KINGMAN – The promotion of Finance Director Tina Moline to the new Deputy City Manager position is one key prong of a government reorganization plan approved during the Dec. 19 meeting of the Kingman City Council.
Interim City Manager Grady Miller said Moline will still manage the finance department while supporting the city manager and handling special projects and assignments. Miller told council members a raise for Moline will be necessary but that savings will provide funds to hire two people to examine plans and conduct building inspections for a short-staffed Community Services Department.
That realm of municipal operation is being rebranded as the Development Services Department, overseen by interim leadership, while the city works to hire a long-term Director. Other personnel shuffling will occur in the reorganization that reflects Miller’s assessment of work flow flaws observed since he succeeded former manager Ron Foggin who was fired in mid-Aug.
“When I took a look at this and I started looking at the organization a little bit more deeply, there were a number of things that were done several years ago that I just was scratching my head and couldn’t quite understand why they were done,” Miller said. “It’s not to be critical because I definitely was looking in a vacuum and the reasons for it probably made sense at the time, but the way that the Community Development Department was structured and organized just did not make sense.”
Miller said other efficiencies and service improvements will also be realized through the reassignment of two Neighborhood Services officers to Development Services for code enforcement activity. He said much of the Council-approved reorganization will be implemented Jan. 1, but that other likely refinements will follow as 2024 unfolds.
Miller and council previously reversed another Foggin operational policy, reverting back to a five rather than four-day work week for most employed in the development services arena. The reorganization also removes some oversight by the fire department while placing more supervision under the new Development Services Director.
Council member Shawn Savage offered compliment and praise for Miller, who expects to be replaced by a new City Manager by March, if not sooner.
“I just want to give you a big hat tip as far as what you’ve done in the time that you’ve been here and to be able to find the weaknesses that we have and give us a forward-looking process to streamline things and to have the people in the right place,” Savage said. “I just want to say thank you very much. I’m going to be sad to see you go, but you’ve done an awesome job and I think this puts on the right foot going in the right direction.”
Miller credited department heads, saying he just orchestrated their input to craft a reorganization that he said was a team effort.
