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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1980-1981 Affirmative Action Advisory Committee Annual Report • r E 4,• t. • • City of Ithaca Affirmative Action Advisory Committee Annual Report Annual Reporting Period 1 July 1980 - 30 June 1981 I. INTRODUCTION: • The Affirmative Action Advisory Commitee was formed on 4 February 1981 • by Mayor Bordoni. Membership was made up of half community members and half employees. One half of the employees were management/mid-management, one half non-management; one half minorities, one half non-minorities. • A list of the appointed members is attached .as-Appendix A. The first meeting was held. on March 26, 1981 with a committee decision to meet the third Thursday of every month at 2:00 p.m..._ The Committee selected Michael Montgomery and-Stephen Wapen to act as Co-Chairmen and discussed missions and_ guidelines_.of the committee. Attached as Appendix B. II. _1981 HIGHLIGHTS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER: October 1980 ' Affirmative Action Seminar for Employees February 4,..19.81- Membership appointed by Mayor- Bordoni March 26, 1981 First meeting — selected Co-Chairmen- and established Missions and-Guidelines. .. April 16, 4981 Second meeting held- -_Missions and Guidelines accepted. May 7 & 8, -1981 Affirmative Action Seminar -for 'employees "- some Committee members attended.- • May-2-1, 1981. Affirmative Action Advisory Committeemeeting =held._ June 18, 1981 Affirmative Action Advisory Committee meeting held. July 7, 1981 Special Working Session to discuss proposed Affirmative Action Plan. Copies of all minutes attached as Appendix C. • III.- COMMUNITY GROUP INVOLVEMENT: Affirmative Action Advisory Committee missions and guidelines-:charges the committee with hearing complaints from members of the community and Groups. The Black Caucus of Ithaca has on several occasions expressed concerns with the City of Ithaca's hiring practice as it pertains to blacks and although this group has not petitioned the committee as such, - vim,' page Ili • Annual Report-Affirmative Action Advisory Committee • their actions have influenced concerns on the Affirmative Action Advisory • Committee and at least one member on the committee represents the Black Caucus as well as the community at large. IV. STATISTICAL SUMMARY: Attached as Appendix E are statistical charts that were utilized in the Affirmative Action Plan for numerical information on which to base Goals/Timetables for the period 1 July 1979 to 30 June 1980. • Attached as Appendix F are similar updated charts for the period 1 July 1980 to 30 June 1981 for comparison. • - V. OTHER ACTIVITIES During the September meeting several members of the committee expressed concern over the Council's decision to make an exception to the=ERATResolution.. ._It appeared several employees had contacted members and-complained. The Affirmative Action Advisory Committee sent_out letters to;.employees to determine..what if any concerns would..be expressed in this matter. The Affirmative Action Advisory Committee noted four (4) written and several verbal concerns from City employees and citizens regarding Common Council's_granting an exception to Resolution passed. in January 1979. The Affirmative Action-Advisory Committee recognizes that granting exceptions to standing Civil Rights Resolutions is likely to upset- the..morale •of -protected class-City- employees - and--cause-rancor_:-in- the -community. This does not enhance._the public image-of the City of -Ithaca:on -Civil Rights-.matters. 'The Affirmative Action Advisory-Committee-believes the City of Ithaca- should consistently adhere to the_spirit .and appli cation of its standing Civil Rights Resolutions. - Indeed, the -' City should set the example for other-employers an the county in this regard. In view of the above, the Affirmative Action Advisory Committee strongly advises the Mayor and Common Council to refrain from granting any exceptions to the spirit and application of standing - Civil Rights Resolutions in the future._ In October 1980 Mr. Stephen Wapen and Joan Collins attended a Seminar in Syracuse, "Affirmative action for the 80's". The seminar covered the changes expected during-the Reagan administration in Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity. Workshops were also conducted concerning Affirmative Action in small companies, large business and public entities. ' Some of the • guest speakers included Eleanor Holmes Norton. Page�lll „t Annual Report-Affirmative Action Advisory Committee The Fire Department member of the Affirmative Action Advisory Committee