The Shreveport city council has posted a job description of the newly created position of Director of Council Affairs.
The job description is as problematic as the position itself.
The most basic question is how one person is to work for seven council members who have different concerns and often differences with other council members.
And what happens if one council members feels that the Director is short-changing them on their priorities?
How does the director decide which council person to work for versus the other council members?
Who sets the daily agenda of the Director? It should be the Clerk of the council.
One can provide more comments on potential conflicts that the Director is mostly likely to incur, but probably enough said on that issue.
But let’s look at the job description which in and of itself poses herculean if not impossible tasks:
1. Assist council with determining and communicating its vision--NO doubt the visions of the seven are/will be different.
2. Ensure constituent concerns are resolved personally or through delegation to another member of the Council's staff--The council staff are employee of the council clerk's office which is supervised by the council clerk. The council clerk also will supervise the new Director if the city charter is to be followed.
3. Coordinate and oversee preparation, printing and distributing of constituency newsletters for each council district- This task is a prohibited donation of public funds for political purposes.
4. Prepare speeches for council members- Again a prohibited donation of public funds.
5. Prepare research and analysis for Council--This is the job of the city attorney who by the charter the attorney for the city which includes the Council. The council is NOT entitled by the charter to have its own attorney. Non legal research is the job of the Council Clerk and staff.
6. Maintain knowledge of all state statutes, city ordinances, and other regulations pertaining to the city- This is the responsibility of the city attorney.
7. Monitor the state, federal and local legislative process--This is the responsibility of the city attorney and the mayor's staff.
8. Monitor and report on the implementation and results of the City's legislative agenda at the state, federal and other levels of government-This is the responsibility of the city attorney and the mayor's staff.
And the list goes on and on.