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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-HRC-2001-11-26 HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE Regular Meeting November 26, 2001 Committee Members Present: Paulette Manos, Ed Hershey, Pat Vaughan, Tracy Farrell Committee Members Excused: Jana Taylor Common Council Members Present: Joan Spielholz Ad-Hoc Members Present: Schelley Michell-Nunn (HR Director), Alan J. Cohen (Mayor), Dominick Cafferillo (Controller) Staff Present: Leslie Moskowitz (Mgr of Organizational Develop.) Marcia Fort (GIAC Director), Allen Green (Acting Deputy YB Director), Eric Woodward (Senior Tree Trimmer), Tom West (Civil Engineer), Steve Thayer (Deputy Controller), Timothy Payne (Firefighter), Denise Malone (Administrative Secretary) Others Present: Satomi Hill, John Gutenberger, Renata Ballard, Members of the Press Chairperson Manos called the meeting to order at 7:10 pm. A. Agenda Review, Approval of Minutes & Announcements Chairperson Manos stated that item H-4 (Appointment of Acting Department Heads) has been added to the agenda. The Committee reviewed the minutes from the October meeting. Alderperson Hershey made a motion to approve the minutes from the October 22, 2001 meeting. Seconded by Alderperson Vaughan. Motion carried 4-0. B. Employee Comments & Response The Affirmative Action Advisory Committee Members (Satomi Hill, Tom West, Marcia Fort, Eric Woodward) thanked the Human Resources Committee and the Human Resources Department for their work on the residency requirements. The Affirmative Action Advisory Committee (AAAC) members expressed their concerns "regarding the potentially negative effects of the proposed Human Resources Committee Meeting November 26, 2001 Page 2 residency requirements on the City's Affirmative Action Initiatives". The residency requirements could hinder the recruiting efforts by limiting the City's opportunity to develop a diverse candidate pool and could limit promotional opportunities. The City has created "entry level positions where under represented populations begin employment with the City. However, residency requirements may serve to stifle career development". The Affirmative Action Advisory Committee "support and value the goals and objectives stated in the City's diversity statement and the vision, mission, values statement" and ask that Common Council consider the effects of the proposed residency requirements in light of these values. Chairperson Manos thanked the Affirmative Action Advisory Committee members for expressing their concerns and stated that the residency requirements is specifically for certain department heads and deputies and not for entry-level positions. Human Resources Director Schelley Michell-Nunn stated that she was unable to attend the last budget meeting that discussed the second floor renovations. Ms. Michell-Nunn stated that the shuffling and moving around of the HR Department would not correct the problem or address the need. Ms. Michell-Nunn explained that the two new staff members would be involved in highly confidential matters and would need privacy. C. Chairperson's Report. None. D. Sub-Committee Reports 1. City Administration (Renata Ballard, John Gutenberger, Joan Spielholz) In April 2000, the Human Resources Committee formed a subcommittee on restructuring the City administration. The subcommittee consisted of: Ed Hershey (Chair)— Common Council Renata Ballard - Realtor& City Board of Zoning Appeals, Alternate Dominick Cafferillo— Controller Randy Ehrenberg - Asst Supt— ICSD John Gutenberger- Director of Community Relations — Cornell University Edward J. Lawler— Dean — ILR School Schelley Michell-Nunn — City HR Director Joan Spielholz— Common Council Thys VanCort— City Planning Director Paulette Manos — Common Council (Ad Hoc) The subcommittee was charged with studying the advisability and feasibility of creating a new City Administration position. The subcommittee examined all reasonable options such as not changing the current practice, providing the Mayor with an Executive Assistant, making the Mayor a "full-time" position and creating a professional City Manager. The subcommittee examined administrative systems employed by municipalities similar to Ithaca in New York State and sought to gauge the atmosphere i Human Resources Committee Meeting November 26, 2001 Page 3 of Ithaca's governmental administration to determine the nature and extent of problems and measure them against two time-tested theories: 1) "if it isn't broke, don't fix it," and 2) "always consider the least invasive approach." To ascertain how well the City of Ithaca is administered, Cornell University student David Perkins was hired to create and conduct a survey of present City Administration/Directors, past City Officials and customers. Mr. Perkins states in his report "that even though Ithaca's recent mayors have worked an inordinate number of hours a week, a part-time mayor is unable to provide the leadership, facilitation, and general oversight required to coordinate and unify the administrative functions of the city government." The City Administrator or Chief Administrative Officer would likely be able to assume many of the following duties and responsibilities: > coordinate activity between city departments; > oversee project management and streamline processes; > facilitate communication between departments and between departments and other elected/appointed officials; > advocate on behalf of city employees; > work closely with the HR Department and internal employee committees to coordinate improvement initiatives; > participate in public forms regarding city projects and services Mr. Perkins continues