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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 1998-10-21 Mayor Eugene R. Mullin Council: James L. Datzman Joseph A. Fernekes '--'Karyl Matsumoto Iohn R. Penna MINUTES City Council Municipal Services Building Community Room October 21, 1998 Vo, , Gq SPECIAL MEETING CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO OCTOBER 21, 1998 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, pursuant to Section 54956 of the Government Code of the State of California, that the City Council of the City of South San Francisco will hold a Special Meeting on Wednesday, the 21st day of October 1998, at 6:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, 400 Grand Avenue, South San Francisco, California. Purpose of the meeting is a study session to discuss: Revision of the Personnel Rules and Regulations. Dated: October 16, 1998 City of South San Francisco CALL TO ORDER: ROLL CALL: AGENDA (Cassette No. 1) ACTION TAKEN 6:07 p.m. Mayor Mullin presiding. Council Present: Council Absent: Datzman, Fernekes, Matsumoto and Mullin. Penna. Director of Human Resources Bower related: her hope is to provide information to get staff to proceed on a revision of the Personnel Rules and Regula- tions; the basic premise is that the Personnel Board will continue, and the Personnel Board and staff will work together to update the rules; this document was developed originally on 6/4/62; revised in 1980 and 1989; over the years, there have been changes made in the practical application of the rules, however, the rules were not modified to reflect these changes; she gave an explanation of the rules and the City's 10/21/98 Page 1 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN q3 ._~Revision of the Personnel Rules and Regulations. Councilman Penna Arrived at the Podium at 6:23 p.m. direction for the Personnel Board; in a study con- ducted in 1996/97 the consultant found that the Department was not responsive to the needs of the City, particularly because of the delays and bureau- eraey built into the recruitment procedures; her expectations on the Department's clients as a service department; the Personnel Rules and Regulations are out-of-date with the complex issues of today; her goal is to revise the rules and regulations to be up- to-date and comprehensive; she described her focus; she described the scope of the Board; she spoke of issues, i.e., in the length of time for approval of a recruitment process; her goals for the Department to streamline the work process; she asked for Council direction and when received will establish a rules and regulations subcommittee; seek members and input from all levels of the City; review other cities who have effective rules and regulations; draft new rules and regulations; share with various groups; get a legal review by the City Attorney, then Personnel Board and update Council on the status and issues; meet with employee groups, and bring back to Council for adoption; implement and train. Discussion followed: the Rules and Regulations are over lapping with the MOUs, and are out of compli- ance with current law; the appeals process; the slowness of the recruitment process; the Vice Mayor was asked to step in as a consultant and look at the Department; he worked with a user group, and ended up with 70 recommendations; it frustrated a lot of employees on why it took so long; one thing said was, if there is a Personnel Board, should there be a Personnel Board; they needed to take a fresh start and look at the whole picture; when you go around to the communities, they do not all act the same; there are recommendations that the Personnel Board will continue and will work with staff to update the rules, and that is the first step if that is what the Council wants, and that makes it clear where the charge is to proceed; Mayor Mullin asked if there was some interest in pursuing the Personnel Board; what is the basis for the basic premises; there are communities that do not have Personnel Boards, why make the assumption to continue; Assistant City Attorney Wellman stated, there are many ways the Personnel Board can function, and if you take a look - that the rules cover the Personnel Board and it is involved, but it is used for disciplin- ary actions and every employee has a vestment in the right of due process; it can be true the Personnel 10/21D8 Page 2 AQENDA _AC_T!QN TAKEN _Revision of the Personnel Rules and Regulations - Contin- Board, and in this City that is binding, but it could be advisory for the City; the Council could elect to hear the appeal hearings themselves; in some cities they have the City Manager do that, and if you were interested in having the City Manager do that you have to change the process, for now he makes the Skelly decisions and the Council would have to change who makes the Skelly decisions, and there are pros and cons to that; Councilman Penna wanted to go beyond that to know what options are available to do away with the Personnel Board; Assistant City Attorney Wellman stated the most power is in the area of disciplinary actions, that is the most power- ful role they play; they function similar to the other Boards and review initial policies; Vice Mayor Datzman stated there are a number of alternatives underneath that, and he would like to see some exploration with the Manager, review it, revise it, and say do we want to continue it; one of the things that frustrated some of the employees, and he saw it done differently in some communities where we get into policy issues and the bureaucracy is saying we have some options - how many hoops do we go through, or say we have the budget and why do we go with the process rather than go and ask permis- sion, for that is a policy issue for right now you have to wait until each individual test is blessed; Director of Human Resources Bauer stated the Per- sonnel Board approves several parts of the recruit- ment and selection process; the first is determining a closed or open competition, they need to approve that before she can make any steps forward; Coun- cilman Penna asked if that was a step the Board needed to make, or is it a step someone else can make in administration; Director of Human Resourc- es stated yes, by ordinance right now, but other jurisdictions do not have a Board doing that; the next step of the Board is approving the type of examination - oral or written, and the third is the weighing of pass or fail; Councilman Penna ques- tioned the historical reason the Board did these things, and have the reasons changed at all; the Director's understanding is that it has not changed, it was based on merit and fitness; Assistant City Attorney