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2014-03-05 Regular Meeting PERSONNEL ADVISORY BOARD KIB Conference Room March 5, 2014 5:30 p.m. AGENDA The Personnel Advisory Board regular meeting of March 5, 2014 was called to order by PAB Chair Curt Law at 5:30 p.m. in the Kodiak Island Borough Conference Room. ROLL CALL Board Members Present Board Members Absent Lynn Bash Brenda Zawacki Lindsey Howell Tom Lacey Curt Law Board member Zawacki was excused. A quorum was established. Staff Present Bud Cassidy, Borough Manager Karl Short, Finance Director Lauri Whiddon, HR Officer/Executive Assistant Others Present Brandi Wagner Sharon Blakeslee Alan Torres Marilyn Ordal Paul VanDyke Jeanne Friel Kirsten Galliher Jeanne Miller Delores Evans William Roberts Dora Cross Meagan Christiansen Debra Rippey Jeff Johnson WELCOME OF BOARD MEMBERS AND GUESTS Chair Curt Law welcomed board members, staff and guests, and reminded guests to sign the attendance log. ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA The agenda was approved as submitted. ELECTION OF OFFICERS Curt Law was nominated and elected Chair, and Lynn Bash was nominated and elected Vice-Chair, both by general consent. Lauri Whiddon will continue to serve as secretary. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the August 7, 2013 meeting were approved as submitted. Personnel Advisory Board March 5,2414 Page 1 or 5 CITIZENS' COMMENTS (limited to three minutes per speaker) Jeff Johnson spoke to the new rating system. Marilyn Ordal and Dora Cross expressed concern about the lack of response to additional questions about the study; commented on the new job descriptions; and the appeals process. Brandi Wagner and Paul VanDyke spoke in favor of the study and new DBM process and expressed support of an updated system replacing the current older process; and the ability in future to rate new positions. Bill Roberts spoke in favor of the study and encouraged the PAB to accept the proposed changes and move it forward to the Assembly. He also spoke to the appeals process. Sharon Blakeslee commented on the job descriptions; spoke in favor of the appeals process, and moving forward with implementing the study. Alan Torres spoke to the duties of the board with regard to reviewing job descriptions; expressed concern about the placement and designation of his and that of another position at the baler; and spoke to the current salary schedule. A memo written in favor of implementation of the new classification and compensation plan from Bob Tucker, Director E/F, and Bob Pederson, Director Community Development Department, was read into the minutes. Jeanne Miller spoke in favor of the current salary schedule versus the proposed schedule; and spoke to the possibility of having two salary schedules. ITEMS OF BUSINESS RESOLUTION NO. FY2014-01 A RESOLUTION OF THE PERSONNEL ADVISORY BOARD OF THE KODIAK ISLAND BOROUGH URGING THE ASSEMBLY TO APPROVE CHANGES TO THE KIB PERSONNEL MANUAL BASED ON THE DECISION BAND METHOD (DBM) OF EMPLOYEE CLASSIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE PLACEMENT PROCESS AS PROPOSED IN THE FOX LAWSON & ASSOCIATES EMPLOYEE CLASSIFICATION AND COMPENSATION STUDY Chair Curt Law stated that the board has been asked to review the proposed PAB Resolution No. FY2014-01. BASH moved to approve Resolution No. FY2014-01. Manager Cassidy gave a brief summary report on the progress of the work being done since receiving the Fox Lawson & Associates (FLA) final report, stating that the process the Borough is undertaking is no different than a number of other municipalities, such as Homer, Sitka, Kenai, and Unalaska, and that is to move to a market-based method of evaluating positions. He spoke to the achievement of the goal to attract professionals to Personnel Advisory Hoard March 5,2014 Page 2 of 5 Kodiak and retain good employees, adding that in order to do that, it was imperative that we the current system of determining classification and compensation be updated. He reviewed the packet with the board, which along with his memo, included: Resolution No. FY2014-01; Chapter 3 of the Personnel Manual; Chapter 4, §412 and 416 of the Personnel Manual; KIB Class Titles and Pay Ranges which shows the working title of each position, the classification title, and pay range; Appendix A - the current salary schedule, and the proposed schedule; new classification specifications {job descriptions); Fox Lawson & Associates (FLA) Final Report of May 9, 2013; and Q & A Presentation from FLA. He spoke to the Decision Band Method (DBM) of employee classification and salary range placement process as an effective, proven, and updated process of evaluating positions. He further described that the new classification specifications (job descriptions) are more broad, allowing for more flexibility for managers, but still define the essential duties of the position. He went on to say that the new salary schedule which is part of the whole package is based on internal alignment and external market data, and based on the results of the study, of the current forty-four Borough positions, fourteen of the thirty-two union positions and eight of the twelve non-union positions were recommended for increase. Manager Cassidy continued to describe the process used by FLA to create the classification specifications (job descriptions), and classification titles. He stated that each employee completed a Position Description Questionnaire (PDQ) form for their position and working with their supervisor and/or department head, agreed on the input, and signed off their approval on the completed form. FLA then put together the classification specifications based on the PDQ's and occupational panels. He added that there is an internal appeals process that is part of the DBM plan which will be implemented as part of the new system. Discussion followed. Some of the items discussed were the fact that eight employees spoke in favor of moving the process forward; concern about the fact that not all questions were answered by some supervisors; clarification that appeal language stricken from the personnel manual was recommended by our Borough attorney, and that an internal appeals process would be implemented once the study goes through; until staff is fully trained on the new system, FLA may be utilized on a short-term basis, but would eventually be phased out; positive feedback on staff acting on the suggestions from the board to hold special meetings between regular PAB meetings to meet with staff to respond to their inquiries and alleviate some of the concerns about changing to a new system; and comments in support of making the next step toward working with one system, not two. ROLL CALL VOTE ON MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY CITIZENS' COMMENTS Alan Torres commented on the pay scale and overtime. Manager Cassidy spoke in favor of conducting a review more frequently than every thirty years. Personnel Advisory Board March 5.2014 Page 3 of 5 Marilyn Ordal commented on the process, and expressed concern about the lack of communication. Sharon Blakeslee commented on the appeals process; the fact that the job descriptions are now called classification specifications; and that the current review process is different from the new proposed process. Dora Cross thanked the board for their service. Jeanne Miller spoke in favor of a labor-management committee as a means to resolve any appeals prior to coming before the manager; and again expressed concern about the possibility of having two salary schedules. Brandi Wagner thanked the board for their time; for moving the system forward; and spoke to the fact that there will be communication challenges in every situation. Paul VanDyke thanked the board for their time and the manager for clarifying the classification process. MANAGER'S COMMENTS Manager Cassidy thanked the employees and staff for their work, and said that there will be a lot of work ahead as we work through these changes to get us to where we need to be. BOARD MEMBERS' COMMENTS Lindsey Howell commented on the fact that the board takes these meetings seriously, and thanked employees for their feedback. Tom Lacey agreed with Lindsey's comments. Curt Law spoke to the fact that there will always be growing pains when stepping into a new system; that this will be a system in progress and he expressed support in working with the employees to make it work. He also encouraged staff to ensure that lines of communication stay open. NEXT MEETING The next meeting will be tentatively scheduled for June 18, 2014. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:00 p.m. Personnel Advisory Board March 5,2014 Page 4 of qRe" ectfull submitted: L ur W i hiddon, Secretary Cu Lary, Chair Date Approved personnel Advisory Board March 5.2014 Cage 5 of