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Council keeps three positions on hiring freeze, asks for flexibility amid staffing shortfalls
Summary
Council agreed to keep three budgeted positions frozen for FY2026–27 to reduce near‑term costs but asked staff to retain flexibility to reassign frozen dollars if other vacancies appear; city staff warned continued freezes strain small departments.
Council directed staff to hold three budgeted positions — an executive assistant, an IS help‑desk technician and a street superintendent — in hiring freeze for the coming year while retaining flexibility to repurpose the earmarked funds if vacancies occur elsewhere. Heather explained those positions are currently reflected as frozen in the draft so the city would not spend the $378,625 associated with filling them this year.
Several department heads warned that the freeze increases workload and lengthens response times. The IS help desk manager said the position’s duties were distributed across the team after a recent retirement and that the previous intern helped fill the gap for about six months. "The intern was great... he was quick to learn and very eager," the help‑desk staff said, adding the internship model helped with recruiting and cost‑management. Councilors emphasized the freeze is a near‑term measure, not a permanent elimination, and asked staff to outline the operational impacts before any final cuts.
