MANSFIELD — Kelly Blankenship said Tuesday she has ideas for what the Mansfield Finance Director’s office can do.
Now that City Council has blessed her sweeping reconfiguration of the office staff, the newly elected city financial leader is ready to move forward with those ideas.
It’s not her first time in the finance director’s position, serving from 2007 to 2011.
But after being elected again in November and taking office in January, it’s fair to say she didn’t recognize the organizational chart in the office held by Linn Steward for the last 12 years.
Blankenship told local lawmakers she studied the chart, the job responsibilities and the staff before making recommendations council approved Tuesday.
The changes will require an additional $50,000 in payroll for her office staff, which was part of the final 2024 budget council approved Tuesday.
“I have studied it. I’ve researched it. I did come not into this position making some snap decision about restructuring the office,” Blankenship said. “It was after conferring with the current staff, researching best practices in other localities, coming up with new job titles, relevant job descriptions and salaries that would match what it is I’m looking for.
“What I’m asking you is to help me create the foundation in the department that I need to produce better work. I want to make some changes to the processes that we have in place and we make changes to the budget practices,” she said.
“The (Government Finance Officers Association) has an award for budgets that we don’t currently apply for because we don’t qualify. I would love to pursue that just the same way we do with the annual comprehensive financial reports, but I can’t do that with the current staffing.
“It’s very chaotic up there,” Blankenship said.
She said the office currently has several employees doing “bits and pieces” of what should be one person’s job.
“I have several who are working 12-hour days and then I have a couple who aren’t even working 40 hours a week,” Blankenship said. “It’s a little nonsensical to me right now and I really need to get this settled and hammered out so that we can start making progress on the changes that we would like to share with you.”
She told council there were 3.5 vacancies already budgeted in her office in 2024.
“So really all we needed to add to this budget to make this happen for our department is $50,000. I think that’s pretty reasonable to be able to make the improvements that I think that you’ll really appreciate later,” Blankenship said.
In other news from City Council on Tuesday:
— Mayor Jodie Perry said the city has received complaints from residents about trucks not following designated truck routes as they move through the city, “even though there are great new signs directing you where to go.”
“So after some conversations with (police) Chief (Keith) Porch, they are conducting a detail over the next month. I know at least the first day they were out, he said they already had issued tickets,” the mayor said.
“I appreciate people reaching out. You can’t miss those trucks when they fly on Main Street because it’s not great. We’re trying to be responsive to that. We’ll try to give you an update at the end of that detail on how that ended up,” she said.
— The mayor also said the city is taking initial steps toward “a more comprehensive, citywide wayfinding plan, and specifically also looking at our gateway entry sign.”
“The entrances to the city continue to be something that we’ve heard a lot about from a lot of people, especially the business community, and others. Initially, we started looking at the signage there. And then it led into, honestly, if we’re going to do this, let’s look comprehensively at wayfinding,” Perry said.
“There are sign challenges … let’s call them opportunities … all over the city. Implementation is going come over many years in phases, but to have the plan altogether up front, I think will be a good step in that direction,” she said.
— Perry announced six new Mansfield police officers completed probationary periods on Tuesday.
“Anything we can do to continue to improve our police numbers is a win and we’re happy about that,” she said.
— New Public Works Director Louis Andres said he continues to get out into the community and also visiting departments in his perview.
“We recently met with the Richland County Health Department about getting a grant to help with amenities at the parks, like benches and water fountains,” Andres said.
“I also met with the Richland County Park District to talk about our trailway extensions into the city and also talk about joint maintenance and things of that nature, too.
“So we continue to get out in the community and work those partnerships on both sides of that, whether they be private or whether they be other public entities like Richland County,” he said.
— Council approved 10 pieces of legislation as outlined in the PDF attached below.
