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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - City Council - 02/13/2012 Ili Li southburlingtou Sanford I.Miller, City Manager smiller@sburl.com Charter Committee City Hall, 575 Dorset Street Monday,February 13, 2012 5:30 p.m. Agenda 1. Call to order. 2. Agenda Review: Additions, deletions or changes in order of agenda items. 3. Review and approve minutes January 31, 2012 (copy attached). 4. Review revised language from City Clerk(copy attached). • Comments from interested parties 5. Committee discussion on recommendation for City Council. 6. Determine documents to include with report. 7. Establish next meeting date: Tuesday, February 21, 2012. 8. Any additional items for discussion or consideration. 9. Questions & comments. 10. Adjourn. Respectfully Submitted: Sanford I. Miller, City Manager 575 Dorset Street South Burlington,VT 05403 tel 802.846,4107 fax 802.846.4101 smiller@sburl.com www.sburl.com CITY CHARTER COMMITTEE 31 JANUARY 2012 Draft unapproved Copy 2-2-12 draft 2:14 pm The South Burlington City Charter Committee held a meeting on Tuesday, 31 January 2012, at 5:30 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset St. Members Present: P.Taylor, Chair; A. Cliff, D. Corie11,D. Fleming, D. Kinville* Also Present: S. Miller, City Manager *Ms. Kinville rescued herself from serving with the Committee as she is a presenter in the issue before the Committee. 1. Minutes of 24 January 2012: It was noted that Ms. Kinville had recused herself from serving on the Committee. In Mr. Miller's comments on p. 1 , he noted there is a level of discipline within the departments, then there is a level of appeal. The first level of appeal is to the City Manager. The sentence beginning "He said he almost..." should be deleted. It was also noted the Mr. Gilles said that most towns are sticking with elected City Clerks and that in some cases, the clerks pick their successors. Ms. Clift moved to approve the Minutes of 24 January 2012 as amended. Mr. Coriell seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Taylor noted the tight timeframe in which they are working. The Committee needs to have something for the City Council by the Council meeting on 6 February. Mr. Taylor added that if members want to continue to discuss the issue, they would have to ask the Council for additional time, and this would put off a public vote until August. Mr. Taylor stressed that he did not want to draw this process out more than another month. 2. Review Comments Received at 30 January 2012 Public Hearing: Mr. Fleming advised that he and Ms Clift had briefly outlined what the Committee had been discussing including the 4 possible options. There was no public comment. 3. Continue Committee Discussion on Proposed Charter Change and Consider Alternatives to Recommend to the City Council: Mr. Fleming reviewed written comments he provided to the Committee. He noted that CITY CHARTER COMMITTEE 31 JANUARY 2012 PAGE 2 State law seems to favor independent authority for City Clerks. State law also allows for the appointment, rather than election, of City Clerks. Mr. Fleming outlined the case for an elected Clerk, including assuring elections that are independent of politicians and maintaining citizen input in the selection of a Clerk. The case for an appointed Clerk includes assurance that professional administrators are placed in the job and are not there at the whim of a political campaign. It also provides continuity in the administration of the Office of the Clerk. Mr. Fleming also summarized 4 options available to the Committee: 1. Recommend the Charter change as presented. (This would solidify the Clerk's independence and provide ultimate authority to hire, supervise, discipline and fire assistant and deputy City Clerks and to control access to the city vault. This would result in setting up two potentially disparate personnel management systems within the city and a conflict with the collective bargaining unit. It also begs the question of managing accessibility to the office in an emergency.) 2. Recommend the Charter change with modified language(This might include specifying a working relationship with the city on personnel issues, including collective bargaining, and including assistant and deputy clerks in personnel benefits. The downside is isolating voters from the selection and possibly exposing the election process to undue involvement by city officials.) 3. Recommend alternative resolution to the issues (This might include clarifying the relationship between the Clerk and the city or pursuing a change to make the Clerk's position an appointed position instead of elected.) 