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1998-07-22 Quarterly Regular Meeting , , , Personnel Advisory Board 3rd Quarter Regular Meeting July 22, 1998 5:15 p.m. MINUTES I. CALL TO ORDER The Personnel Advisory Board 3rd quarter regular meeting of July 22, 1998, was called to order by Warren Russell, Vice Chairman, at 5:22 p.m. in the borough conference room. n. ROLL CALL Present Staff Others Sharon Kennedy Scott Arndt Rachael Nelson Barbara Templeton Absent Chris Jamin Warren Russell Dorothy Weeks Chris Nielsen A quorum was established. ill. ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA The agenda was accepted as submitted. IV. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS REGULAR MEETING The minutes of the 2nd quarter meeting of April 22, 1998 were approved unanimously, V. ITEMS OF BUSINESS Rachael Nelson handed out a memorandum to Mayor Jerome Selby from Barbara Templeton, Administrative Assistant. Barbara Templeton had requested that the memorandum be copied to the board. a) Personnel Status Report The board reviewed the Personnel Status Report. Chris Jamin asked who had been hired for the Receptionist position. Ms. Nelson indicated that she had been hired to fill the position. Warren Russell asked who was hired for the General Accountant position. Ms. Nelson indicated that Mary Munk had been hired for the position and would start on August 3M. Ms. Jamin asked if a Maintenance Engineer had ever been hired. Ms. Nelson indicated that Dan Beaudry was hired for the position effective 6/17/98. Dorothy Weeks asked if the Manager position had closed. Scott Arndt, Borough Assembly, stated that the Manager position closed on July 15th. Mr. Russell asked about the status of the Baler Operator I recruitment. Ms. Nelson indicated that three finalists had been selected for interviews that would be held on July 23rd and July 24th. Mr. Russell asked if there were any other in-house applicants for the Human Resources Assistant position. Ms. Nelson said that no one else had applied in-house for the position. Mr. Russell asked if the position' would be advertised outside. Ms. Nelson stated that Mayor Selby had left instructions to advertise the position outside for ten working days with a closing date of August 5th. Ms. Jamin asked if it was normal to advertise outside when there were in- Persorme1 Advisory Board July 22, 1998 Page 1 , , , house applicants. Ms. Nelson said that the supervisor decided whether or not to go outside when there were in-house applicants. Dorothy Weeks clarified that the position being advertised was not the position being vacated. Ms. Nelson said that the position being advertised was different from the position being vacated and indicated that Mayor Selby had decided to advertise for a Human Resources Assistant. Ms. Weeks clarified that the Human Resources Assistant was a position in the borough. Ms. Nelson indicated that it was. Ms. Weeks asked why Mayor Selby wanted to advertise for a Human Resources Assistant. Ms. Nelson stated she had not discussed the reasons for the decision with the Mayor. Ms. Weeks clarified that the closing date on the position was July 22nd, Ms. Jamin asked if the board was supposed to take any action on the memorandum from Ms. Templeton. Ms. Nelson stated she was not sure what action the board could take regarding the memorandum. Ms. Templeton commented that the memorandum was an informational item for the board because she knew the board wasn't aware of the changes going on with positions. She said that in light of the upcoming mayor/manager change and in light of the fact that the human resources office had undergone numerous metamorphoses over the last ten years, she had chosen to be proactive and have her interest on the record. Ms. Jamin clarified that Ms. Templeton was proposing that the Administrative Assistant and Payroll Accounting Technician take over the position of Human Resources (HR.) Assistant and divide up the work. Ms. Templeton stated that was her proposal and indicated that she had copied the proposal to the Personnel Advisory Board and Borough Assembly. Ms. Jamin clarified that under the proposal there would be no Human Resources Director and stated that Ms. Templeton's job title would change. Ms. Templeton stated she was requesting a title change to Staff Assistant and indicated that there had been a Staff Assistant classification for the Mental Health Center that was in older borough personnel manuals. She commented that in light of other changes and in light of the fact that the position was going back to an HR Assistant rather than a Director there would have to be a shift in responsibilities and a rewriting of job descriptions. She indicated that there was quite a bit of overlap anyway. Ms. Templeton stated that the current job description for HR Director was actually ten years old. She said that the last time that position was vacant the duties were split up between her position and Ms. Nelson's position. She indicated that at that time she had requested an upgrade to Staff Assistant and was denied that opportunity. Ms. Jamin clarified that the Staff Assistant would be an upgrade to the Administrative Assistant position. Ms. J amin asked how the outside advertisement for the HR position would fit with the proposal. Ms. Templeton stated she did not know how the advertisement would affect her