that "the creation of the City Administrator position will redefine the separation between administrative and political activity within the Ithaca City government, allowing city departments to fully utilize their expertise in the application of policy, while the mayor and Common Council members work with the citizens in establishing a vision for Ithaca's future. Such an appointed position would establish certain degree of administrative continuity between elections, thereby reducing the amount of disruption caused by entering or departing elected officials." Alderperson Hershey stated that the subcommittee recommends that the City authorize and establish the position of City Administrator. Common Council, the Human Resources Director and the City Attorney, if the powers and duties of the Mayor or Common Council are affected, would work together to create a job description for the City Administrator position. The Committee discussed the report and the recommendations. Alderperson Manos and Farrell expressed concerns about adopting the recommendations now especially in light of the outcome of the CSEA salary study. After discussion, Alderperson Hershey made a motion to accept the report and pass to Common Council for possible action. Seconded by Alderperson Vaughan. Motion carried 4-0. Human Resources Committee Meeting November 26, 2001 Page 4 Alderperson Hershey and Chairperson Manos thanked the City Administration subcommittee members for all their hard work. 2. Residency Requirement After discussion, Alderperson Hershey made a motion to accept the Residency Requirement as written and move to Common Council with the understanding that the promotion aspect still needs to be resolved. Seconded by Alderperson Vaughan. Ayes: 3 (Hershey, Vaughan, Farrell) Nays: 1 (Manos) Motion carried 3-1. E. Personnel Items 1. Youth Bureau a. Request to Amend Personnel Roster The Youth Bureau is requesting to amend the 2002 Personnel Roster by Deleting: 1 -Youth Worker (Y.E.S. 1 -Volunteer Coordinator (One-to-One) 1 - Shared Administrative Assistant Adding: 1 —Youth Development Program Leader(Y.E.S.) 1 —Youth Development Program Leader (One-to-One) After discussion, Alderperson Farrell made a motion to approve the request. Seconded by Alderperson Vaughan. Motion carried 4-0. 2. Department of Public Works (Water& Sewer) a. Request to Amend Personnel Roster The Department of Public Works (W&S) is requesting to amend the Personnel Roster by deleting one (1) Laborer position and adding one (1) Truck Driver position. After discussion, Alderperson Hershey made a motion to approve the request. Seconded by Alderperson Vaughan. Motion carried 4-0. • Human Resources Committee Meeting November 26, 2001 Page 5 3. Building Department a. Request to Amend Personnel Roster The Building Department is requesting to amend the Personnel Roster by changing the Clerk position to Typist and reducing the hours from 40 hours/week to 35 hours/week. After discussion, Alderperson Farrell made a motion to approve the request. Seconded by Alderperson Vaughan. Motion carried 4-0. F. Directors' Reports. None. G. Mayor's Report. None. H. New Business 1. Position Review Committee The Position Review Committee (PRC)was created to review all requests to fill vacancies, changes in position titles or grade levels or work hours. Since position review is within the purview of the Human Resources Department, all requests must be forwarded to the Human Resources Department and must be in compliance with contract provisions, be consistent with the City workforce diversification initiatives and have budget authorization. The HR Director, the Controller and the Mayor would review the requests. The Human Resources Committee discussed restructuring this process by adding two Common Council members to the Position Review Committee. After discussion, Alderperson Farrell made a motion to add two (2) Common Council Members to the Position Review Committee. Seconded by Alderperson Manos. Ayes: 2 (Farrell, Manos) Nays: 2 (Hershey, Vaughan) Motion failed 2-2. 2. Managerial Holiday Mayor Cohen stated this is a follow-up to the conversation with the HR Committee regarding the day after Thanksgiving. If Senior Staff is unable to get the day after Thanksgiving as a paid holiday that the majority of Senior Staff are amendable to exchanging the first holiday in February with/for the day after Thanksgiving. The day in February would be used as a staff development day for management. After discussion, Alderperson Vaughan made a motion to table this item pending consensus from Senior Staff on which they prefer. Seconded by Alderperson Farrell. Motion carried 4-0. Human Resources Committee Meeting + November 26, 2001 Page 6 3. Flexible Benefits Plan (Section 125) The Controller's Office and the Human Resources (HR) Department have investigated expanding the flexible benefits plan from dependent care to include unreimbursed medical care. Currently, City employees have the option to participate in a flexible spending program that enables them to elect to take out a predetermined amount of money pre-tax for childcare expenses. This offers a tax savings benefit to the employee as well as the employer. As a result, the HR Department and the Controller's Office is proposing that Council adopt unreimbursed medical flexible benefits plan. After discussion, Alderperson Farrell, made a motion to adopt the Flexible Benefits Plan (Section 125). Seconded by Alderperson Hershey. Motion carried 4-0. 4. Appointment of Acting Department Heads The Committee will discuss this item at the Common Council meeting. I. Old Business. None. J. Adjournment On a motion by Alderperson Vaughan, the meeting was adjourned at 10:34 p.m. •