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HomeMy Public PortalAboutCharter Review Committee Minutes 11-03-1994 Charter Review Committee Meeting Date: November 3, 1994 Present were: Chairman Michael Logan, David Ragan, Vice-Chairman Don Acker, Lester Strother, Jean Spieker, City Secretary Terri Willis, staff representative. 1. Meeting was called to order at 7:33 P.M. with all members present. No members of the public were present. 2. Approval of the October 24, 1994 minutes. Don Acker made the motion to table the minutes pending revision. Lester Strother seconded the motion. Passed unanimously. 3. Continue review of the City Charter. Chairman Logan called for our review of Item h. Section 6.04. The topic under discussion is the grievance committee as well as establishing a City Civil Service system. Chairman Logan handed out copies of two sample sections he prepared after reviewing several cities' employment systems. The examples he provided for our consideration are attached as part of the minutes. A lengthy discussion of the necessity for having a City Civil Service system ensued. The strongest point is, this will reassure potential and current employees that there is a system intact that will provide them with established guidelines for all phases of employment. The surrounding Cities all have either a City Civil Service or a State Civil Service System in place. Chairman Logan believes this is competitive feature in securing employment of desirable personnel. D. Ragan is concerned about the cost of such a system, and fears we are at risk of creating a bureaucracy. L. Strother feels example 2 is too generic. M. Logan stated this is so further information can be defined by ordinance. J. Spieker noted the very words "Civil Service" seem to evoke a negative response in people, but we are unable to come up with any alternative. D. Ragan just wants to work on the grievance committee issue, he is opposed to any Civil Service System. D. Acker and L. Strother believe this is not meant to be put under the City Manger section, but should be broken out to its own section. After further discussion we agreed to present the following proposal and discuss it with City Manager Hughes. Item "h" would be changed to: "h. Provide for a City Civil Service System, as approved by the Council. An additional section would be recommended stating: Section 6.09 The City Civil Service System shall provide for a Civil Service Commission, appointed by the Council. The Commission shall provide for: a. The proper conduct of the business of the Commission; b. A system for the testing, examination and qualification of applicants for employment with the City; c. Certification to the appointing authority of those applicants qualified pursuant to the rules and regulations of such commission; d. The establishment of rules and regulations constituting cause for removal or suspension of employees; e. Establishing a system of job descriptions and salary classifications, providing for vacations, sick leave, promotion, demotion, seniority, tenure, cutbacks, leave of absence, dismissals, suspensions, and disciplinary actions; and f Procedures for the filing and determination of employee grievances and appeals. page 2 Chairman Logan called for the Committee's attention on "Print, Format and Preamble" L. Strother feels the idea is for the Charter to be in a print that is easy on the eyes. We have tentatively agreed on Times New Roman. This also will depend on the print available to the company the City designates as the printer for this project. Also to be considered is placing the Charter in columns instead of across the page print. Lester Strother believes the Preamble should be more potent. Chairman Logan asked for the record to reflect that Lester Strother has agreed to review the current Preamble and to present his findings to the Committee. Chairman Logan noted we had previously discussed having the Charter state all members of past Charter Review Committees as well as the original members of the Charter Committee. All agreed we still feel the same. D. Acker asked if we would have our recommended changes to work with at our next meeting, so we can work side by side with the proposed intent and logic statement J. Spieker handed out at this meeting. Chairman Logan answered in the affirmative, but also stated this would be our working draft for all our input to be included . At this point Chairman Logan covered the expected timetable for the rest of the term of the Committee. The next meeting will be to review the aforementioned proposals and review the "h" item and proposed 6.09 with the City Manager. In December we will have another review with the City Attorney, and we will go to the Council with our presentation in January. D. Acker queried the procedure from that point. He was advised further action would be up to the Council. They could dismiss the Committee and take no further action, or accept all or part of our recommendations and prepare for an election. D. Acker felt it would be important to have clear and concise verbiage used in our intent. Our next meeting is November 17, 1994, at 7:30 P.M. Chairman Logan asked City Secretary Willis to confirm with Mr. Hughes his availability for the 11/17/94 date. If there is a conflict, would Ms. Willis contact him and to reschedule our meeting date. Terri Willis agreed to take this action. 4. No members of the Public were present. 5. Meeting adjourned at 8:56 P.M. Respectfully submitted, cretary Chairman 41) •EXAMPLE WORDING FOR SECTION 6.04 (h) EXAMPLE #1 ( added the word City and divided paragraph into two separate sections. ) h ( 1) . THE CITY MANAGER SHALL PROVIDE FOR A CITY CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEM THAT PROVIDES FOR THE DISSEMINATION OF PERSONNEL RULES, REGULATIONS, JOB DESCRIPTIONS, AND BENEFITS AS APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL, EXCLUDING THOSE PERSONS EXEMPTED IN APPOINTED POSITIONS BY THE CITY MANAGER. THE CITY CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION SHALL PROVIDE FOR EMPLOYEE GRIEVANCES OR APPEALS AFFECTING THE STATUS OR WORKING ENVIRONMENT OF THE EMPLOYEE. (2) . THE CITY CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEM SHALL PROVIDE FOR A COMMISSION OF FIVE (5) MEMBERS, APPOINTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL, WHO WILL REVIEW GRIEVANCES SUBMITTED IN THE APPEAL PROCESS. EXEMPTED EMPLOYEES SHALL BE ENTITLED TO ALL OTHER RIGHTS, PRIVILEGES AND BENEFITS AFFORDED ALL OTHER EMPLOYEES UNDER THE CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEM. EXAMPLE #2 ( very generic establishes the CSC and defines the components to the system. This section allows current ordinance provisions to be utilized and consolidated into the system. ) n h. THE CITY. MANAGER SHALL PROVIDE FOR THE CREATION OF A CITY CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEM. THE CITY CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEM SHALL PROVIDE FOR A CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION. THE CITY CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION SHALL: ( 1) PROVIDE FOR THE PROPER CONDUCT OF THE BUSINESS OF THE COMMISSION; (2) A SYSTEM FOR THE TESTING, EXAMINATION AND QUALIFICATION OF APPLICANTS FOR EMPLOYMENT WITH THE CITY; ( 3) CERTIFICATION TO THE APPOINTING AUTHORITY OF THOSE APPLICANTS QUALIFIED PURSUANT TO THE RULES AND REGULATIONS OF SUCH COMMISSION; (4) THE ESTABLISHMENT OF RULES AND REGULATIONS CONSTITUTING CAUSE FOR REMOVAL OR SUSPENSION OF EMPLOYEES; (5) ESTABLISHING A SYSTEM OF JOB DESCRIPTIONS AND SALARY CLASSIFICATIONS, PROVIDING FOR VACATIONS, SICK LEAVE, PROMOTION, DEMOTION, SENIORITY, TENURE, CUTBACKS, LEAVE OF ABSENCE, DISMISSALS, SUSPENSIONS, AND DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS; AND (6) PROCEDURES FOR THE FILING AND DETERMINATION OF EMPLOYEE GRIEVANCES AND APPEALS.