YACHATS – Yachats city manager Heide Lambert is again asking for patience from the public when it comes to dealing with city hall.
Lambert, who started as city manager on Feb. 14, closed city hall at the end of February and plans to keep it closed for the month of March except for scheduled appointments or transactions via the drive-up window on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
The issue is staffing – just 3-4 people working there, the inability to quickly hire a receptionist and the recent illness of a new employee who had been learning to send out utility bills.
“I cannot convey enough how short-staffed we are,” Lambert said during a city council meeting Thursday. “When I look out at city hall there’s not one person who was here a year ago.”
Lambert said when she came to work Thursday “there were 100 messages on our voicemail …”
Neal Morphis, a temporary employee working as a facilities coordinator who had been allowed to work remotely from Seattle for several months, is now back in the office.
Administrative assistant Dayna Capron, who had been learning utility billing since the December departure of deputy city recorder Kimmie Jackson, was out sick in late February and early March, which meant that March utility bills have not been sent out as normal. Capron’s absence also meant that oftentimes there was no one to staff the drive-up window.
Former interim city manager Katherine Guenther, who is helping in the transition before returning to her planning job, and many councilors also scrambled for much of February to meet a deadline for documents, emails and text messages demanded by an attorney for Jackson and former administrative assistant Anita Sites, who have served notice they intend to sue the city and council members for race discrimination, hostile work environment, retaliation and defamation.
The city is also preparing for its annual state-required audit of finances, which requires someone with financial expertise to be around to answer questions from the auditor. Lambert told the council she spent much of last week getting up to speed on the city’s finances.
“I’m trying to get my footing here … and in the meantime trying to answer the phones and pay bills,” she said.
Lambert has been looking for office help, but several people said at least two candidates interviewed declined the job.
Lambert told council members that she hopes to have more staff by April but “until then, I appreciate your patience.”
“We’re all wearing different hats and it’s all hands on deck right now,” she said. “There have been as many as six people at city hall (previously) and now we have three. I’m asking for your support. We’re not out of the woods yet.”
- The drive through on the north side of city hall is intended to be open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays;
- Appointments to meet with Lambert or Guenther are available from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday by calling 541-547-3565.
- The email for Lambert is citymanager@YachatsMail.org; the email for Guenther is planner@YachatsMail.org; the email for Capron is admin@YachatsMail.org, and the email for Morphis is citycoordinator@YachatsMail.org