Collaboration and Workload Management at the City of Brooklyn, Ohio.

• Author: Ludwig, Katie
• Position: FINANCE

For the City of Brooklyn, Ohio, collaboration isn't just an aspiration, it's a necessity. As is often the case for smaller local governments, staff members have multiple areas of responsibility and must balance competing priorities. To effectively manage their workloads, the members of Brooklyn's finance team work together closely.

As just about any member of GFOA's Small Government Forum can attest, close collaboration among staff members is a requirement in maintaining operations and achieving an organization's goals. Small governments have most of the same types of responsibilities as larger local governments, despite having far fewer staff members. To ensure that all day-to-day tasks--including developing and monitoring the budget, processing customer payments, paying bills, and ordering supplies--are completed, staff members need to work together closely and be available to assist one another. One example of a local government that has fully embraced the concept of collaboration, and is experiencing its benefits, is the City of Brooklyn, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland with a population of approximately 11,000 people and 105 full-time employees.

Brooklyn's three-person Finance Department is made up of Deputy City Administrator/Finance Director Tom Raguz, Cindy Simko in Accounts Payable, and Celeste Westfall in Payroll. Finance isn't the only thing these three do, though.

The trio also manages the city's reception desk, the mayor's court, and the Civil Service Commission. While Tom serves as the official secretary for the Civil Service Commission, Celeste handles most of the day-to-day responsibilities while also being responsible for the city's human resources functions, including processing workers' compensation claims and reviewing Family Medical Leave Act requests.

In addition to her primary role in Accounts Payable, Cindy also maintains the city's capital asset list and manages inventory. She is the city's point person on insurance claims, as well, and serves as the secretary for the Service, Police, and Fire departments.

"I've worked in larger organizations, and I think the misconception is that it's easier working for a smaller government. It can be in some ways, but it's also harder in other ways," Tom said.

"As challenging as it is, I think the advantage of working for a small city is that we're able to get in touch with people without there being a big delay, and everyone's pretty receptive to working with each other," Celeste...