Increase in city efficiency posed

In a twist to Newport Beach’s city hall debate that’s both new and old, Greenlight Residents’ Group leader Phil Arst is now suggesting — as he did several years ago — that a new city hall might not be needed if officials would increase efficiency and contract out more city services.

Newport Beach has one of Orange County’s highest city employee-to-resident ratios, according to Arst, who used data from the League of California Cities.

But city leaders dispute his comparison, pointing out other cities don’t have as many employees because they don’t offer as many services as Newport.

Arst has been relatively quiet since his group’s growth control ballot measure was defeated in the November election, but now he’s renewing his call for a full study of what city-provided services cost and whether some could be contracted out more efficiently and cheaply.

“They’re overstaffed now,” Arst said. “They don’t even have competitive bids on some of those services where they could cut back on people.”

Arst’s data shows with more than 750 full-time workers and 83,000 residents in Newport, the city has about 110 residents per city employee.

But what does the city actually do for residents?

A lot, as it turns out, Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff said — basic offerings include police and fire protection, the typical building and planning department services, and recreation.

And unlike many cities, Newport provides its own residential trash collection in most of the city (30 positions), water and sewer service (55 jobs), and it staffs its own libraries (68 employees) rather than using the county system.

Among beach cities, Newport is unique in managing its own harbor with a five-person department, and the city hires its own full-time and seasonal lifeguards.

Some city parks are maintained by city workers also, while others are taken care of by outside companies.

Arst didn’t count the roughly 800 part-time workers the city employs, but he still calculates Newport ranks No. 2 among the county’s beach cities in terms of the worker-to-resident ratio — Laguna Beach is No. 1 with 98 residents per employee — and when inland cities are factored in, Newport still comes in third behind Brea with 106 residents to each city worker.

City officials may consider staffing issues as part of a planned study of residents’ satisfaction with city services, but Kiff questioned the accuracy of Arst’s comparison.

When it comes to police services, Kiff said, the city has to be prepared for the millions of tourists who visit the beaches and other parts of the city each year, and that can drive up the numbers.

“Do you really want to staff that at a less than adequate level to control the public? No, you don’t,” he said.

While cities such as Irvine hire the county fire authority for fire services, Kiff said, “It doesn’t mean the Irvine taxpayer doesn’t pay for those services or that they’re more efficient.”

City Councilman Michael Henn, whose background is in corporate management, said he’s interested in talking to Arst about providing city services more efficiently, but he doesn’t see cutting staff levels as the main goal — it’s just one possible outcome that could result from their study, he said.

And as to Arst’s contention that streamlining the city’s employee roster could negate the need for a new city hall, Henn doesn’t want to predict that outcome.

“It may be relevant at some point, but to me it’s not a reason to hold up consideration of city hall,” he said.