The Division of Management Services is a small unit with 13 budgeted FTEs, six of which are vacant and seven filled. In addition, there are two light duty staff and two filled but unbudgeted positions assigned to the Division. In total, the Division includes eleven staff who provide the following functions:

· Assignments Office,

· Community Affairs,

· Investigative Services,

· Mail and Reproduction,

· Records, and

· The Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT).

All of these functions, except the Assignments Office, are one-person bureaus. The Assignments Office has nine budgeted positions, five of which are vacant.

Since the Department reorganization that established the Human Resources Division in 1999, several other functions that were previously assigned to the Management Services Division were transferred to the Human Resources Division. Further, oversight of the Consent Decree and the implementation of the subsequent Stipulated Order had previously been major responsibilities of this Division. However, this function-which had been the Division"s primary responsibility-is now concluded and the associated services are no longer required.

Table 1.2, below, shows a three-year comparison of the major functions that have historically been assigned to this Division.

Table 1.2

Current Management Services Division responsibilities within the evolved Fire Department raise questions over whether the Division should continue or be dissolved and its functions distributed elsewhere in the Department. Department representatives argue that:

· The Division currently lacks a sufficient number of personnel to effectively carry out its mission; and,

· Other divisions where these functions could be reassigned are inappropriate, or would require additional resources if the functions are transferred.

However, the Department was unable to effectively demonstrate these assertions during this management audit. In addition, the Budget Analyst believes there are existing units within the Department to which all of the current functions in Management Services can be effectively transferred. We also believe that the issue of staffing adequacy is substantively different from the issue of organizational appropriateness; and, while the use of temporary modified duty personnel to fill positions in the Division is a practice with some utility, it also causes concern over the manner in which it is sometimes applied and the potential for abuse.

Reassigning Management Services Division Functions

The Budget Analyst"s review of the Management Services Division revealed that much of its work is important and necessary for the Department. At issue were simply the matters of appropriate functional groupings (location or placement in the organization), accountability and the cost effectiveness of management resources.

The role and responsibilities of the Management Services Division have changed over the past 20 years and with completion of the Consent Decree and Stipulated Order, all of the remaining functions can be placed logically within other units in the Department. While the Budget Analyst recommends such transfers to streamline management, the Department argues for expanding the Division. Following are the respective positions on each specific recommendation.

· The Budget Analyst recommends that four of the five Investigative Services functions be absorbed into Human Resources: maintaining DMV records, managing the drug and alcohol testing program, conducting background investigations of prospective employees, and performing liaison with the Examinations Unit and Civil Service Commission. The remaining function, conducting internal affairs investigations, is an executive function and properly belongs with the Chief of the Department. Appropriate staff would be assigned for such investigations on an as-needed basis. The Department perceives a potential conflict of interest in the area of administrative hearings, which is a separate HR responsibility. We believe there would be no conflict, as the investigative personnel could not serve as Hearing Officers.

· The Budget Analyst recommends that the Records Unit return to Arson, and the Department concurs.

· The Budget Analyst recommends that Mail & Reproduction personnel and resources be transferred to the Division of Support Services. The Department maintains that this transfer would increase workload, but does not explain how. The change of location need not change staffing, which is currently performed by limited duty personnel. Persons on temporary modified duty would continue to be assigned to this function, but with different reporting lines.

· The Budget Analyst recommends that Community Affairs becomes part of Public Information. The Department agrees, but suggests that a new unit should be created within the Management Services Division. We disagree.

· The Budget Analyst recommends that the Neighborhood Emergency Response Team Training Program (NERT) be transferred to the Training Division. This latter recommendation is consistent with the Budget Analyst"s view of centralizing common functions and with a similar recommendation in Section 1.4 of this report.

· The Budget Analyst recommends that the Assignments Office be placed in the Operations Division as a direct report to the Deputy Chief of Operations (CD2). The original justification for placing the Assignments Office in Administration was to provide "checks and balances" on WDO assignments. However, the excessive use of overtime in the Assignments Office dispels that notion. Further, placement of the function in Operations provides closer proximity for departmental indoctrination and knowledge of scheduling, station locations, personnel and ranks. Finally, management accountability for this function would now occur at the second highest level in the Department.

· The Budget Analyst also recommends that a significant portion of the Assignments Office staff be converted from uniform to civilian personnel. The Department objects, arguing that:

The arguments against converting Assignments Office staff to civilian positions are viewed by the Budget Analyst as insubstantial because

With all of the current functions more appropriately assigned to other Divisions, the Management Services Division could be eliminated and, one position of Assistant Deputy Chief deleted, for an estimated annual savings of approximately $137,421². Resources associated with all other positions would transfer with the positions.

Conclusions

The Management Services Division"s original mission of implementing the Consent Decree is now completed. Further, the Division"s remaining support activities should be transferred to the Department"s other organizational units, with which they are more appropriately aligned.

By eliminating this Division, the Department would have a more streamlined organizational structure, and realize cost savings of at least $137,421 annually in management and support costs.

Recommendations

The Fire Department should:

1.2.1 Re-distribute functions in the Management Services Division as follows:

1.2.2 Eliminate the Management Services Division,

1.2.3 Prepare a new General Order that delineates the authority of the Chief of Department to designate various staff on an as-needed basis to conduct internal affairs investigations.

1.2.4 Eliminate one position of H51 Assistant Deputy Chief II.

1.2.5 Convert Assignments Office uniform positions to civilian positions, in accordance with the recommendation in Section 2.3 of this report,

1.2.6 Follow provisions of the new MOU pertaining to the use of limited duty personnel, especially in the Mail and Reproduction Unit to ensure appropriate work assignments and measures to prevent abuse.

Costs and Benefits

There would be no new costs to implement these recommendations.

Benefits from implementing the recommendations are approximately $137,421 per year from the salary and benefits savings of the eliminated position. An undetermined dollar amount would be saved by converting uniform positions to civilian positions in the Assignments Office.

¹ The savings from this specific recommendation are reflected in Section 2.3 of this report.

² This amount includes permanent salaries (uniformed) of $121,030 (FY 2001-02 ASO, p. 224), and mandatory fringe benefits of $16,391.