along with the Affirmative Action Officer has been diligently attempting to set up a Labor Recruitment Program as conducted by the International Association of Firefighters. This program is considered to be one of the best programs for the recruitment of minority and female firefighters and Police Officers. It is mainly funded by Federal grants from the Department of Labor. Due to Reagan Administration budget cuts, however, the program has been temporarily halted. We are hopeful that it will be refunded early enough to enable the program to be conducted sufficiently to prepare prospective minority and female applicants for the March 1982 Firefighters testing and perhaps the November 1982 Police Officer testing. Appendix G is a program fact sheet. It is the intent of the Affirmative Action_ Advisory Committee to write letters to the President, Vice.Pres- ident, .Senators, Representatives and appropriate' Department of Labor and EEOC personnel- to encourage them to refund the program. VI. FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR 1982 Increase..Community_.Awareness/Outreach-- - It is the-intent of the Affirmative Action__Advisory Committee to send letters to as many minority/female community groups as possible to invite them to attend our Affirmative_Action Advisory Committee meetings, explain the function_of the Committee and --advise-how we may==be-of assistance in community concerns regarding_Affirmative Action-and/or=Equal Opportunity.: Invitations to New Council-i4embers/Mayor/etc; - The Affirmative Action Advisory-Committee will- send an -invita- • thou to the Mayor Elect to attend our next Affirmative Action . Advisory Committee meeting and-_.to .consider:attending -as-well as all new elected members of Council, our next Affirmative Action Sensitivity Training session. The Affirmative Action Advisory Committee has recently determined - that meetings should be _chap ed to be conducted every other month- starting - _. i n January-1982;-at-2:00 p.m.,-:the second Thursday--of each month. - The next meeting will be held on 14 January 1982. It is the-intent of the Affirmative. Action Advisory Committee to request that Affirmative Action Sensitivity Seminars-continue on a quarterly basis to assure -that- all-employees--have Yan opportunity to attend. - It should be noted that all management/mid-management=and first line supervisors, except for-two, have received such training at this time.- . VII. APPENDIXES - A. AAAC -Membership E. Stat-Summaries from AA Plan -B. AAAC Mission & Guidelines F. Stat Summary Comparison - - ` C. :_.Minutes of Meetings G. Labor Recruitment Program D. Mediation Information Fact Sheet 2 �' t N 1 CI MEMBERSHIP OF THE AFFIRMATIVE ACTION ADVISORY COMMITTEE Dr. Donald C. Graham Term to expire 12/31/82 Associate Professor, Food Science / Director of Minority Programs, Agr. Life Science (H) 273-4484 Cornell University (W) 256-6588 20 W. Miller Rd. Ithaca, NY 14850 Stephen G. Wapen CO-CHAIRMAN Term to expire 12/31/81 Persomel Associate, Ext. Personnel Office Cornell University (H) 272-9077 82 Nelson Road (W) 256-7776 Ithaca, NY 14850 Argin Hutchins Term to expire 12/31/82 Graduate Student Cornell University (H) 273-6642 Former Chairman of Human Rights Commission and City employee • 104 Fayette St. Ithaca, NY 14850 • Michael J. Montgomery . CO-CHAIRMAN Term to expire 12/31/83 / Exec. Director, Office of Equal Opportunity / Cornell University (H) 257-1369 410 Winthrop Drive (W) 256-3976 p Ithaca, NY 14850 _: ; . Audrey Cooper Term to expire 12/31/81 • Family & Children's Service of Tompkins County Former City employee (H) 273-9469 • 206 Monroe St. (W) 273-7494 Ithaca, NY 14850 Maurisue Bishop Term to expire 12/31/83 1111 Hector St. (H) 273-1851 Ithaca, NY 14850 .4W3} •6= Jasmine Lim Term to expire 12/31/81 Community Development Coordinator, City Hall i 406 Winston Court Apts. (#5) (W) 272-1713, x222 ` Ithaca, NY 14850 John Dougherty Term to expire 12/31/82 Asst. to Superintendent of Public Works (C&M) i City Hall • (H) Unlisted 4 612 S. Plain St. (W) 272-1713, x242 Ithaca, NY 14850 272-1718 - *. . 