initial proposal. Scott Arndt stated that another complication to the matter was that he was requesting at the assembly level doing away with the position. Ms. Jamin clarified that Mr. Arndt was talking about the HR Assistant position. Mr. Arndt said he intended to recommend the HR Director and Assistant positions not be filled. Ms. Weeks asked why Mr. Arndt wanted to delete the position. Mr. Arndt said that with the change to a manager form of government he wanted to see those duties folded back in along with the personnel policy responsibility. He stated that the assembly relieved themselves of those responsibilities four to five years ago and indicated that under the manager form of government those needed to come back to the assembly. He said that there were two ordinances he had proposed for introduction at the first meeting in August. Ms. Jamin clarified that Mr. Arndt wanted to do the same thing as Ms. Templeton's proposal by splitting up the HR duties between other positions. Mr. Arndt stated that the borough had personnel reductions in the past year due to the borough no longer handling Persorme1 Advisory Board Page 2 July 22, 1998 -- . . mental health and indicated that the duties could be split up. He commented that such duties were previously handled in the Manager's Office. Ms. Weeks asked what Mr. Arndt had said about personnel policies. Mr. Arndt said that currently the personnel policies and job descriptions were handled by the Mayor. He stated that a change in a job description now went before the Mayor only and pointed out that such changes used to go before the assembly. He noted that it was his intent to bring job descriptions back to the assembly. Sharon Kennedy, Accounting Technician/Payroll, said she thought job description changes went before the Personnel Advisory Board also. Mr. Arndt said he didn't know. He said he had requested the Borough Clerk to draft the ordinance for introduction and was given a copy a few days ago. He said that since the board was discussing Ms. Templeton's position he wanted to let them know what he was doing also. Ms. Kennedy said the reason she came to the meeting was because Ms. Templeton had shown her the memorandum that morning to let her know what she was proposing. Ms, Kennedy said her name was mentioned in the memorandum as the Payroll Accounting Technician and clarified that the proposal was not from both her and Ms. Templeton but from Ms. Templeton only. She said she did not know how she could be assigned any of the HR duties in Finance without there being a discussion with her two supervisors. She said that just because the idea was proposed in a memorandum, didn't mean that it could work just because some people thought it could be split up that way. She stated that the proposal needed to go through a lot of steps first. Ms. Weeks asked for a name clarification. Ms. Kennedy indicated she was the Payroll Accounting Technician mentioned in the memorandum. Ms. Kennedy said that on a personal note, since she had worked closely with Ms. Nelson for a long time, that she had a general idea what the current HR duties were and stated that Ms. Nelson was very busy all the time. She said that she couldn't just say off-hand what parts of the HR duties she could help with because she was not particularly trained in HR. She said she had a good idea of benefits and indicated that she and Ms. Templeton had discussed that she could handle forms and things related to benefits. She said that she wasn't sure how much help that would be to Ms. Templeton in splitting up the job. Ms. Kennedy stated that the new Manager would be coming in sometime in November and indicated that she thought he and Ms. Templeton would have a lot of things to work out. She commented that if the proposed changes occurred, the incredible transition period of a new Manager starting might not be the best time. She said that during the transition would be a good time to have someone in that position full-time. Ms, Jamin clarified that Ms. Kennedy was talking about a full-time HR person. Ms. Kennedy indicated that was what she was saying and stated that the Manager would have a whole lot to learn and giving that person the extra duties of HR would be expecting a lot. Ms. Jamin asked if Ms. Templeton's regular position would change with the new Manager. Ms. Templeton said she was just trying to be proactive. She said that under a normal Manager arrangement, there was a Staff Assistant or Assistant Manager that generally handled administrative functions. She said she disagreed with Ms. Kennedy in that any good Manager would already be skilled at managing people and indicated that the "HR" function was basically managing people. She indicated that managing the grievance process and disciplinary actions would not be something that would be appropriate for either she or Ms. Kennedy to be involved in. She stated that it would be appropriate to make sure that forms and personnel records were being completed properly and that there was compliance with rules and regulations. She said she had been doing that for nine years and didn't think there would be any problem, She stated that there were some processes that could be eliminated or streamlined. Ms. Kennedy said she hadn't had a great deal of time to give the proposal a lot of thought. Ms. Templeton said that frankly she hadn't