4. Recommend the continuation of the status quo (This invites the Clerk to petition for an up/down community vote on the change she is pursuing). Mr. Fleming noted that things will most likely change in the future, including additions to the Clerk's staff. Mr. Taylor asked how the Clerk's salary is set. Mr. Miller said there is a pay scale. He also noted that at one point he gave Ms. Kinville a raise in pay because she had been asked to take on a new responsibility as part of her City Treasurer position. Mr. Taylor asked how a new person in the Clerk's position would be paid. Mr. Miller said the position has a particular grade on the pay scale. Under the collective bargaining agreement, a person hired with no experience comes in at the bottom step. A person with experience or certain distinguishing skills can start as high as step 4. Mr. Miller added that this doesn't necessarily apply to the Clerk's position, and there could be discussion CITY CHARTER COMMITTEE 31 JANUARY 2012 PAGE 3 between a new Clerk and the City Council. Mr. Taylor asked what would happen to the Clerk/Treasurer's salary is the positions were held by 2 different people. Mr. Miller said he assumed there would be discussion as to a pay adjustment. Mr. Taylor asked if it would be harder to find qualified people for the assistant clerk positions if they were not covered by the bargaining agreement. Ms. Kinville said it could make it harder. She felt that it was possible to state that assistants would get all the benefits open to other city employees, except that the Clerk would control hiring and firing. Mr. Miller noted that the City Attorney made it clear that the city is liable for any claims made against the city by a dismissed employee. A claim made against the Clerk would thus become a claim against the city because the Clerk is covered under the city's insurance. He stressed that nothing changes the fact that the city will defend and indemnify the Clerk. Ms. Clift asked how part time people are handled. Ms. Kinville said they have had regular part time help for a while which could include a full day if needed. Mr. Miller added that one person in the Clerk's office had been laid off, and there was another person coming in part time at Donna's will. The part time people were city employees. Mr. Fleming said that whatever direction the Committee decides to go, he didn't want to "muddy"the situation. Mr. Taylor asked if members were heading in a particular direction. Mr. Fleming said he was leaning toward an appointed Clerk with bargaining unite employees, but this would come at the price of an elected position. Ms. Clift said she was reluctant to suggest an appointed Clerk. She didn't support the amendment, but would want the public to weigh in. Mr. Coriell said he wouldn't want an appointed Clerk without clear direction that this is what the city wants. There should be something to clarify the role of the elected Clerk in the structure of city government. He was inclined to recommend that there is an unclear system that needs clarification,possibly moving to an appointed Clerk or giving the Clerk "at will"authority. Mr. Taylor noted there is a lot going on in the city now, and this could be a divisive issue. Members agreed. Mr. Taylor added that he would like to think that two people could come together and tweak out something that would work better for everyone. Mr. Fleming said CITY CHARTER COMMITTEE 31 JANUARY 2012 PAGE 4 he was willing to listen to an alternative that would clarify the situation. It was noted that Ms. Kinville provided information on what some other towns have done. These situations were not covered within those town charters, but the Clerk's assistants are designated as "at will" employees. Mr. Coriell said if the Committee makes a recommendation for no change in the Charter but to have the city look at its personnel policies, that would be an option. He said he can see where there are potential problems that need to be addressed, but not necessarily in the City Charter. Mr. Taylor said he would not be comfortable with the Clerk's employees not being part of the bargaining unit. Ms. Clift noted Ms. Kinville has no objection to that. Mr. Taylor responded that the City Manager said he then has responsibility for them. Ms. Clift said she wasn't sure whether a Charter change is needed or not. She felt it shouldn't be made if it isn't needed. Mr. Fleming said if there weren't an issue, it wouldn't have come to the Committee. The City Council must have thought there was some "fire behind the smoke" or they wouldn't have referred it. There needs to be clarification. Mr. Coriell agreed 100%with the need for clarification. The easiest clarification would be to have an appointed Clerk, but he wasn't ready to go there yet. He wasn't