Independence City Manager Craig Whitehead recently announced some minor reorganization of responsibilities within the city’s departments to improve operational efficiencies and service quality.
Specific changes included a restructuring of the Public Safety Department, headed by David Cowan. The department has been renamed Department of Safety and Code Enforcement, and Cowan’s title has therefore been changed from Director of Public Safety to Director of Safety and Code Enforcement. Under this new framework, Cowan will assume responsibility for supervision of the city’s building inspector and his department, which was formerly managed by Assistant City Manager Kelly Passauer.
Additionally, supervision of the Police Department has been reassigned from the Public Safety Department directly to Whitehead, and supervision of Memorial Hall operations was reassigned from the Department of Public Works to Assistant City Manager Passauer.
“After a thorough evaluation of our operations over the past few months, we determined these minor adjustments were needed to help us more equitably balance responsibilities among our leadership team,” Whitehead said. “Of course, like any small town, all our directors and managers wear many hats. So, we want to be sure we are appropriately allocating our human resources in order to operate efficiently and provide the best quality services to our residents.”