The Oshtemo Charter Township Board of Trustees approved a set of HR-recommended staffing and organizational changes Tuesday night, but not unanimously.
The changes, presented by HR Director Feister, reorganize reporting lines across the parks, building, and maintenance departments and formally establish an operations manager position reporting directly to the township supervisor. Job descriptions for several positions were revised as part of the package, and budget amendments totaling approximately $22,420, drawn from general fund carryover rather than the more restrictive building department funds, were included in the approval.
The core of the restructure moves the park ranger position from under the maintenance department umbrella to report directly to the parks director. The building department coordinator and parks coordinator positions were also reviewed and aligned. The operations manager role, which has been in development for several months, is the most significant change: it formalizes a position that the supervisor described as her “right hand”, a senior staff role capable of self-managing projects, keeping the supervisor informed, and reducing the need for the supervisor to make every operational decision through the process.
Trustee Sikora who voted against, indicated he was not comfortable with the scope of the operations manager role as described, suggesting it gave the appearance of someone doing the supervisor’s job. “Why do we have someone doing the supervisor’s job?” he asked during discussion. He added that he did not want to hold up changes that would benefit other staff members in the package, but could not support the full proposal. Two other trustees joined him in voting no.
Supervisor Bell pushed back directly after the vote. “Mr. Cobb does not do my job,” she said, referring to the person in the operations coordinator role.
In explaining the position to the board, Feister described it as involving cross-departmental, procedure-oriented work: rolling out new processes, influencing change, and providing a level of support to the supervisor’s office. She noted the supervisor is statutorily responsible for overseeing all staff, and that the operations manager reports to her, not to the board.
The changes take effect with the approval and accompanying budget amendments.