sure a Charter change was the best way to get the needed clarification. He felt they could find clarity"without upsetting the whole apple cart." Ms. Clift said they need an answer that doesn't change every time there is a new Clerk. In summing up, Mr. Taylor said members were leaning to retaining the elected Clerk, if possible. There is a question as to whether the Charter needs to be changed or whether it may now give the Clerk what she wants; if the latter is true, there may need to be some clarifying language to make this more apparent. Mr. Taylor also questioned whether the Committee would be further ahead in another month. Mr. Coriell asked if the Clerk's assistants perform any of the Treasurer's duties. Ms. Kinville said they help collect tax payments. Mr. Coriell said he would be willing to continue the discussion for a short time, maybe issuing a report to the City Council as to where the Committee now stands, then asking for more time. Mr. Taylor said the Committee has to at least articulate the issues. Ms. Clift said the issue is the Clerk wants more authority. Mr. Taylor said he wasn't sure CITY CHARTER COMMITTEE 31 JANUARY 2012 PAGE 5 the Committee wanted to give her all of that authority. Ms. Clift asked Ms. Kinville if she had asked for so much so she would hope to get as much as possible. Ms Kinville said "in a way." She wanted to start the discussion. She said she is willing to let employees be part of the bargaining union but under her supervision. Mr. Taylor added"and with authority over discipline and firing." Ms. Kinville said that is correct. Ms. Kinville noted that it is possible for the city to infringe on statutory requirements. She cited an incident prior to the current administration where she was criticized for "sending out too many absentee ballots." Ms. Clift recalled that the previous City Manager was also against purging the voter list. Ms. Clift said she supports Ms. Kinville's position. She felt a Charter change might not be necessary because under general State Statutes she already has the authority. Mr. Coriell said he supports the Clerk's autonomy but didn't think the City Charter was the place to state that autonomy. He suggested the possibility of a collaborative effort by the City Council, Clerk, etc. Mr. Coriell then moved to ask the City Council for another month to come up with a more cohesive recommendation. Ms. Clift seconded. Mr. Fleming said he hadn't seen the seeds that would grow along that path and would vote against the motion. Mr. Coriell said the hope is to reach some common ground. Mr. Fleming said he would prefer to tell the Council the Committee has no recommendation to make and feels the issues can be dealt with at the policy level. He added that the Committee,doesn't have the experience to deal with personnel practices. In the vote that followed, the motion passed 3-1 with Mr. Fleming voting against. Mr. Taylor reminded members of the public hearing on this proposed amendment, 6 February, sometime after 7 p.m. 5. Additional Items for Discussion: Mr. Miller advised that H493, the 2 previous City Charter amendments re: voting and reappraisals, has been signed by the Governor and the Charter has been amended. The new Charter is on the city's website. The amendment on voting will apply to this year's March vote on the budget. CITY CHARTER COMMITTEE 31 JANUARY 2012 PAGE 6 Mr. Miller noted that when he testified before both the House and Senate Committees on these changes, members had said they had been uncomfortable with the previous. Mr. Miller thanked the Charter Committee for their work on this change. amendments and felt this was a much easier way to go. The Other Paper has been informed of the approval of the amendments and will get this information in either this week's or next week's edition. Mr. Miller noted that the agreement had been that as long as the amendments were singed by the Governor by the time the town warning was issued,the changes would be in effect for the March election. As there was no further business to come before the Committee, Ms. Clift moved for adjournment. Mr. Fleming seconded. Motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m. Proposed wording for March 6, 2012 Charter change request: Section 13-2005. City Clerk. No provision of this charter shall infringe upon or limit the powers and duties of the clerk as established by general state law, including, but not limited to, the power to appoint, supervise, and remove all assistant town clerks. a) The assistants of the city clerk who are eligible to be members of the labor negotiating unit shall have the option of being members, however they shall be exempt from all sections relating to the hiring, disciplining and firing.