As the Madison City Channel ad hoc group is getting ready to make their final recommendations, the staff dropped a little bomb shell on them. High drama.
The memo, complete details here, raises concerns about the following items, a very brief summary of the topics in the memo are:
– Production costs documents presented at a previous meeting does not match what actual production costs are.
– Staff Duties and Time Breakdowns for supervisory positions are not accurate.
– Proposed priorities and potential budget cuts are not possible
– Proposals / Scenarios on how to restructure (Can’t be achieved by cutting nonsupervisory positions and having supervisors do the work, union issues. They essentially says they need to eliminate supervisory positions)
Their conclusion is that the committee has the wrong information to make the decisions that they are making. The letter is signed by 8 staff people. There are many, many more details in the document and worth a full read if you want to see all the details.
Of course, Brad Clark responded. His main points were:
– This has created stress among the staff, along with disagreement.
– They have met with a core of people to discuss the concerns.
– He feels he did what the committee told him to do.
– The supervisory to non-supervisory numbers do not include the work-study positions
– Non-supervisory staff don’t fully appreciate the administrative work necessary for them to do their jobs.
– The memo outlining possible “cut” scenarios, was, as I was aware as I was creating it (and told the committee), a toxic document.
– He’ll continue to work with the Mayor’s office as they complete the staffing study of City Channel.
So, the committee meets tonight and has to wade through this dispute and figure out how it impacts their report. Should be an interesting meeting. I wonder if the alders will finally show up for this meeting?! The committee members continue to be concerned that they are doing all this work largely without the alders (Compton and Maniaci) who have to carry it forward to the council.
Meanwhile, they have a quarter million dollar hole in their budget and the solutions are difficult. And the budget is coming up quick. And apparently, the Mayor is working on his own plans, independent of the committee.