worked out all of the details and said that was something that would go before the board as job description changes. Ms. Jamin clarified that Ms. Templeton would not Personnel Advisory Board July 22, 1998 Page 3 , . , be overwhelmed by adding the HR duties to her current position. Ms. Templeton stated that was one of the reasons for her proposal. She indicated that the last time the HR position was empty she assumed half of the responsibilities with no increase or change in her job description. She noted that was at the time when she started working on her graduate studies in public administration. Ms. Templeton mentioned that it was difficult to work full-time and do graduate-level work. She said that at that time she had asked Mayor Selby if there was an opportunity in the borough for promotion if she completed her master's degree and he said no. She stated that she had given it some thought and decided not to pursue it. Mr. Arndt said that part of the purpose of what he was doing was to streamline similar to what the City of Kodiak was doing. He said he was doing nothing differently and noted that the City Manager handled two to three times the number of employees that the borough had. He said he didn't see it a~ a problem. Mr. Russell asked if the city had a HR Assistant. Mr. Arndt indicated the city did not have a HR Assistant and said the City Manager handled personnel along with his Secretary. Ms. Kennedy said that was similar to what Ms. Templeton was suggesting. Mr. Russell clarified that the city had off-loaded personnel to the City Manager and the Administrative Assistant and that the duties were split between the two of them without incorporating anyone else. It was indicated that was the case. Ms. Kennedy stated that the system had been there for a long time. Mr, Arndt said the manager system had been in place since the city first incorporated. Mr. Arndt said the arrangement worked for the city and it could work for the borough, He pointed out that it had worked for the borough previously and could work again. Ms. Templeton said the scope of some of her duties would decrease simply because the Manager would not be involved in some of the broader issues the Mayor was involved with because the Mayor had such an extensive network and experience at state and federal levels. Ms. Jamin asked who would then handle those broader issues. Ms, Weeks suggested that perhaps the Mayor would handle them. Mr. Russell said he wasn't clear on why Ms. Templeton would incorporate the Payroll Accounting Technician if she felt she could handle the additional duties. Ms. Templeton said she didn't feel she could handle all the additional duties and indicated that she thought there were some appropriate splits in the area of personnel action forms and certain paperwork that was a natural part of the payroll process, pointing out that those records were kept in the payroll computer system. Ms. Kennedy said it was not appropriate for her to say what additional duties she could pick up because she had two supervisors who decided how she filled any spare time she might have. She said the discussion was not at all a closed door but stated that they simply hadn't gone there yet. Ms. Jamin clarified who Ms. Kennedy's supervisors were, Ms. Kennedy stated that she was supervised by the General Accountant who was supervised by the Finance Director. She said she wasn't saying the idea wasn't possible, she was just saying her supervisors needed to be in the discussion. Ms. Weeks clarified that Mr. Arndt was saying he did not believe the HR position was necessary. Mr. Arndt said that was correct and noted that the voters had basically said that the borough was going to a manager form of government. He said the assembly was going through the process of narrowing down the Manager applicants to four people to bring here for interviews on August 20th. He said he would like to have a bunch of things in place before the Manager came on board sometime between mid-September and mid-October. He said he felt the arrangement had worked for the city and noted that he had made no bones about wanting to streamline borough operations. He said it was the perfect opportunity with the transition of Ms. Nelson to the Receptionist position. He stated that it was much easier when there was no one in a position. Ms. Jamin asked when the ordinances would go before the assembly. Mr. Arndt said the ordinances would be introduced at the August 6th regular meeting, with the public hearing on August 20th. Ms. Weeks clarified that Ms. Personnel Advisory Board Page 4 July 22, 1998 , . -. Templeton would stay in her current position. Mr. Arndt said that Ms. Templeton's duties would be expanded and her position rewritten. He said there would be a lot of rewriting taking place and noted that was where the board's work would come in. Mr, Arndt commented that on a personal note when the Mayor took job descriptions over from the assembly, the assembly essentially relinquished their duty they were supposed to carry out. He said that at that time the minimum requirements for positions went up to the point that many of the people in those positions now would not qualify for them today. He stated he thought that was wrong and inappropriate. He said it was a case where he felt there were some abuses occurring. He indicated that the idea was to