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
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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
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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.
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November 26, 2001
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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.
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November 26, 2001
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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.
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November 26, 2001
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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.
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