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HomeMy Public PortalAbout02-26-2013 RFI - Kounelis_201303041100279222ELECTED OFFICIALS: Mark S. Sideris, Council President Stephen P. Corbett, Vice President John A. Donohue, Councilor At Large Susan G. Falkoff, Councilor At Large Anthony Palomba, Councilor At Large Angeline B. Kounelis, District A Councilor Cecilia Lenk, District B Councilor Vincent J. Piccirilli, Jr., District C Councilor Kenneth M. Woodland District D Councilor Watertown Town Council Administration Building 149 Main Street Watertown, MA 02472 Phone: 617-972-6470 MEMORANDUM TO: Honorable Town Council FROM: Angeline B. Kounelis, District "A" Councilor RE: Town Council Meeting - 01/08/13 Item 9b, Committee on Rules and Ordinances Report DATE: February 26, 2013 You may recall at the aforenoted meeting, it was my opinion that the Committee on Rules and Ordinances Report for the 12/19/12 meeting was inaccurate. The Town Council voted 8-1 in the affirmative to accept the report as factual. Attached please find an e-mail from Thomas Tracy, Town Auditor dated 12/10/12. Based on the contents of the document, the administrative hourly rate is roughly $27.00/hr. for actual pay. Not $40.00/hr. as presented in the committees' report. In my eight years as Town Councilor, it has not been the norm for a Watertown Police Sergeant or Lieutenant to actively deliver Town Council material. A Watertown Patrol Officer with an hourly pay range between $31.00 - $43.00 may be more apt to deliver documents. The stated amount of $70.00/hr. far exceeds the rate for the highest paid lieutenant. There are many variables associated with the estimated 20% adjustment to actual pay to arrive at the "cost of each employee to the Town of Watertown", as noted in Mr. Tracy's e-mail. Even after the 20% is factored into the actual pay, the amounts do not correspond. These figures can be fully discussed during the upcoming annual budget process and union negotiations. All the information is readily available in the Fiscal Year 2013 Watertown Annual Budget. The same budget the Town Council reviewed and voted to accept on 06/12/12. Please review and advise. Thank you. cc: Michael J. Driscoll, Town Manager Thomas Tracy, Town Auditor John E. Flynn, Town Clerk Mark R. Reich, Esq., Kopelman and Paige, P.C. Page 1 of 1 Tracy, Thomas From: Tracy, Thomas Sent: Monday, December 10, 2012 3:31 PM To: 'Cecilia Lenk' Cc: Lenk, Cecilia Subject: RE: Research Cecilia, Val, Marsha and Joanna's average hourly rate is roughly $27. It varies between the three of them because of longevity pay and date of last raise. Police Sergeant's and Lieutenant's pay is more complicated to average out because of shift pay, education attainment which impacts holiday pay. Annual Salary for Lieutenant's has a range of $111,967 to $120,244. Hourly (divide by 52.14 weeks and 38.45 hours) equals a range of $55.85 to $59.98 Annual Salary for Sergeant's has a range of $85,559 to $103,040. Hourly equals a range of $42.68 to $51.40 All of the above is based upon on all types of actual pay the employees are entitled. What is not included is Town's cost of Retirement, Medicare Tax, Life and Health Insurance. A conservative estimate for these items would be 20% of pay. Hope this helps!! Call if you have any questions. Thanks Tom From: Cecilia Lenk [mailto:Ienk.ce@gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2012 4:19 PM To: Tracy, Thomas Cc: Lenk, Cecilia Subject: Research Tom, hope you are feeling better. I am researching the costs involved in our current process for delivering documents to councilors. To that end I need average annual salaries, inc. fringe and benefts, or hourly rates, for a police sargeant and lieutenant. In addition, the average salaries of the administrators involved e.g. Val and JoAnna. I probably could look this up but want to be as accurata as possible. Thanks so much. It would be helpful to have this on Monday. Cecilia Cecilia Lenk m: 617.905.5646 lenk.ce@gmail.com 2/25/2013 Committee on Rules and Ordinances Meeting Minutes December 19, 2012 The Committee on Rules and Ordinances met on Wednesday , December 19, 2012 at 11:00 AM in the Council Office. Present were Councilors John Donohue, Chair, Vincent Piccirilli, Vice Chair, and Stephen Corbett, Secretary. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the electronic delivery of written materials to the Council. At present, the majority of the Council receives all written materials electronically. Councilor Donohue informed the Committee that Atty. Reich had noted that access to the internet is not a protected class under ADA. The Town is in full compliance with ADA and the Council may decide the method with which written materials are provided to its members. The Committee recognized that there are inherent problems in not having a uniform system of delivery of materials to its members. Electronic delivery is more timely and has a more uniform level of quality. It was also noted that documents emailed to Councilors directly from members of the public are frequently not available to Councilors not using electronic delivery. It was also noted that preferential treatment should not be provided to some, as this becomes a burden to many. Councilor Donohue stated that on average each Councilor receives 15,000 pages of information yearly. For hard copies, this represents 3 toner cartridges per Councilor per year, in addition to having a secretary print, collate, and package all the materials at approximately $40/hr. Also, delivery of