New Council Committee to Study City’s Organizational Structure

A new temporary council committee will review the city’s organizational structure and recommend changes, as ordered by Mayor Jerry Marco last month.

The ad hoc Organizational Audit Committee will be led by Councilor Charlie Friddle, III and consist of Councilor Mike Hinchman, Councilor Dave Parker, Councilor Linda Vest, and the mayor.

In his memo directing the creation of this committee, the mayor said the idea came “as a result of discussions had and discoveries made by the previous ad hoc Special Hiring Committee.”

The mayor continued: “I believe special attention should be given to reviewing and, if needed, recommending changes in the way our organization is structured to support employees and provide the highest quality service to our constituents.”

The ad hoc Special Hiring Committee was formed last fall to recruit a new operations manager. Before finalizing the job description and advertising the opening, however, that committee, which was also led by Councilor Friddle, studied the structure of the city’s Operations Department and recommended certain changes to council, including shifting administrative responsibility for all water and sewer personnel and operations to the Elkins Water Board and Elkins Sanitary Board.

Now, the new ad hoc Organizational Audit Committee will perform a similar analysis of other city departments. The committee, which commences its work this month, will meet third Tuesdays at 1 p.m.