Committee discusses making the code enforcement position full time and moving permit processing to community development

City staff proposed converting the part-time code enforcement position to a full-time role and transferring building-permit functions into Community and Economic Development.

Staff said the full-time change would increase costs by about $71,000 per year compared with retaining a part-time role, primarily because the full-time position would be eligible for benefits and retirement. Staff also said that the current part-time arrangement leaves the public-works office specialist spending much of their time on permits and that reassigning permit processing would free public-works staff to focus on other projects, including document management and filing.

Committee members asked whether code enforcement would undertake public-works tasks; staff clarified the full-time code enforcement role would focus on code enforcement and permit processing, not public-works operations. Staff added that the code enforcement officer has taken building-inspection classes and that the combination of duties (code enforcement and building/inspection) is a common arrangement in similarly sized cities.

Some committee members expressed support for making the position full time, citing a multi-year absence of a full-time code/enforcement presence after COVID-era staffing changes. Others raised equity concerns, noting that part-time employees across the city have varied thresholds for benefits and that bringing one position to full time creates internal comparability questions.

No formal committee vote was recorded in the transcript on this specific staffing proposal; staff said they would continue recruitment and would return with implementation details and cost implications as part of ongoing budget work.