bring someone in and train them. He said he didn't have a problem with that, but noted that to start out with minimum requirements for a position at a master's degree level didn't seem right. Ms, Kennedy asked about the positions to which Mr. Arndt was referring. Mr. Arndt said there were a couple of positions like that and at least one like that. He said that the people in the positions today would not qualify with the educational requirements they had when they started. He indicated he did not have a problem with bringing people up, pointing out that he encouraged that. Mr. Arndt said that the bottom line was that he anticipated more changes. Ms. Jamin clarified that there was nothing the board could do at that time about Ms. Templeton's proposal. Mr, Arndt said he thought he would show up at the meeting rather than have the board be in the dark. He pointed out that his proposed changes would be coming about soon after the meeting. Ms. Kennedy stated that it was a big change for everyone. Mr. Russell asked Mr. Arndt what his position was. Mr. Arndt indicated that he was on the Borough Assembly. He said that the assembly would be discussing the ordinances at a worksession next Thursday. Mr. Russell clarified that the Personnel Advisory Board didn't need to take any action until the issue was resolved one way or the other. He stated that he appreciated the input from the people who had attended the meeting. Mr. Arndt thanked the board for the opportunity to comment. The board noted that the whole manual would have to be rewritten to reflect the mayor/manager change. Ms. Nelson indicated the changes to the manual had been made and an ordinance was before the assembly. Mr. Arndt reiterated that there were two ordinances he was introducing, one dealing with Ms. Nelson's position being deleted and one dealing with the assembly taking back control over policy. He indicated that both would be introduced August 6th, with a public hearing on August 20th. He said there was a lot of work the assembly needed to do in hiring for the Manager position and indicated that there were close to 30 applicants for the position. Mr. Russell and Ms. Jamin inquired about the temporary hires on the Personnel Status Report. Ms. Nelson stated that a temporary had been hired in June for the Day Care Assistance Program due to extra funds being available and the Local Administrator needing some assistance. Ms. Nelson indicated that temporary employees had been hired to handle summer groundskeeping duties as well. She stated that five temporary employees had been hired to work on the Port Lions Basketball Court project. Mr. Russell clarified that the Maintenance Engineer position was for the Kodiak Fisheries Research Center (KFRC). Ms. Nelson indicated that was correct. Ms. Jamin asked when PersolUle1 Advisory Board July 22, 1998 Page S , -. - . the KFRC was opening. Ms. Nelson stated that the ribbon cutting was August 14th and indicated that tenants would not be moving in until October. Mr. Arndt said the KFRC subcontractors had said the building would not be complete for the ribbon cutting. Mr. Russell asked about the System Operator I vacancy. Ms, Nelson stated that an individual had resigned from the position. Mr. Russell asked if the position would need to be filled in the future. Ms. Nelson indicated that the position had been filled and stated that the new employee had started work on July 20th. VI. COMMENTS The next meeting date was set for October 28, 1998 at 5: 15 p.m. Ms. Nelson stated that she had personnel manual updates for Dorothy Weeks and Chris Nielsen. Ms. Weeks indicated she would bring her manual in to be updated. Ms. Jamin asked if the board needed to meet earlier because of the changes discussed. Ms. Nelson stated that the board could hold a special meeting at any time if there were issues to be discussed. Mr. Russell clarified that Ms. Nelson would not be there for the next meeting. It was asked when the Manager would start. Ms. Templeton stated that the Manager was slated to start on October 19th, The board stated they would be meeting the next Wednesday after the Manager started. Mr. Russell stated that he appreciated Ms. Nelson's service to the board. Mr. Russell said that if things panned out the way they were proposed, the Administrative Assistant might be providing support to the board in the future. Ms. Jamin wondered if the board would still be in existence after the upcoming changes. Ms. Weeks said that when she first was on the board they reviewed job descriptions first and then they went to the assembly for approval. She said she wouldn't insist on that, but noted that was the way it was before. Mr. Russell stated that it would be nice to have a list of employee names and positions to help him know who held specific positions in the borough. Ms. Nelson indicated she would make a note to provide the list for the next meeting. Ms. Weeks thanked Ms. Templeton, Mr. Arndt and Ms. Kennedy for their input. Mr. Arndt stated that sometimes it helped to be present. He said the board would rl: seeing more of him. Vll. ADJOURNMENT The 3rd quarter regular meeting was adjourned at 6:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted by: tculvzd J/,~ Rachael V. Nelson Secretary ~Q, \)){ fo< -'v,U,. ~,(" Chris Nielsen, Chairman APPROVED: lJ- f- qf Persorme1 Advisory Board Page 6 July 22, I ')"X