDE
manager spends extensive time learning about public works projects in order to make decisions
and resolve conflicts related to these other matters. The following is a summary of the proposed
changes being considered to address this issue.
• Transfer the city engineer responsibilities from the LDE manager to the current PW
transportation director, who is a registered professional engineer certified by the State of
California. The transportation director currently oversees CIP project engineers, is familiar
with various public works projects and can make timely engineering determinations and
decisions.
• Clarify that the LDE manager will continue to oversee engineering review of private land
development applications as a deputy city engineer. The LDE manager will continue to
report to the community development director, but will make decisions as the city
engineer designee on relevant land development engineering matters and will consult
with the city engineer as required.
• Similarly, the Carlsbad Municipal Water District (CMWD) district engineer/deputy city
engineer for utilities engineering will continue to report to the CMWD general
manager/utilities director, but will make decisions as the city engineer designee on
relevant utilities engineering matters and will consult with the city engineer as required.
• There are currently other deputy city engineers in PW including engineering managers or
equivalent for traffic engineering (also referred to as the city traffic engineer),.
construction management and inspection, transportation and drainage engineering, and
facilities engineering. These positions require current registration as professional
engineers in the State of California to perform their role as deputy city engineers. Two of
these deputy city engineers report to a different manager within the organization but will
typically consult with the city engineer as required.
The proposed changes will be cost-neutral.
Honorable Mayor Hall and Members of the City Council
June 11, 2020
Page 3
Next Steps
The proposed timeline is provided:
• July 2020-staff will work with the City Attorney's Office to update relevant Carlsbad
Municipal Code sections and City Council Policies
• August-September 2020 -Present proposed code and Council Policy changes to the
Municipal Code and City Council Policy Update Subcommittee
• October 2020 -Present proposed code and Council Policy changes to the City Council
cc: Scott Chadwick, City Manager
Celia Brewer, City Attorney
Gary Barberio, Deputy City Manager, Community Services
Laura Rocha, Deputy City Manager, Administrative Services
Robby Contreras, Assistant City Attorney
Ronald Kemp, Assistant City Attorney
Cindie McMahon, Assistant City Attorney
Tom Frank, Transportation Director
Jeff Murphy, Community Development Director
Vicki Quiram, Utilities Director
Jason Geldert, City Engineer/Engineering Manager
John Kim, City Traffic Engineer
John Maashoff, Public Works Manager
Ken Knatz, CMWD District Engineer/Engineering Manager
Hossein Ajideh, Engineering Manager
Babaq Taj, Engineering Manager