4 ./ 44 ef 4' �. r Royal Lipscomb Term to expire 12/31/82 Police Officer, City of Ithaca 170 Muzzy Road (H) Unlisted Ithaca, NY 14850 (W) 272-1713, x238 Lv Msg Bernard Van Orman Term to expire 12/31/82 Fire Fighter, City of Ithaca President of the Fire Fighters Union (H) 564-7135 1504 Elmira Road (W) 272'-1234 Newfield, NY 14867 Joan Collins (H) 272-4152 Personnel Administrator, AAO (W) 272-1713, x230 or x249 165 Iradell Road Ithaca, NY 14850 • t • nl e Missions and Guidelines for the Affirmative Action Advisory Committee City of Ithaca The Purpose of the Affirmative Advisory Committee The Affirmative Action Advisory Committee was established in 1980 to serve as a communication link between the City employees and management. The main reason for the Committee formation was to serve as an advisory arm to the Personnel Administrator/ AAO to assitt in the achievement of equity in employment opportunties and to remove barriers that have operated in the past to favor some groups of employees over others in the City government labor force. The committee will provide advice and consultation to the Mayor, members of Common Council and Personnel Administrator/AM on the development, implementation and conduct of the City's Affirmative Action Program. Also, the Committee will attempt to provide a channel of communication for all City employees or members of the community to experss . their concerns, through representativa;:committee members, about "Equal'Opportunity" and other aspects of Affirmative Action. The overall objective of the Committee is to use the experience gained from these communications to improve existing City policies or to propose new policies which will help improve Affirmative Action as an integral part of the operations of the City of Ithaca' government. Committee membership includes repre- sentatives of City departments, the Personnel Administrator/AAO in addition to repre- sentatives from women, minorities organizations and handicapped representation when possible. Guidelines for holdingeof meetings will be as follows: 1. Meetings will be held on the 3rd Thrusday of each month at 2 p.m. in the Common Council Chambers of the Ithaca City Hall. 2. Meetings will be conducted under the recognized procedures as determined by Robert's Rules of Order. 3. With the exception of discussions pertaining to specific decisions of employment, the Affirmative Action Advisory Committee meetings will be open to the general public. • 4. Announcements of upcoming meetings will be posted in the Ithaca Journal as well as on Public bulletin boards within the Ithaca City Hall. 5: Members of the community will be given an opportunity to address concerns related to equal opportunity within the City government. This forum will occur at the beginn- ing of each scheduled Affirmative Action Advisory Committee meeting. * 6. Should a member of the Affirmative Action Advisory Committee miss a total of (4) four unexcused meetings in any calendar year or (3) three consecutive meetings, a recommendation will be made by the co-chair-ran to the Mayor requesting that the member be removed and appropriately replaced. Excuses for absences for unusual circumstances will be considered by the Affirmative Action Advisory Committee co-chairman. • .�. r,L .. -2- THE FOLLOWING POINTS ADDRESS SPECIFIC ISS7.3S UNDER WHICH THE AFFIRMATIVE ACTION ADVISORY COMMITTEE WILL BE OPERATING: 1. Serve as an Advisory Committee to.the Mayor of Ithaca, the members of Ithaca Common Council, and the City of Ithaca's Personnel Administrator/AAO. 2. The Committee will recommend methods of outreach toward increasing the pool of women and minorities who may be considered for positions within the City government. This may include suggestions relative to the use of printed and electronic media, as well as personal contact to attract candidates for positions. 3. The Committee will assist the Personnel Administrator/AAO in the development of appropriate grievance procedures which may be used to investigate and redress alle- gations of discrimination-within the City's employment process. Moreover, the Com- mittee will advise the Personnel Administrator/AAO relative to specific issues of discrimination which may be brought to the Committee's attention through existing channels. 4+. The Committee will review the City of Ithaca's Affirmative Action Plan on an annual basis as the program is periodically updated. 5. The Committee should be kept'.advised of Equal Opporh n.ity matters which may involve external regulatory agencies. 6. The Committee will assist the Mayor, nembers of Common Council, and the Personnel Administrator/AAO in the identicication of specific problem areas within the City governmentwhich may warrent focussed results oriented action. T. The Committee will periodically review the effectiveness of the various citywide Affirmative Action Training Programs. Specifically, the Committee will make appro- priate suggestions for enhancing such efforts. 8. The Committee will review all official employment documents, as well as brochures and publications, for the City of Ithaca to determine their conformity to requirements for being bias free, and to meet appropriate compliance criteria.