Council OKs Job Description For Newly Funded Staff Position
Economic development coordinator is sought
City also studies salaries
By Kara Chalmers
The Saratoga City Council gave approval on Oct. 4, for the city to start recruiting and interviewing to fill a new position it has created--an economic development coordinator.
The position is a two-year limited term, staff position with a salary range of $5,066 to $6,484 per month.
At the same time, the city is evaluating its salaries to determine if it is staying competitive. Because the city has had trouble recruiting employees, the council decided to hire a consultant to perform a competitive salary survey for regular and limited-term employees using data from eight to 10 comparable cities.
A salary survey is a common way that cities test their salaries against other cities' salaries for all kinds of employees, to ensure the salaries remain competitive, according to the city's Director of Administrative Services Mary Jo Walker.
A few people have left jobs with the city of Saratoga for higher salaried, comparable positions in nearby cities, Walker said. She said the city has had a difficult time recruiting workers because of low salaries.
"We can't fill the positions once they are vacant because we believe our salaries aren't competitive enough," she said, adding that the survey should prove whether this is true.
Another reason for the survey is that the city has not done one in many years. According to Walker, no one really remembers how long it has been.
In the first phase of the project, the consultant will list cities for the council to approve to use as comparisons. Phase two will be the actual salary survey.
However, the city did a salary survey for the economic development coordinator position and Walker said she feels comfortable that the salary would be enough to attract and retain someone for the job.
The funds for economic development in the city--$100,000--were appropriated in this year's budget, and the salary for the economic development coordinator will come from this amount.
The council created the position in an effort to help revitalize the business districts in the city.
"The scope would be to establish a liaison with the business community and perform and focus on business recruitment and retention," said Dave Anderson, city manager for Saratoga. Anderson said the job of the coordinator would also entail working with the Chamber of Commerce, the Saratoga Business Development Council and commercial real estate brokers. Anderson said the coordinator would be expected to connect with the members of the business community on a continuing basis and help with economic development projects, such as the Village Revitalization Project and the Gateway Task Force.
According to Anderson, the city considered hiring a consultant for the position, but in the end decided that a full-time staff position would be preferable since it would mean that the coordinator would have time to develop relationships in the business community and actively recruit new businesses.
Anderson said the coordinator would write up an economic profile, including what the economic environment in Saratoga is like today and how Saratoga has changed as a result of its proximity to Silicon Valley.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
