CHC 1979-04-10 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

The department of water supply has been operating no differently than any other department within the county. Why then the semi- autonomous status? Even though the present administration favors the return of the water department, you may be wondering about the feelings of the employees for the move as proposed. The workers, themselves , are strongly in favor of bringing the department under the mayor ' s jurisdiction. The workers feel that they are not on the same status as other county employees. They do not have equipment to work with and many equipments that are needed on the job are rented from private contractors. The repair and maintenance of their vehicles is done by private firms and not at the county mechanic'sp. Cost-wise, does it not make more sense to have a centralized system where all repairs of county vehicles would be done in-house? If government is going to become, or has=become, cost conscious then it makes more sense moving toward utilizing what we have in the county such as the county garage. Let me give you another example of the kind of problems other governmental agencies within the county have in trying to work with the water department. Within the water department, there is an electronic data processing system. It is our understanding that some move was made to have that system fully utilized to its maximum by sharing it but the water depart- ment has not been cooperative. it is beyond our comprehension why the department of water supply would not want others to reap the benefits of such a sophisticated piece of equipment. The department of water supply is also under the control of a commission. In this situation we would prefer to see that commission abolished because it is our understanding that the commission is just a "rubber stamp" commission that approves whatever the manager recommends. HOW many of us, here, know who the commission members are that we can relay our concerns or problems to? If that department comes directly under the juris- diction of the mayor, as he suggests, then the people can express their concerns directly to their respective councilmen. There is a dire need to make that department more accountable. Presently, there is no knowledge by any of us how money generated is spent. Another problem that our members encounter is they feel that promotions are granked or created for those the department wants to take care of and not under the merit system as the director of personnel services stated to you much earlier. We are in favor of the department of water supply being under the jurisdiction of the mayor. The mayor, in his address to you, also proposed some major revisions such as his having direct control of certain departments and the abolishment of commissions with the exception of the police commission. There is some merit to his proposal with one exception. We vehemently oppose abolishing the civil service commission and the mayor having the power to appoint the civil service director. — 3 -