LIMA — Lima City Council will vote on creating a new position within the Public Works Department during its regular meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at the Lima Municipal Building.
Up until now, administrative assistant duties have been performed in the department under contract, but city administration is hoping to transition this into a full-time position working directly for the city.
Public Works Director Howard Elstro emphasized that this position is much more involved than what is commonly thought of in secretarial work, such as answering phones or filing reports.
“The only way we have been able to maintain productivity and become more productive is by aggressively adopting technology to manage information and to receiving send and process work,” he said. “What that has done is required a higher level of proficiencies in not only this position, but other positions throughout our workforce.”
In a job description submitted to the council, filling this position would require an associate degree in business administration with four to six years of experience or a bachelor’s degree in the same field with one year experience. The assistant would work with all four of the department’s major subdivisions of streets, parks and recreation, building and zoning, and engineering.
“We use that person at a higher level,” Elstro said. “Not only do they do secretarial and administrative duties, they also do more complex duties with more complex software, like Microsoft Excel and Access.”
If this resolution is passed, the position would be put into the city’s strength ordinance, with candidates going through the Civil Service evaluation process. It would also be placed in the city’s Pay Range 15, which would equate to a beginning annual salary of just less than $40,000.
