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Hartford COO outlines new deputy post, special-events reform and $700K energy savings
Summary
Chief Operating Officer Shay Ajay described organizational changes, a planned deputy COO role, reforms to special-events permitting to eliminate surprise fees, a Samsara GPS rollout for city vehicles, and sustainability projects yielding an estimated $700,000 in avoided energy costs.
Chief Operating Officer Shay Ajay told the council’s budget committee that the COO’s office will add a deputy COO role in the next fiscal year and is reorganizing several functions to improve operations, performance measurement and customer service.
Ajay said the deputy COO position is intended to reduce the office’s span of control and help manage special projects and operational incidents that require cross-department coordination. "That is going to be helpful in terms of managing the scope of span of control," Ajay said when describing the role’s responsibilities.
Special events and permitting: Ajay said the administration has moved special-events oversight from the Department of Development Services into the COO’s office and hired a director of marketing, operations and special events. The office plans to provide event organizers with cost estimates before permits are issued to avoid the “surprise” post-event fees the council has criticized. Ajay said the special-events office will gather required details up front and push requests to departments (police, public works, fire) so an estimated invoice can be issued to applicants before the event.
Fleet and asset management: Ajay said the city has a three-year contract with Samsara and intends to expand GPS tracking across the municipal fleet, aiming for completion by the end of the year. "We are going to be working on utilizing GPS function of the equipment that we currently have for city vehicles," he said.
Performance management and capital projects: Ajay also described a newly filled performance manager role (Kitty Tyrone) and expanded CIP staff to manage the five-year capital program for parks, schools and infrastructure. Ajay said CIP and sustainability work produced an estimated $700,000 in avoided energy costs through renegotiated energy rates, and the sustainability team secured $150,000 in CDBG funds for residential efficiency upgrades and an outreach campaign that enrolled more than 1,000 residents in a solar/savings program.
Why it matters: Reorganizing special-events management and centralizing marketing aims to reduce administrative burden and unexpected costs for community organizers; expanding GPS and CIP support targets better asset oversight and capital delivery.
Council questions and follow up: Council members pressed for a timeline for the deputy COO hire (salary band and fringe benefits were discussed) and asked when public-facing dashboards tied to Accela and other systems would be available. Ajay said dashboards are in development and that data exists in many systems but integration is incomplete. On fleet GPS, Ajay said the goal is to complete implementation by the end of the year.
Ending: Ajay invited council members to share ideas for special-events workflow and said the office will continue to work on dashboards, procurement improvements and cross-department performance reporting.
