Dear Benicia Residents,

It’s been a very busy week and this Tuesday’s City Council meeting has a number of items we have been working on for many months. One of the most important items is a reorganization to the Public Works Department, it’s largest overhaul in decades. This will also entail an effort to bring the salaries of our Public Works Department closer to the regional average and thus help us address what Council has directed I make a priority: stabilize the Public Works Department so we can move our infrastructure forward.  
 
One of the things I’ve been hearing lately, especially out in social media world, is some folks saying that the City of Benicia is overstaffed. Watching our staff work so hard, putting in 12-hour days routinely, giving up their weekends, time with family, vacations, etc. to provide the highest level of service to this community, makes such talk especially difficult to hear. Far from being overstaffed, this City is, and has been, understaffed.  
 
Cities that are responsible for providing all or most of these functions in-house are generally referred to as ‘full-service’ cities. As a full-service City, providing Police, Fire, a Library, Parks and Recreation (with 28 parks and a full recreation program), Public Works, a water and wastewater enterprise, Information Technology, Human Resources, Community Development (both Planning and Building), and of course the Finance Department and City Manager’s Office, plus having to deal with issues associated with having a refinery and a deep-water port in our jurisdiction…it is truly remarkable we are able to do what we do with 211 employees. Let’s also consider Economic Development, Sustainability, Equity/Diversity/Inclusion, nearly 20 Boards, Commissions and Committees to manage, and the list goes on. The lack of staffing, and inability to retain and hire staff, costs the City far more than the cost of being appropriately staffed. I’ve always found that people who know the answer they are looking for will always find it. The reality we deal with here is pretty much everyone leaves (as high as 30% vacancy rate in Public Works). And technical positions have traditionally remained vacant for long periods of time. Some turnover is healthy, but our level of turnover, especially in key positions where turnover is most harmful, is certainly unhealthy and costs the City much more in the long run than if Benicia salaries were competitive regionally.  
 
Those arguing we are overstaffed are actually asking the wrong question. If we want to spend less, then the real question is, should we be providing all of the services we provide? That is a legitimate question for the people, though I think the answer is we do want those services. Meanwhile, we are working hard to find ways to do the business of the City better, to attract new revenue sources through economic development, to be more efficient in our work, and to find new ways each department can add value to the community while finding ways to properly fund those services. I see the reality of our work daily, and I couldn’t be prouder of our dedicated staff.
 
Also, of great significance, our Draft Housing Element will be going before Council for review. This is the draft that will be sent to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). The plan will be reviewed by them and most likely we will receive feedback and corrections from them. This will likely include taking off certain sites. At that point Council (and the community) will have one more opportunity to address any sites that remain (and to take some off the list, if so directed by Council). It is our hope that this Housing Element 8-year cycle will help address some of the housing issues. That said, the Housing Element does not direct building at these sites. Those decisions are market driven, and subject to the vagaries of the market (loan rates, labor costs, material costs, etc.). Those expecting a sudden flurry of building of affordable housing are likely going to be disappointed. Instead, it is our hope that some good, reasonable and thoughtful gains are made to make our community a better place. It is a challenging environment to accomplish those goals, given the State has in many ways limited local control when it comes to ‘streamlined housing projects’.

Lastly, Republic Services, our waste hauling provider, requested a special rate increase which will be discussed at this week's City Council meeting. The special rate increase is to bring the City into compliance with Senate Bill 1383 (see link here) as well as their annual routine increases associated with the Consumer Price Index (essentially, keeping up with inflation). We have been hearing a number of complaints about Republic's service over the last year, which Council is well aware of and will certainly be a topic of discussion at the meeting. The full staff report and associated analysis can be found here: www.ci.benicia.ca.us/agendas.

Erik Upson
City Manager