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02-13-1979 - Workshop I ' Q u 4" fit:;; tf,l t~ ~ , . J~ ,..1 ""', " (l"i!1' l) /.':~ .'.. ~II.!/:.ii .'r.,~ ,,' . r . 'Gi i'J Ii"'" , Cj> ~:t'Ii!J'~'..."\ " , ., '. ~ ....., CITY OF EDGEWATER CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING February 13, 1979 Mayor Christy called the Council Workshop to order at 6:30 P.M. in City Hall. ROLL CALL Mayor Robert H. Christy Councilman Louis J. Rotundo Councilman David C. Ledbetter Councilman Walter B. Sikes Councilman Neil J. Asting City Attorney Judson Woods City Clerk John Wharton Police Chief Earl Baugh Also Present: Present Present Present Present Present Excused Present Present Mrs. Louise Martin - Chairman of the Merit Board Mr. William Kay - Merit Board Member Mr. Harvey Burgess II II II Mr. Walter Gross II II II Mrs. Karen Rickelman - Merit Board Employee Representative Mrs. Barbara Gulbranson - Personnel Officer Mr. Earl Copeland - Street Department Supervisor Mr. Paul Loeffler Mayor Christy said that the Workshop was to work out Job Classifications. Mrs. Martin said that in the minutes of the November 20, 1978 Council meeting, it states that the Council voted 5-0 to allow the Merit Board to compile this information and turn it over to the City Clerk to present tO,the Council for their action. Now, it seems that the Council plans to do this. She questioned why the Council had taken over these duties of the Merit Board. She referred to the Merit Ordinance Section 3 which lists the duties of the Merit Board. . Mayor Christy said that the Merit Board presented the job classifi- cations to the employees not to the Council. Mrs. Martin said that the Merit Board could not present these classifications since they no longer had the forms. Mayor Christy said that the Merit Board had not received Council approval. Mrs. Martin quoted from the minutes of the November 20, 1979 Council meeting. Councilman Asting made a motion, at that meeting, that the Merit Board be authorized to obtain complete job descriptions for all city employees. Councilman Ledbetter seconded that motion and it carried 5-0. Councilman Sikes said that the Merit Board probably needed the information on the forms that were sent out in order to come back to the City Council with their recommendations for Council approval. Mayor Christy said that these forms should have gone through the City Clerk. Councilman Asting said that he felt the Merit Board not only represented the employees but also the management side of the City. It is a neutral Board that makes recommendations to the City Council. He added that he did not think that the employees should o 0 fill out the job descriptions. He believed this should be up to the supervisor. Mr. Gross said that the Merit Board, after they had received Council authorization, had sent out these forms to the employees but they did not expect these questionnaires to be solely filled out by the employee. the Board had planned to go over the questionnaires with each department supervisor. We also made up a letter to notify the employees of this City that we have a Merit Board. The letter was denied. When he first became a member of the Merit Board, he was told by another member who had been on the Board for four years that the Merit Board had not been able to accomplish anythinq. We are now trying to get something accomplished for the benefit - of the City and the employees. Mayor Christy said that the reason the letter had not gone out was that Mr. Wharton had seen the letter and so had he and he wanted to talk to Mrs. Martin about the way it was written. The Council should approve this. We do not write letters without getting approval of the rest of the Council. Mr. Gross asked if the Zoning Board or the Board of Adjustments comes to the Council before they make a recommendation and ask if they can make this recommendation? Mayor Christy said no, they make their decisions and then present them to the Council. Mr. Gross said that is what the Merit Board was trying to do and they had Council approval to get the information to make recommendations. Councilman Ledbetter said that he is concerned about an employee that goes to work for the City Barn. He is hired as a laborer and maybe filled out the job description that way but maybe the next day the supervisor wants to try him out as a tractor driver or he is asked to work on the garbage truck. The employee could feel he didn't have to do this work because he did not have it on his job description. Mrs. Martin said that was the reason ~why the Board planned to go over all the job descriptions with the supervisors. Councilman Sikes said that a few years ago the same question came up concerning job classifications and the salary for that classifi- cation. The Council was concerned that if we had a person that was hired as a heavy equipment operator and maybe there would be certain days where this type of work was not required would there be a problem if he was asked to do some other type of work? ~A~ problem could occur if his salary was reduced to that of a laborer. There is no reason why an employee could not recognize the fact that he would be required to work wherever the head of the department needs him to work but he would still have to be paid according to the job classification. That has to be worked out. However, in order for the Merit Board to come back to the Council with recommenda- tions, they need the information that the Council authorized them to get. Mr. Kay said that this information should be compiled by a qualified industrial engineer who would get the information from the employee and the supervisor. A job description should list regular duties and also miscellaneous duties within that job description. Councilman Asting said that he felt these job descriptions should be turned over to the supervisors for their review and comments and then they should go to the Merit Board for review and then submit them to the Council. Mr. Wharton said that he was not aware that these job descriptions had been handed out or how they were handed out. They were returned to him but he did not know what he was supposed to do with them because he had not initiated these forms. Mr. Gross reminded the Council that the Merit Board is also supposed to be informed if a new position is to be created. 