PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to request City Council adoption of the resolution establishing the specification for the classification of Communications Technician Supervisor (CTC No. 0208) as shown in the attachment.

BACKGROUND

Burbank Water and Power (BWP) has been restructuring over the past several years to be able to better address the changes in the utility industry and to be on the cutting edge of these changes. Based on these continuing changes in the industry and to be consistent with the market, the department revised and re-titled Electrical Test Superintendent to Manager Communication Systems in February, 2006.

The Manager Communication Systems position initially only administered the City�s radio and telephone systems, which consisted of five staff members. Today, the position has grown to oversee the BWP�s security section as well. Although the security section has a Senior Security Guard that supervises the four Security Guards, there is no such first-line supervisory position in the communications section and all five positions in this unit report directly to the Manager Communications Systems. 

Staff is proposing to create a new first-line supervisory position, Communications Technician Supervisor, to directly supervise the communications section. This proposed new structure would not only mimic other sections within BWP, but would also mirror the structure of the utility industry in general. 

ANALYSIS & CONCLUSION

BWP must keep pace with the ever changing industry standards. The establishment of this new title and specification for the classification of Communications Technician Supervisor will allow the department to not only keep pace with the utility industry, but will also provide a highly specialized and trained supervisory employee to increase efficiency. This change will also assist the department when it needs to recruit in this specialized field over the next

few years with impending retirements. The new proposed title and specification accurately describes the duties and requirements for this position. 

This classification will be a Civil Service position and subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act. This position will not be included in the City�s Conflict of Interest Code. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) will represent this classification. The Civil Service Board approved this establishment at their regular meeting on August 2, 2006.

FISCAL IMPACT

There will be no fiscal impact from the establishment of the Communications Technician Supervisor.  The proposed salary range for the Communications Technician Supervisor was established by comparing the salaries and duties of this classification to equivalent positions in similar utility agencies.  In addition, internal salary relationships within Burbank Water and Power were reviewed to maintain consistency among positions with similar responsibility levels.  As such, the salary range for this position will be set at $5991 - $7482. 

The salary for this position has been budgeted in the 2006-2007 budget as a Test Technician Supervisor. The salary for this position is $6739 - $8412. This will result in a salary savings for the department of $11,160 annually.

RECOMMENDATION

Staff recommends that City Council adopt the proposed resolution establishing the specification for the classification of Communications Technician Supervisor (CTC No. 0208) as shown in the attachment.

Respectfully submitted,

Judie Sarquiz

Management Services Director