hard copies are made by the Police Department at a cost of approximately $70/hr. It was noted that under the Open Meeting and Public Records Laws, hard copies will be available to the public through the Town Clerk's Office, upon request. After extensive discussion, the Committee voted unanimously to recommend that the Council adopt a policy stating that the delivery system of written materials to all Councilors will be electronic. A draft resolution to this affect is attached. Respectfully Submitted, Stephen Corbett IOWA/ Cv'NCt- 0//o %/? It was noted that the survey will be conducted by a visual inspection of recycling barrels on pickup day. The motion as amended was adopted by unanimous voice vote with Councilor John A. Donohue, Susan G. Falkoff, Anthony Palomba, Angeline B. Kounelis, Cecilia Lenk, Vincent J. Piccirilli, Jr., Kenneth M. Woodland, Vice President Stephen P. Corbett, and Council President Mark S. Sideris voting in the affirmative. The Manager indicated that the timeline for road projects would not be enforced for the summer of 2013 as there are projects left over from 2012 as well as the issue with non -conforming driveways. Councilor Lenk stated that this was discussed in committee and that it was felt that things needed to move faster; the schedule was presented by Mr. Mee and discussion was that by all staff involved, it was achievable. She noted that she shares the concern but conceptually this is the direction the committee wants to go in. Councilor Piccirilli stated that they recognize the first year will be painful but that it has to start somewhere; noting the steps have been identified and it is a good first step and half the battle. Councilor Palomba asked if the dates can be adjusted. The Manager stated that he concurs with the timeframe laid out in the last page with more dialogue needed with attachment A. The Chair indicated that it is the intent of the committee to get away from starting these projects in September or October and to keep the timeline aggressive; and do projects early rather than later. Councilor Lenk stated that this lays out a framework with all the different steps to take and urged everyone involved to try and expedite what needs to be done. The Chair called for a two minute recess. b). Committee on Rules and Ordinances report and action on a resolution regarding electronic distribution of documents — John A. Donohue, Chair. Councilor Donohue read the committee report. Councilor Woodland moved to accept the report, seconded by Councilor Lenk. Councilor Kounelis stated that based on the information supplied in the report, she cannot accept it because, in her opinion, it is not factual; in particular the cost to having her documents in paper form and the cost of delivering her packets by the police to her home. She stated that people seeking office will be handicapped by the electronic distribution of documents outlined in the resolution. 5 %dw,V (ovfici- 0//6/67 The Chair asked Councilor Donohue how he arrived at the approximated dollar figures. Councilor Donohue stated that support staff approximated the number of paper copies provided and the Town Auditor provided the staffing salary figures. The motion was adopted by voice vote with Councilor John A. Donohue, Susan G. Falkoff, Anthony Palomba, Cecilia Lenk, Vincent J. Piccirilli, Jr., Kenneth M. Woodland, Vice President Stephen P. Corbett, and Council President Mark S. Sideris voting in the affirmative and Councilor Kounelis voting against. Councilor Donohue read the resolution. Councilor Piccirilli moved the resolution, seconded by Councilor Lenk. Councilor Kounelis read a July 7, 2006 speak out from the Watertown Tab and Press. Councilor Kounelis read her June 5, 2007 memo regarding the compensation of the Council Clerk. Councilor Kounelis stated that she is all for technological improvements but does not want it forced on her or anyone else who wants to serve. She asked where her technical support will come from. Councilor Palomba asked Attorney Reich how this will effect outside entities in their presentations to the Council. Attorney Reich stated that this will not affect outside entities and how they present materials or presentations. Councilor Palomba asked how reimbursement will be made for printing expenses. Councilor Donohue stated that each Councilor has an expense account of $300.00 per year. Councilor Palomba asked how the public access to information will change. Attorney Reich stated that it is covered under the public records request by a councilor or member of the public through the Town Clerk's office and there is a printer in the outer office for councilor's use and that this does not change the public's access to documents. Councilor Palomba asked if an agenda will be provided to the public upon request. Attorney Reich indicate that it was previously stated that there will be an effort to honor requests for an agenda but there is nothing in the law that says that a stack of agendas have to be available for the public in print at the time of the meeting. Councilor Piccirilli stated that he worked with Councilors Donohue and Corbett to develop the resolution and noted that some of the items being formalized in the resolution came from the adopted Charter changes. He indicated that a lot of data is necessary in running a 103 million dollar town budget and this resolution just formalizes the practices we have been doing over the last few years. One of the budget priority guidelines is to improve the use of the web site by making it more 6