2 o o Chief Baugh said that he already had rules and regulations for his department concerning job classifications. Mr. Copeland said that he felt an employee should complete the 90 day probation period before he filled out any job classifica- tion form. During the probation period, an employee might be asked to perform a lot of different jobs. Councilman Sikes asked how you would know what salary to start the employee at? Mr. Copeland said that they would start at the mlnlmum wage and after the probationary period he would be classified. Chief Baugh said that he had told the Merit Board when they met last month with the supervisors that he would be glad to go over the job classifications for his department with them. These classifications have already been set up and approved by the Council. He has not heard from the Merit Board as to when they would want to meet and go over his job classifications. Mr. Kay called the Council IS attention to Section 5.b of the Merit Ordinance that states "Whenever a department head desires to make any permanent and substantial change in the duties or responsibilities of a position, including such as would constitute a promotion or demotion, written notification of the proposed change shall be submitted to the Merit Board for recommendation as to the proper allocation of the position." Mr. Gross said that without job descriptions, the Merit Ordinance doesnlt mean anything because there is nothing to work with. There is no mention in the payroll list of the City showing that there is a Personnel Director. A Personnel Director interviews ~nd recommends hiring ofsemployees.. .~We donlt have a Personnel Director. Mrs. Gulbransen said that she believes there is a resolution that states the City Clerk is the Personnel Director. She also called attention to the Merit Ordinance Section 2.4 liThe City Clerk shall be the responsible personnel official, but may delegate operating detail to a Personnel Officer who will be responsible to him for the administration and technical direction of the personnel program." The section lists various personnel administration duties that may be assigned by the City Council. Councilman Sikes said that he believed the hiring of individuals should be left up to the Department Heads. /Councilman Asting said that Mrs. Gulbransen is the Personnel Officer and that Mr. Wharton is the Personnel Director. Mayor Christy said that they always try to let the Coordinators and Supervisors interview and hire people in their respective departments. Mr. Copeland asked if he had an employee who temporarily worked below his job classification does he have to get permission to have the employee work below his job classification, if the employee is needed for that work at the time? Mayor Christy said that he believed that an employee could work below his classification but not above it. If he worked above it, he could expect a pay raise. Councilman Sikes said that is why you have to be careful in pre- paring job descriptions. We donlt want to create a situation where we cannot ask an employee to work at different jobs. There was a discussion about union job classifications that limit employees to a specific job classification. The job classifications for the City should not be too limiting in the type of work that might be performed within that classification. Councilman Sikes said that a department head may not fire an employee. The department makes their recommendation to the Merit Board who in turn makes a recommendation to the Council. The Council IS decision is final. 3 o o \ Mr. Wharton said that he would .like to check and be sure we have the forms back from all the employees and then return them to the supervisors for their comments. He will then send these forms to the Merit Board. Councilman Asting said that these forms should go through Mrs. Gulbransen to the Department Heads and then back to Mrs. Gulbransen to give to Mr. Wharton to check and then to the Merit Board. Councilman Sikes suggested that if additions or deletions are made to any of these forms, the employee should be made aware of these changes. Mayor Christy said that the proper channeling of these forms should be from employee to supervisor, supervisor to City Clerk and City Clerk to Merit Board and from the Merit Board to the City Council. Mrs. Rickelman said that the employees should be notified if the Supervisor makes any changes. Mr. Wharton said that means that when he gets these forms he will know that the employee and the supervisor agree on the job description for that individual employee. Mr. Burgess suggested that perhaps the Merit Ordinance should be updated to conform with new labor laws and regulations. Councilman Sikes said that he felt the Merit Ordinance was a good one, it has just never been actively used. He didn't approve of the Merit Board having the final decision. Mrs. Rickelman said that had been amended. Mayor Christy said we have to go through the ordinances and check all those pertaining to personnel. The Council agreed that job classification questionnaires should be filled out only by employees that have finished their 90 day probationary period. Mrs. Gulbransen asked for a clarification on the part of the ordinance that concerns firing an employee. She asked if this applied to full time employees only? Mayor Christy said that was the understanding. Employees on probation can be dismissed by the supervisors. Chief Baugh suggested that after the job classifications were completed then the wage scale could be updated. Mr. Kay said he hoped we would have the job classification infor- mation by the next Merit Board meeting. Mayor Christy said he would get copies of ordinances and resolu- tions pertaining to personnel and give them to the Merit Board. Mr. Gross asked if employees could be hired as First Class Mechanics and helpers. Councilman Asting said this would not work in the Water Dept. because they must comply with the class ratings of the State and Federal 1 aws . Mr. Gross said that in City Hall all the girls are classified as Deputy Clerks. Councilman Sikes said that they are not all deputy clerks. Mr. Gross asked if a letter would be sent to employees telling them about the Merit "Board and who the members are? Mayor Christy said that they should already know this, 4 . . -.. o v Mrs. Rickelman said that some of the employees had told her that they didn't know she had been elected employee representative to the Merit Board. A letter should have gone to the employees. Mrs. Martin asked about a secretary for the Board. Councilman Sikes said that the Board's can always ask the City Clerk for a secretary to be present at the meetings, if it is a public hearing or a special meeting. The same is true if any of the Boards want the City Attorney present at a special meeting. There was some discussion about an updated wage scale. The Council will have to work this out according to the budget but the Merit Board can make recommendations. Mr. Wharton said there seemed to be some problem with communications between the Boards and the City Council. If the Boards would send any correspondence forthe Council to the City Clerk with instructions to: put this correspondence on the agenda. The Council will instruct the City Clerk to notify the Boards of any decision or action that the Council has taken concerning that correspondence. Councilman Ledbetter made a motion to adjourn the Workshop. Councilman Sikes seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned. Minutes submitted by: Nancy Blazi 5