I can see both sides of this issue, having been on the inside. I have thought for a long time that the "Secretarial of Office Associate (OA)" position should really be a Customer Service position. As such, it would also allow a higher salary range. I do think there is a necessity for the Council Aide/Assistant position. Within the last few years that position has developed in to one which deals more with policy.
I think by transferring the OA to a separate department dealing with constituent services would be a good move. The Council Assistant can easily answer the phone and do any scheduling the CM wants done, in addition to the other responsibilities. The Constituent Services would have to be closely monitored because it's very important that the CM receive a report of the activity in their Ward. Too many times the CM goes into the Ward and people come up to him/her with comments about the service they received or want. He/She needs to know that, but that can easily be done with a weekly report on the computer.
I know there's going to be a lot of objection to this kind of a move. However, I agree with Jan DelCalzo that computers have made things much different. The bottom line is that constituent services must be handled on a timely basis and the constituent has to be saved from the constant transferring and lack of response. This would also solve the perceived notion that not all wards are receiving the same service and that some wards have more service calls than others.
Maybe the bottom line to all this will be the reduction of the number of Council Members. How does that sound?
Karen Collier
Linden Hills
- [Mpls] Constituent Services Delcalzojan
- KarenCollier
