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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-HRC-2003-09-22 Julie Holcomb - Sept 2003.HRC Minutes.doc Page 1 Human Resources Committee September 22, 2003 Page 1 HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE Regular Meeting September 22, 2003 Members Present: Alderperson Peterson, Alderperson Blumenthal, Alderperson Cogan, Alderperson Mack, Alderperson Hershey, Mayor Cohen Staff Present: Schelley Michell-Nunn (HR Director), Steve Thayer(Controller), Allen Green (Youth Bureau Director), Julie Holcomb (City Clerk), Bill Gray (Superintendent of Public Works), Tom West (Civil Engineer), Hernando Gil (Bridge Systems Engineer), Denise Malone (Administrative Secretary) Others Present: Members of the Media Chairperson Peterson called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. Agenda Review, Approval of Minutes &Announcements Chairperson Peterson stated that Personnel Item F.3— DPW (Engineering)— Salary Review— has been added to the agenda. The Committee reviewed the minutes from the August 2003 meeting. Alderperson Cogan made a motion to approve the August 25, 2003 minutes. Seconded by Alderperson Mack. Motion carried 5- 0. Chairperson Peterson stated that she received an e-mail from Assistant City Attorney Patricia Dunn stating that there was an error in the HR Committee meeting minutes for July 28, 2003. On page 3 under"Smoking Policy", the Attorney's Office will bring forth a resolution to replace the City's Smoking Policy by adopting the New York State (not Federal) Smoking Policy. Alderperson Hershey made a motion to approve the HR Committee meeting minutes for July 28, 2003 as amended. Seconded by Alderperson Mack. Motion carried 5-0. { Mayor Cohen reminded the HR Committee members that the Employee Picnic has been rescheduled to Friday— September 26. A. Employee Comments & Common Council Response City Clerk Julie Holcomb reported that the Communications Improvement Team is up and operating. Julie Holcomb-Sept 2003.HRC Minutes.doc Page 2 Human Resources Committee September 22, 2003 Page 2 Ms. Holcomb co-leads this Committee with Leslie Moskowitz and Duane Twardokus. The team consists of Carol Reeves (S&F), Khandikile Sokoni (Attorney's Office), Frank Brackin (Police), Marcia Fort (GIAC), and Roxy Johnston (W&S). The team has been working on effective meetings, structured decision making, team-building, and refining the team's statement of purpose, which will be presented at the Senior Staff meeting to ensure that it is in line with what Senior Staff had in mind for this Committee. The team will begin an environmental scan/needs assessment to determine some of the problems relating to communications and possible solutions. The team will develop a comprehensive communication plan for the City of Ithaca that will encompass internal communications within the organization, external communications regarding how the City communicates with the community, media relations and crisis communications. Chairperson Peterson mentioned that there would be a report later in the meeting about the results of the retreat with Common Council, the Mayor and Department Heads. This report would be discussed and possibly adopted. The Committee thanked Ms. Holcomb for her report and encouraged the team to keep up the good work. Chairperson's Report. None. B. Affirmative Action Advisory Committee Update. The next meeting of the Affirmative Action Advisory Committee is Friday—October 17, 2003 at 9:00 a.m. Alderperson Mack will attend the meeting. Sub-Committee Updates. None. Personnel Items 1. Youth Bureau a. Request for Exemption from the Residency Requirement Youth Bureau Director Allen Green requested that Deputy Youth Bureau Director Liz Vance be exempted from the Residency Requirement. After the Committee discussed this request, Alderperson Blumenthal made a motion to go into Executive Session to discuss the employment history of an individual. Seconded by Alderperson Hershey. Motion carried 5-0. Julie Holcomb -Sept 2003 HRC Minutes doc Page 3 Human Resources Committee September 22, 2003 Page 3 After Executive Session, Chairperson Peterson stated that no action was taken and that this item would be on next month's agenda. 2. Clerk's Office a. Request to Transfer Funds City Clerk Julie Holcomb requested that funds not to exceed $2,500.00 be transferred from the Staff Account A1315-5105 to the Contractual Account A1316-5435. These funds would be used to hire a temporary employee to assist the department with its administrative functions until a permanent employee can be hired to fill the vacancy. After discussion, Alderperson Cogan made a motion to approve the request. Seconded by Alderperson Mack. Motion carried 5-0. The Committee agreed that this item would be put on consent agenda. 3. DPW — Engineering Department a. Request to Amend Personnel Roster Superintendent of Public Works Bill Gray requested to amend the Personnel Roster as listed below and that the individuals involved would receive 5% above the base salary retroactive to October 23, 2002. Add: Two (2)Assistant City Engineer positions Delete: One (1)Assistant Civil Engineer position One (1) Bridge Systems Engineer position After discussion, Alderperson Hershey made a motion to approve the request. Seconded by Alderperson Cogan. The Committee discussed the percent increase requested, after which Alderperson Mack made a motion to amend the main motion by increasing the percent requested to 6.5. Motion failed due to the lack of a second. Alderperson Cogan, then, made a motion to amend the main motion by increasing the percent requested to 8 and signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Bargaining Unit stating that this does not establish a past