Wellman stated, there is no reason why it has to be that way, in response to Councilman Penna's question; she stated, the reason the system was established was for the perception of the em- ployees, something fair and equitable where a five member board decides rather than one person; some recruitments take a year; the Vice Mayor related a 10/21/98 Page 3 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN ._Revision of the Personnel Rules and Regulations - Contin- xl. POST story involving the Personnel Board refusing to change something in accordance with what POST was doing on a statewide basis, and staff came back for three months and talked about it again and again; he feels the Board should have three roles, one is in the disciplinary process which is important, the other is the overview process, the idea that there is somebody to listen to an employee instead of coming to Council, they are asking as a Body to overview those things; he feels all three of those areas are important; he does not agree with having to get the Body to give permission for every test, and this needs streamlining; the staff could review job specs, which to the Director is the most impor- tant issue; investigate turning the decision of in- house or open competitive being turned over to staff, as well as minor functions to move the product along; so one of the charges is to make a review of what is done currently; the Board is needed, but the Council needs to see a balanced scale of what is done now that could be moved over to the staff, and if this is done, what is the process; also show how the rules and regulations overlap with the MOUs, and any areas where we are out of compliance; Assistant City Attorney said they do follow what the law says rather than the rules and regulations; Coun- cilman Fernekes believes it is real important that the Personnel Board continue, but agrees with the rec- ommendation to get a committee together to review these items and come back with recommendations, and include the Personnel Board in the discussions because it is a big step from something we have been used to doing for many years; he would like to explore the alternatives to see what could come out of it; classifications are an important issue heard in the departments, for they need people and the City is bogged down in changing the classifica- tions, but why should people wait for a test to get reclassified; employees are trained, but the Person- nel Board is not; so it is important that there is understanding of the complexities involved with the task and Council offer some training; the Boards should be exposed to the League for we sent Plan- ning Commissions to seminars, and the Mayor thinks that is applicable to all of the Boards; Council has to come up with a speedier recruitment and hiring procedure; previous distrust from mid-man- agers of management; trust has to happen at all levels, and that should be run through a think tank if any change is going to be made; yes, and there needs to be a check-off at each step of the way; 10/21/98 Page 4 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN ._~Revision of the Personnel Rules and Regulations - Contin- Mayor Mullin knows how important that is in his profession in the schools, for if you don't have the confidence of the employees, it does not work; Mr. Rowlands, Personnel Boardmember, agrees with the Vice Mayor's three issues of concern, for the Board is boxed down in antiquated systems that have not be changed; it takes four months for a potential good employee to be hired, and if they are a good candidate they are not waiting four months and are hired out from under us; he is for one policy and the Board should not decide if it is in-house or outside; police and fire are specialized testing; somebody gives a two week notice, leaves, and it takes four months to replace them and that is no fair and your having overtime and it is antiquated in the hiring; as far as the grievance, that is good; this was brought up last night and he does not think gender is a big point in hiring and firing, plus salaries and how they compare in the community; is our salary scale - are we losing people because of the fringe benefits are not in line, if so that has to be looked at; the routine each month for the Personnel Board is to go through the eligibility list; Human Resources has the least budget to work with; the Board approves new posi- tions; Councilwoman noted: an opening comes up, we solicit jobs, a list is created after testing, orals are held, another list, a selection, then the list is abolished - which doesn't make sense to her; Coun- cilman Penna concurs in streamlining the process like private industry to fill vacancies; Mayor Mullin stated, at least there is a consensus of the Council to move forward with the program to clear up those areas that are out of step, and also there seems to be a real interest in seeing what other cities do in their Personnel Board and the entire process of hiring and whether it is more expeditious; a former Personnel Director was not held in high esteem, and things did not change until recently; Councilwoman Matsumoto suggested the Mayor pick a subcommittee and pick people that have knowledge on personnel matters, not just citizens that apply for the job; Mayor Mullin stated yes, when we are at that stage we will try to staff that subcommittee with people that are interest- ed and have credibility; Vice Mayor Datzman wants all levels of employees to be part of changing the rules and regulations; City Clerk Battaya stated each unit had a representative giving input when the rules and regulations were changed in the 1980s; City Manager thinks that represents 10 to 15 people in a work group; Councilwoman Matsumoto wants cul- tural diversity to be recognized as women and peo- 10/21/98 Page 5 ~ENDA A_C_!ION TAKEN ...R_Revision of the Personnel Rules and Regulations - Contin- ADJOURNMENT: ple of color to get feedback when it goes out in the field; consensus - go ahead with the subcommittee; are there rules on political activity for employees in the rules and regulations. M/S Fernekes/Penna - To adjourn the meeting. Carried by unanimous voice vote. Time of adjournment was 7:15 p.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, Barbara A. Battaya, City Cler~/ City of South San Francisco APPROVED. City of South San Francisco The entries of this Council meeting show the action taken by the City Council to dispose of an item. Oral communica- tions, arguments and comments are recorded on tape. The tape and documents related to the items are on file in the ffice of the City Clerk and are available for inspection, review and copying. 10/21/98 Page 6