The Kenai City Council passed a resolution that would amend the City’s Classification Plan by changing the range of the Parks and Recreation Director from 22 to 23, which better aligns the position with other similar positions within the city. Additionally, it improves the city’s position with both recruitment and retention of candidates for the role.
A previous ordinance from 2018 created the Department Head Service Classification consisting of full-time paid employees who are heads of departments, which are compensated within a salary range instead of a step scale, allowing flexibility as needed to support recruitment and retention.
City Manager Paul Ostrander explains:
“They are exempt positions, but there are also employees within the classified service that are exempt as well. The difference between the classified service and department head service is department head service is within a head salary range. I think it is very similar to what you’ll find at the borough. A class 23 is like $79,000 to $110,000 is the range, whereas in classified service there’s steps each of the way. You’ll start at a step A and then you’re on a schedule that each year you’ll increase to the next step for the first six years and then once you’re here for six years, then you increase every other year for the remainder of the steps on the step scale. In department head class service, it’s just a range. It’s up to the discretion of the city manager where that person is initially hired. Then as far as the increases in salary, each year, it’s, again, up to the discretion of the city manager. The city manager has the ability to set it anywhere within that range where, again, as a classified, it’s structured in the way they increase in their pay.”
The Parks and Recreation Director position in the city has recently been vacated due to a retirement. According to the city manager, the job description was reviewed and improved upon following its October 2021 vacancy, before which it hadn’t been reviewed since 2014.
A new Parks and Recreation Director has been chosen, but the City Manager wanted to wait until the resolution passed to make a final offer for the position hire.