City moves police grants role into emergency management to centralize grant administration

Chief administrative staff told the finance committee they plan a technical amendment to move a grants-administration position from the police department into the emergency management office under the CAO. The stated rationale was to centralize grant tracking and reporting across emergency departments and improve monitoring of deliverables and burn rates.

"What the goal there is is that the PD had a position that focused primarily on their grant management. We felt at best that the public safety department should share a grant manager and therefore we want to bring that position over to the emergency management office," the CAO said during the presentation. City staff said the move is intended to reduce duplication and make it easier to spot overlapping grant deliverables and shared technology purchases.

Alders pressed on salary and implementation. The briefing noted a placeholder salary in the budget book (listed as $74,775 under the prior title) but staff said the job description and final title are being updated and the salary will be set to match comparable city positions in a technical amendment. Committee members also discussed how the CAO will work with departments to ensure the individual can meet quarterly reporting cycles and manage multiple grants with different reporting cadences.

Committee members asked about recruitment, civil service timing and whether the change would reduce police capacity to pursue grants. CAO staff said the move is home‑neutral overall because the position is reassigned rather than newly created and that OEM and CAO staff will support PD while centralizing administration. No budget vote was held; alder members asked staff to confirm the finalized title and salary once the job description is complete.