Personnel committee approves custodial reclassifications as staff plan new facilities division

The Green Bay Personnel Committee unanimously approved a request to reclassify two Custodian 1 positions to Custodian 2 and authorized filling a mechanic vacancy, committee members said during the meeting.

Committee members said the reclassifications and hiring are meant to reflect increased facilities work across city buildings. A staff member told the committee, “we've had a vacancy since April 4, and we're hiring on the 21 this month so we can sort in this new budget.”

The action came during consideration of personnel items that included a request to fill a mechanic position. The committee moved and approved the mechanic hire by voice vote despite the parks representative being absent; the committee later approved the custodial reclassifications by unanimous voice vote.

Why it matters: Staff and alderpersons discussed that custodial employees increasingly perform maintenance tasks beyond traditional cleaning duties, and that consolidating facility-related functions could create efficiencies. “For the 2026 budget, we created a new division, called facilities,” a staff member said, describing a plan to reallocate existing positions and expenses into a single facilities bucket rather than leaving them scattered across departments.

Committee members pressed staff on the scope and permanence of the new job classifications. Alder Johnson asked whether the reclassifications were expected to take effect immediately and whether current budgets would absorb the additional costs; staff confirmed the budget would cover the change. Committee members also raised questions about consistency across departments if some custodial staff are upgraded while others remain at existing classifications.

Committee discussion cited operational pressures at several departments: the Police Department’s custodial staff were reduced from three full-time and one part-time positions to fewer roles and now cover additional substations and storage sites on Shawano Avenue, Erwin Street and Day Street, a committee member said. At a parks meeting, staff reported the city currently has one plumber responsible for all city facilities, prompting committee members to note that custodial staff sometimes perform temporary fixes until trades staff can respond.

The committee did not adopt a formal consolidation policy at the meeting; members described the facilities division as a budgeting and organizational step for 2026 and characterized it as an initial, “baby steps” approach. The reclassification and hire approvals are internal personnel actions and do not change departmental authority beyond the classified duties described in the job descriptions.

The committee scheduled routine personnel items and noted its next meeting on July 29, 2025.