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Broadview Heights council weighs hiring full-time HR manager to centralize employee services
Summary
Councilors and the mayor debated whether to hire an in-house, full-time HR manager or use part-time/outside services. Proponents cited compliance, timely response, training and grant-seeking; council directed staff to provide job descriptions, cost estimates and peer-city comparisons for a future work session.
Council President Robert Boldt urged Broadview Heights council on Feb. 2 to move forward with creating a permanent human-resources position, saying the city needs an HR professional to handle routine compliance, hiring and training tasks.
"We need an HR manager," Boldt said, arguing a full-time in-house person could oversee onboarding and offboarding, FMLA, BWC and EEOC obligations and help pursue grants and training opportunities for staff.
The proposal prompted a detailed discussion about structure, scope and cost. Councilor Brian Wolf said the city’s staffing — he cited about 120 full-time employees and roughly 200 seasonal and part‑time workers — amounts to a workload that requires a full-time HR presence rather than a part-time contractor.
"You don't have time-sensitive action with a part-time person," Wolf said, adding employees deserve an HR resource available during business hours.
Mayor Samuel J. Alai agreed the city needs HR but recommended a scaled, in‑house manager-level position rather than a director, noting that a director-level salary could exceed $100,000 while a manager might fall in a $75,000–$85,000 range. Alai also urged that the HR role be autonomous rather than subordinated to a department that could pull the person into non-HR duties.
"If we put them in finance or engineering, they may be doing payroll one day or flood maps another," Alai said. "This person needs to be autonomous."
Councilor Brian Dunlap cautioned that "the dirt is in the details," urging a careful, specific job description that clarifies duties such as hiring, firing, drug testing and benefits administration before the council commits to a hiring model. Dunlap said past issues around benefits and administration suggest the city should resolve housekeeping problems before finalizing an HR structure.
Service Director David Schroedel described tangible benefits from the current part-time HR support — job descriptions and clearer position categories — and said a full-time HR employee would save department heads time by screening applicants and handling disciplinary and recruiting tasks.
Law Director Vince Ruffa distinguished labor counsel from an HR practitioner: the firm proposed earlier was a labor negotiator and would not substitute for day‑to‑day HR management; outside counsel rates would likely be far more expensive for routine needs.
Several councilors, including Jennifer Mahnic and Thomas Pavlica, favored an in-person, on‑site HR presence and suggested forming an ad hoc committee to develop a detailed job description and implementation plan. Boldt asked staff to survey neighboring cities about HR structures and wage comparisons and to consult Vicky (Brinkman), the city’s current part‑time HR resource, for input. Councilor Brian Dunlap also requested itemized billing examples for any proposed retainer model.
Next steps: Boldt said he would place the item on a near-future work session after administration compiles job duties, salary estimates and peer-city comparisons for council review.