practice. Seconded by Alderperson Mack. The Committee went into Executive Session on a motion by Alderperson Mack, seconded by Alderperson Cogan, to discuss collective bargaining. After Executive Session, Chairperson Peterson reported that no action was taken in Executive Session. On the amendment: A vote on the 8% amendment resulted as follows: Julie Holcomb-Sept 2003.HRC Minutes.doc Page 4 Human Resources Committee September 22, 2003 Page 4 Ayes (1): Mack Nays (4): Hershey, Peterson, Blumenthal, Cogan Motion Failed Main Motion: A vote on the main motion resulted as follows: Ayes (4): Blumenthal, Cogan, Hershey, Peterson Nays (1): Mack Motion Carried 4-1 Directors' Reports. None. Mayor's Report Mayor Cohen stated that he would issue a memo dealing with the improper use of City e-mail and the Internet. The memo would be used as a guideline until an E-mail/Internet Usage policy can be created and adopted. New Business t Adoption of Report from Common Council/Department Head Retreat (May 2002) Chairperson Peterson reported that the result of the Common Council/Department Head Sub-Committee's meetings since the retreat are the documents "Improved Relations Between Common Council and Department Heads," "Committee Chair's Guide to Running Better meetings," and "Ground Rules for Meetings." The documents were developed to create improvements in the way Common Council, the Mayor and Department Heads communicate, share information and interact during meetings. The Committee reviewed the documents. After discussion, Alderperson Cogan made a motion to endorse the reports, to make the reports a part of the orientation packet for incoming Common Council members, to distribute the reports to all department heads and to make the reports a part of the on-going work of the Communications Improvement Team. Seconded by Alderperson Blumenthal. Motion carried 5-0. Alderperson Blumenthal offered to draft the resolution. Chairperson Peterson expressed thanks to Duane Twardokus, who offered to gather all the notes, formatted them into the current report, e-mailed them to Sub-Committee members for comments, and drafted the final document. Old Business Julie Holcomb - Sept 2003.HRC Minutes.doc Page 5 Human Resources Committee September 22, 2003 Page 5 1. Extension of Health Insurance Coverage in the Event of Possible Layoffs HR Director Schelley Michell-Nunn shared a list of benefits to be considered in the event of layoffs and suggested that the City, at a minimum, provide similar benefits to that provided last year. Controller Steve Thayer reported on the statistics from last year's layoffs (i.e. the number of employees who were laid off, who found other jobs within the City, who found jobs with other employers, who retired and who took advantage of the extended health insurance, etc.) The Committee discussed the information presented and stated that no action would be taken at this time but that the information would be considered during the budget review process. 2. Retirement Salary Adjustment tl HR Director Michell-Nunn provided the HR Committee with a recommendation for distributing the funds set aside for managerial employees nearing retirement. After discussion, Alderperson Blumenthal made a motion to adopt the recommendation as the procedure for distributing the funds set aside for Senior Staff nearing retirement. Seconded by Alderperson Cogan. Motion carried 5-0. 3. Possible Retirement Incentive Mayor Cohen stated that the City of Ithaca Retirement Incentive Program (2003)was passed at the August 2003 Common Council meeting. Mayor Cohen requested that the Retirement Incentive Program be amended to include Tier 2 members and to extend the date to December 31, 2003 for which an employee must have reached 55. This resolution would supersede the one adopted on August 6. After discussion, Alderperson Hershey made a motion to approve the request. Seconded by Alderperson Blumenthal. Motion carried 5-0. The Committee agreed that this item would be put on consent agenda. 4. Living Wage Mayor Cohen distributed the revised figures on the City of Ithaca Living Wage Activity/Market Rate Equivalent Value. Mr. Cohen stated that he received a call from Carl Feuer of the Labor Coalition. Mr. Feuer expressed concern that the City was taking the full value of the health plan and applying it to the calculations of the employees' wages. Mr. Feuer stated that those are not wages that the employee could use to purchase food, transportation, etc. Mayor Cohen stated that how the Alternatives Federal Credit Union's (AFCU) study was structured, the $8.68 hourly rate assumes a 25% employee co-pay. It does not credit the employee in their wages for the 75% value of the health plan. That was initially done in the City's analysis. The revised analysis shows the hourly wage and the enhancement of that based on the value of the 25% co-pay that City employees do not pay. Mayor Cohen stated that all City employees are making above the livable wage. The Mayor stated Julie Holcomb - Sept 2003.HRC Minutes.doc Page 6 Human Resources Committee September 22, 2003 Page 6 that the two main differences between the City's calculations and the Living Wage Coalition are 1)they did not differentiate between the 35-hours/week employees and the 40-hours/week employees and 2)they assigned an unknown value to the City's health plan. The City's analysis took the City's health plan, looked at the actual value and took 25% of that and credited to the employee, which resulted in the equivalent wage scale. The Committee discussed the differences between the City's analysis and AFCU livable wage. Mayor Cohen stated that he would share the new analysis with Mr. Feuer. Adjournment On a motion by Alderperson Cogan, the meeting was adjourned at 10:00 p.m.