Finance committee approves several position reclassifications after debate about timing and equity

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The Santa Barbara City Finance Committee voted on Sept. 16 to approve a set of proposed staff position reclassifications included in the fourth-quarter budget materials; Committee Member Santa Maria abstained on the reclassification vote while Committee Member Harmon and Chair Friedman voted yes.

The reclassification package (presented by Finance Director Keith DeMartini and reviewed by Human Resources) included a series of mostly minor title and classification changes across departments. As summarized by staff, the requests included reclassifying an administrative office supervisor in the city administrator's office to an office manager; a planner salary realignment in Community Development; a finance position reclassification from Accounting Supervisor to Senior Accountant; Human Resources reclassifications from Analyst I to Analyst II; a Public Works administrative assistant to Outreach Coordinator; and two positions in Sustainability and Resilience (project planner to Administrative Analyst III and Finance Analyst II to Business Manager).

Committee members discussed whether to act on the city administrator's office reclassification now or wait until the broader October budget review, when multiple departmental staffing changes and a compensation implementation plan will be considered. Committee Member Harmon argued against delaying an employee's reclassification after that employee followed the established HR process: "I will be, both strongly supporting the reclassifications today," Harmon said, adding that staff should continue a broader, holistic budget review concurrently. Committee Member Santa Maria urged a citywide equity approach to ensure other out-of-class employees receive similar consideration.

Staff said the city-administrator-office reclassification would increase ongoing salary costs by about $22,000 annually. Human Resources staff described the reclassification as the result of an incumbent-driven request and an HR review; DeMartini clarified that reclassification approvals would still come through the city administrator's office before council action.

Committee procedure: the committee first voted to forward staff's budget recommendations excluding the reclassifications; after that motion passed, Committee Member Homi moved to approve the reclassification recommendation (Recommendation D) and the motion was seconded. Roll call on Recommendation D recorded Committee Member Santa Maria: abstain; Committee Member Harmon: yes; Chair Friedman: yes. The item therefore advanced to the City Council with committee approval and one abstention.

Why it matters: the reclassifications shift job titles and pay grades for specific incumbents and affect ongoing personnel costs. Committee members emphasized the need to balance timely recognition of employees' workload with a citywide, equitable implementation of classification and compensation changes during the October budget discussions.

Provenance: the reclassification proposals appear in the staff presentation and attachments; the committee discussed and voted on the reclassifications during the Sept. 16 meeting.