City of Kenai administrators are recommending changing the Parks, Recreation, and Beautification Administrative Assistant 1 position from part time to full time as part of the 2017 budget.
City Manager Rick Koch says the change is included in the draft budget that was proposed to the Kenai City Council last weekend and costs about $70,000 in wages and benefits.
Koch: “It is a position that I’ve wrestled with for a few years, including in my proposed budget. The overall role and mission of the Parks and Recreation Department has grown substantially over the last five to ten years and I think it’s important to have administrative support there that we don’t have now except for a certain time of the year.
The Parks Department growth is partly due to the increasing popularity of the personal use fishery, the duties of which are split between the Parks and Recreation Department and Public Works.
He says the position that is currently seasonal would take on responsibilities of hiring seasonal personnel.
Koch: “We bring 20 people on in the summer for grounds crews, so there’s a lot of administrative effort that goes into that, advertising, scheduling, interviews, all the paperwork that goes along with any seasonal employee we bring on and right now that’s left to the Department Director. It’s hard for the Department Director to supervise department operations as well as being their own administrative support.”
The draft 2017 budget will be introduced to the Kenai City Council at their May 18 meeting.