City Operating Hours During All Staff Meetings

City Staff are invited to an all staff meeting on two occasions throughout the year.  The purpose of these meetings are to provide an update of major items within the departments and the community as whole.  This includes recognizing new faces or milestone events like 5, 10, 15, etc. year work anniversaries.  Staff further hear high level direction being given to us from Council via the strategic plan, legislative priorities, or general approvals on larger items.  As staff work within their perspective departments, it is not always the easiest to gain an understanding of what is happening throughout the entire city.  Additionally, it presents an opportunity to meet other members of the team who they do not work with on a regular basis.

The two events that occur are a breakfast in the spring and a luncheon in the fall where management staff cook and serve the team.  In the past, these events were attended in two waves in order to ensure counter coverage in various departments.  Staff recognizes the public facing aspect of the business, however, staff who partake in the second wave are a substantially lower number.  This conflicts with one of the purposes of these meetings which is to provide an opportunity to meet other team members.

I am asking that Council support a request to eliminate the need for the two waves.  It is recognized that not all departments can close down, especially in the event of an emergency.  However, for most departments we could advertise weeks in advance that due to an all staff meeting, services would be limited for up to one and a half hours for an all staff meeting.  Signs could also be placed at respective department locations informing visitors of the event happening, and indicating when services would be back to full staff.  If a matter is urgent, phone numbers could be provided for the visitor to contact or directions be given to where they can find assistance.  Typically, these events are held in the Alexander Ramsey Room in City Hall.  The upcoming fall luncheon is scheduled for October 25th with lunch being served at 11:30 and lasting until approximately 1:00 pm.

Brian Hagen, City Administrator

Council, by consensus, provide direction on allowing full City staff to attend all staff meetings without having to provide full counter coverage.  Staff would advertise in advance to the public via social media, website, etc. the date and time of the event in order to encourage visitors to schedule accordingly.  For emergency response purposes, acceptable level of service would be maintained.