GREENVILLE — Greenville City Council’s Personnel and Public Relations Committee will recommend the city building’s Friday hours remain unchanged.
The committee, composed of Council Members Todd Oliver, Dori Howdieshell and Tracy Tryon, met Thursday morning to discuss the possibility of changing the city building’s open hours from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. to 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Fridays. The proposal was submitted by Councilman Clarence Godwin.
Members of various city departments were in attendance, and some expressed frustration at not always being able to complete tasks in the time currently allotted, as well as the inconvenience suffered by some citizens due to the building’s hours of operation.
City Income Tax Administrator Robin Henry said, “We’ve had a lady come in right at eight o’ clock, who said ‘I can’t come in during your hours, I work from 8 to 4:30.’ We hear that all the time.” She suggested having the city building open at 7 or 7:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“Extending it to 4:30 on Friday isn’t going to help the majority of the people,” she added.
Safety/Service Director Curt Garrison suggested council could put 10 to 15 percent in next year’s budget to allow for instances where hourly employees are forced to work over, and allow the department heads to distribute that as needed to those employees, thereby removing the need for the heads to petition council.
City Auditor Roxanne Willman noted the Tax and Auditor Departments already have additional hours built into their budgets for certain times of the year that are busier than others.
Oliver, however, pointed out the committee’s assignment was to determine if the city building should or should not stay open later on Fridays, and that compensation was a different issue which would need to be discussed separately.
Howdieshell said, “To me if it’s not broken, don’t fix it. People are accustomed to these hours we have, and employees are accustomed to these hours and like Friday afternoons off.” She did, however, suggest the city building could use a more prominent sign showing the building’s open hours. Currently the hours are listed on a small, printed-out paper taped to a window beside the front doors.
The committee agreed to recommend to council the city’s Friday hours remain unchanged, but will also recommend better signage. The report will be considered by Greenville City Council at its August 1 meeting.
