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Commission splits over hiring additional legislative aides; no formal action taken
Summary
A heated discussion about creating additional legislative aide positions for commissioners highlighted staff workload, office operations and appointment timing; commissioners did not adopt new positions but directed filling a single existing vacancy.
The Sunrise City Commission spent a contentious portion of its Feb. 4 meeting debating whether to add legislative aides to commissioner offices after Assistant Deputy Mayor Jacqueline A. Guzman proposed hiring extra support and creating an internship program.
Guzman said the commission’s longtime administrative aide, Lourdes Lawrence, had become “unsustainable” under current workloads and that four temporary hires had failed to provide steady support; she asked the commission to approve additional support staff and an internship program. Guzman repeatedly framed the request as staff support, not a bid for commissioner-specific benefits.
Several commissioners pushed back. Commissioner Joseph A. Scudo and Deputy Mayor Neil C. Kirch said the office had long operated with one secretary and one aide and warned that adding aides would increase supervision burdens, classification complications and costs. Scudo reviewed decades of major city projects handled with two-aide staffing and said he opposed expanding the office beyond filling the vacancy left by a departing temporary aide. Mayor Michael J. Ryan praised Lourdes’s work and said he opposes the implication she cannot perform her duties; he asked the city manager and human resources to scope the existing vacant position and consider reclassification.
City Manager Mark Lubelski and human-resources staff indicated they are open to converting the currently vacant temporary role to a higher-classification administrative aide to attract qualified candidates; Lubelski said staff were already recruiting to fill that slot. Commissioners asked for better advance notice when late agenda items are added to allow review time.
Outcome: There was no motion to add permanent aides or benefits at this meeting. Commissioners agreed to fill the existing vacant position (the city manager and HR will pursue recruitment) and to bring classification or budget changes back to the commission for formal consideration.
