Council member asks to rescind organizational chart so department heads report directly to mayor

A council member on Wednesday asked the City Council to readdress and potentially rescind a prior organizational chart so department heads would report directly to the mayor, saying the current structure reduces department autonomy and supervisory authority.

The request matters because the chart defines reporting lines and day‑to‑day authority for department heads, affecting operations across the city—including the library, airport, building inspections and parks and recreation.

The council member said the chart adopted during a prior administration placed some department heads under other departments and removed direct lines to the mayor. “I feel like if the mayor should the the mayor is the main person in charge. Therefore, the mayor should communicate directly with all his department heads,” the council member said. The speaker said the building inspector, library and airport had reporting arrangements that the speaker believed should be reconsidered.

The council member noted one exception might be water services, which often requires consolidated oversight because of technical interdependencies. The speaker also said the prior vote occurred when some members were new and that the current council should re‑examine the chart.

A presiding official (role identified in the meeting as the person chairing the session) responded that reviewing the organizational chart is within the council’s scope and suggested circulating the chart to all members before taking formal action. “In that way, you can understand it,” the presiding official said.

Council discussion noted human‑resources involvement would be appropriate if changes moved forward, and several members said the work session was the proper forum to raise the issue publicly. No formal motion or vote to rescind the chart was recorded; members said they would review the chart and return it to a future agenda if they decide to proceed.