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CITY
OF NORWALK PERSONNEL COMMITTEE MINUTES |
FEBRUARY 4, 2004
ATTENDANCE: Douglas Sutton, Chairman; Matthew Miklave departed at 8:55 p.m.) ; Betsy Bain; Fred Bondi.
STAFF: Sara LeTourneau, Director of Personnel and Labor Relations; John Schlosser, Personnel Administrator
OTHERS: Tom Hamilton, Finance Director; Mayor Alex A. Knopp.
Chairman Sutton called the meeting to order at 8:06 p.m.
** MR. MIKLAVE MOVED TO SUSPEND THE RULES TO ADD AN AGENDA ITEM: PROPOSAL RECEIVED FROM THE FINANCE DIRECTOR TO ESTABLISH THE POSITION OF DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY.
** MOTION PASSED WITH TWO ABSTENTIONS (MR. MIKLAVE, MR. MCQUAID).
** MR. MCQUAID MOVED TO SUSPEND THE RULES TO ADD AN EXECUTIVE SESSION ITEM: PROPOSAL TO APPROVE THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT WITH THE NURSES UNION, LOCAL 1303.
** MOTION PASSED WITH ONE ABSTENTION (MR. MIKLAVE).
Ms. LeTourneau said that she received Mr. Madeo’s resignation on Monday. As Acting Director of Data Processing, he held the position for the last six months and was a major contributor to the progress made in the department. Mr. Madeo was leaving to join the private sector, at a higher salary; his last day would be February 13, 2004. She distributed the proposal from Mr. Hamilton which was accompanied by an updated job description.
Mr. Hamilton verbally reviewed his proposal and said that because the position is a critical one for the City, recruitment ads should be placed as soon as possible, clearing stating that the candidate will be called upon to lead, manage and operate the entire I.T. Department. He explained that data processing is an antiquated term and thus the reason for the change to information technology. Mr. Miklave asked if the position would be included under the NASA agreement; Ms. LeTourneau said that it would. The revised job description would place the position at Grade 10, the highest level in the NASA contract.
Mr. Miklave questioned Mr. Hamilton’s statement regarding the assistant director’s position. Mr. Hamilton said that initially Mr. Madeo was hired to fill the vacancy created when the assistant director left. In actuality, he filled the requirements of a director, but was never given the title, and so was considered Acting Director. Mr. Hamilton said that the City’s budget does not allow for the hire of an assistant director this year or next. In the not too distant future the entire department would need to be reorganized since many existing job descriptions need to be updated.
Ms. Bain asked about the proposal to combine some of the positions within the Board of Education and the City, and specifically as it related to the hiring of an I.T. person. Mr. Hamilton said that he was in favor of the concept of combining, and preliminary discussions have already taken place; implementation may take several years. He added that neither the City nor the Board of Ed is over-resourced.
Mr. Bondi said that the proposed position will report to the Mayor, yet the previous position reported to the Director of Finance. That being the case, he wondered why the position was not put on the ordinance list. Ms. LeTourneau said that because the position would qualify for exempt status, the Union would fight having that happen. Mr. Bondi felt that the decision to combine should be made sooner rather than later. This would lead to greater uniformity. Mr. Hamilton said that the I.T. group is finding itself in position of having to re-establish trust. He spoke about the metro area network which would (hopefully) come to fruition soon. Mr. Bondi said that the combination would allow for a cost savings; Mr. Hamilton said that there would not be a savings in salaries, but there would be a savings in duplication.
The Committee members discussed the qualifications needed to fill the position; Mr. Bondi thought that someone right out of college have more current ideas. Ms. LeTourneau said that Mr. Madeo reviewed the revised job description and agreed that a person with lots of experience, rather than one with a young career, would be more suitable because of the level of activities involved.
Mayor Knopp thanked the Committee members for their timely attention to this situation, saying that the position needed to be filled as soon as possible. Ms. Bain said that she could appreciate the urgency, but wondered if the salary range was sufficient to attract the caliber of person needed. Mayor Knopp said that the salary range could be altered if necessary.
Mr. Millie said that in general he does not favor last minute additions, but agreed that the position is an important one for the City and requires immediate attention.
** MR. BONDI MOVED THE ITEM.
** MOTION PASSED WITH ONE ABSTENTION (MR. MCQUAID).
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT WITH LOCAL 1303
Mr. Miklave said that it was not appropriate to present discussion items at the meeting, because that did not provide for sufficient opportunity to review. Ms. Bain suggested that the Committee hold a special meeting for discussion of this item before the next Council meeting; Mr. McQuaid agreed with this.
** MS. BAIN MOVED THE MEETING TO EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR THE PURPOSE OF DISCUSSIONG THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT WITH LOCAL UNION 1303.
** MOTION PASSED WITH ONE VOTE IN OPPOSITION (MR. BONDI).
At 8:45 p.m. the committee members entered executive session. At 8:55 p.m. the meeting convened into public session. There was no action taken in executive session.
At 8:55 p.m. Mr. Miklave departed the meeting.
REVIEW/APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JANUARY 7, 2004
The following corrections were made:
Page 1 under corrections from the November 20, 2003 meeting, in the last sentence on page 2, remove the word “not” so that the sentence reads “Mr. Sutton stated that it could jeopardize the contract and make it an endless and less productive process.”
Page 3 under Review of Bargaining Agreements, in the last sentence “NPA” should be changed to “NMEA.”
** MS. BAIN MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF JANUARY 7, 2004 AS AMENDED.
** MOTION PASSED WITH ONE ABSTENTION (MR. BONDI).
PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS – ORDINANCE LIST EMPLOYEES
Mr. Schlosser said that he distributed the guidelines that were necessary to evaluate Ordinance employees; feedback was required no later than May 30, 2004, along with goal setting forms. Ms. Bain asked that in the future, the Committee is provided with copies of the goal setting forms.
REVIEW OF DRAFT OF POLICIES AND PROCEDURES MANUAL
Ms. LeTourneau said that the revised draft incorporated changes that the Committee members discussed at their last meeting. The manual includes existing City policy statements and a draft of the FMLA of January 20, 2004. This would need adoption by the Mayor; it was already reviewed by outside counsel. Ms. LeTourneau said that at the last meeting Mr. Miklave asked about background checks etc and this information was included. Mr. McQuaid said that he did not want to discuss this further because he had not seen the document before tonight’s meeting.
** MR. MCQUAID MOVED TO TABLE FURTHER DISCUSSION OF THIS ITEM TO THE COMMITTEE’S NEXT MEETING.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE
The Committee members jointly agreed that there was no need to enter executive session for discussion since there was nothing to discuss.
OTHER BUSINESS
Mr. Bondi spoke about a recent situation within the DPW wherein a vote was taken not to accept the recommendation of Mr. Alvord to hire a supervisor and two customer service persons.
On a somewhat related note, Ms. LeTourneau said that the Personnel Department is prepared to move forward with proper job descriptions for any scenario. What is in existence could be modified depending on the budget and what decisions are made.
ADJOURMENT
** MR. BONDI MOVED TO ADJOURN.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:25 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Carol A. Wiggins for
Telesco Secretarial Services
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