Tacoma panel to study council staffing structure; staff to interview council members and support staff

The Operations Strategy and Administrative Committee (OSAC) instructed staff July 11 to begin a structured review of city council staffing needs, including one-on-one interviews with each council member and current support staff, as the committee works toward recommended staffing models.

Ben, the committee's staff liaison, told members the objective is "to design a council staffing model that meets the administrative, legislative, and policy needs of the full council in alignment with the council's values of equity, transparency, and effective governance while operating within budget constraints and responding to community expectations." The liaison proposed a six-step approach: individual interviews, synthesis of key themes and design principles, jurisdictional research, presentation of model options, deliberation, and OSAC forwarding a recommendation to the full council.

Members discussed trade-offs between staff who serve individual council members and staff who serve the collective council. Several members cautioned that adding independent policy staff for council members would not by itself guarantee implementation of policy outcomes — implementation requires operational staff and budget. Committee members and staff suggested producing a "menu" of support functions (policy analysis, legislative drafting, administrative support, constituent responses, communications, agenda preparation, research, community engagement) that council members could select from, subject to coordination to avoid duplication.

The committee also discussed the need to communicate existing supervisory relationships for council support staff. During the meeting, members asked staff to ensure the council understands that "Lisonbee Griffith is the manager of the policy support team" so members know where to direct performance or HR-related concerns.

OSAC directed the staff liaison to begin one-on-one interviews with council members and current support staff and to return in approximately one month with a summary of themes and proposed design principles. Staff will then research other jurisdictions, gather examples, and prepare a set of staffing model options for OSAC review.

Ending: Staff will launch interviews and synthesize findings into design principles and proposed models; the committee expects model options to be returned for deliberation and a later recommendation to the full council.