Council approves finance director posting and reassigns recorder duties amid retirement

The council took action after receiving notice that the city’s director of administrative services (who also fulfilled finance director and recorder duties) will retire after a long tenure. Staff proposed replacing the position with a finance director title and redistributing certain recorder duties to the city clerk and city administrator to align with common practice.

Craig explained the proposed title change and noted the charter contains multiple references that staff will address later to reflect the new structure. Councilmembers expressed concern the change arrived on the regular meeting agenda without a prior work‑session discussion and asked for more time to assess downstream effects on other positions and budget lines.

Despite those concerns, the council approved the posting for a finance director and separately approved reassigning recorder duties; voting details in the transcript record the motions as passing with the majority. Staff said duties moved to the finance director will include finance functions, while the city clerk will retain attestation of ordinances, oaths of office, and copies of records; the administrator will handle contract signing authority and IT oversight as designated.

What’s next: staff will post the finance director position and proceed with recruitment while working with council on any future charter changes needed to align titles and duties.