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2006-07-18 Regular Meeting~ MINUTES Personnel Advisory Board Minutes Regular Meeting July 18, 2006 I CALL TO ORDER The Personnel Advisory Board regular meeting of July 18, 2006 was called to order by Lauri Whiddon, KIB Staff for the Personnel Advisory Board at 5:35 p.m. in the Kodiak Island Borough Conference Room. II ROLL CALL Board Members Present Bill King Sue Eoff Pam Foreman A quorum was established. Absent Brenda Zawacki Staff Present Rick Gifford, Borough Manager Lauri Whiddon, HR Officer/Executive Assistant Nova Javier, Borough Clerk KIB Employees Present Marylynn McFarland Jessica Basuel Tracy Mitchell Mary B artier Others Present Chris Nielsen III APPROVAL OF AGENDA Sharon Lea Adinolfi Sharon Blakeslee Sharon Kennedy o-~ ~~I JUN 2 5 ~~ BOROUGH CLERK S OFFIC A motion was made to amend the agenda by moving the Clerk's presentation before the election of officers. The agenda was approved as amended. IV PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURES PRESENTATION Borough Clerk Nova Javier gave a brief presentation on parliamentary procedure. V ELECTION OF OFFICERS a) Chair -Pam Foreman was nominated and elected as chair. Personnel Advisory Boazd Page 1 of 5 July 18, 2006 b) Vice-Chair -Sue Eoff was nominated and elected as vice-chair. c) Secretary - it was agreed that Lauri Whiddon, as Staff to the board, would also perform the duties of secretary. VI CITIZENS' COMMENTS Sharon Blakeslee welcomed the board and thanked them for volunteering their time. She asked whether or not bylaws existed for the board. It was confirmed that according to the Borough Code, there were no bylaws for this board. Sharon Lea Adinolfi also thanked the board for volunteering their time. She added that it will be nice to have the ability to update job descriptions on a regular basis, and that review of job descriptions should be one of the main duties of the Personnel Advisory Board. Discussion followed on employee input into the selection of board members. Clerk Javier was checking on this process and would notify employees. Sharon Lea suggested that one seat be reserved on the board for an employee representative. Chris Nielsen, former PAB board member, was in the audience, and stated that he had submitted his application to become a board member again. VII ITEMS OF BUSINESS a) Introduction by Borough Manager Rick Gifford Manager Gifford distributed his business cards to board members and welcomed everyone to the Personnel Advisory Board meeting. He stated that since this board has not met for over five years, this meeting would be a good opportunity to get organized, have election of officers, review parliamentary procedure, and go over what the Personnel Manual states are the duties and responsibilities of the PAB. He also wanted to go over his goals and objectives for this board. Manager Gifford then briefly went over Section 203 of the Personnel Manual. He went on to explain that changes to the Personnel Manual needed to be made by ordinance. He further described the process, and all of the duties of the PAB, as listed in the manual. Manager Gifford described the process of minutes and that draft minutes would be submitted to the board for amendment or approval, then to the Clerk with copies to the Assembly, and distributed to each department accordingly. Manager Gifford stated that the main responsibility of the board is to review job descriptions as prepared by the Borough administration and submitted by the Borough Manager for the purpose of determining placement in a pay range using the salary placement process as adopted by the Assembly. He went on to say that over the next year, this will be the main work that will take place, stating that his goal is to review all job descriptions and update each one, utilizing a format that is compliant with applicable laws. Personnel Advisory Board Page 2 of 5 July 18, 2006 He stated that the IBEW has asked us to review one particular job description within the next ninety (90) days, and we will make that a priority before getting started on the others. It will be at this point in reviewing this particular job description that the board will be able to review how the current salary range schedule works. He stated that eventually, we may have to address possibly updating the salary range placement process and he is willing to discuss any other methods and plans, perhaps even discussing this before we begin reviewing all job descriptions. Finally, the manager stated that the Personnel Manual will be reviewed and updated, as it has not been updated for some time. Manager Gifford stated that as we go through this process, there may be other changes that may be brought before the board for consideration, as well as suggested changes from the board, and input from employees. Manager Gifford explained that the Kodiak Island Borough has about thirty (30) employees that are represented by IBEW and covered by a separate agreement, a copy of which has been furnished to board members, along with a copy of the Personnel Manual. He went on to explain that the contract mirrors the Personnel Manual, with some slight differences. Susan Eoff wanted clarification on the duties of the PAB as it pertains to Section 203. She stated that she understands that the board is to review the job descriptions, that come before them, for the purpose of determining placement on the salary scale, and she understood that to mean that they are not to make recommendations or changes to the job description. Manager Gifford stated that he agreed with that understanding of the duties, that the job description is a management prerogative as they work through the efficiency of staff and the duties assigned to them. He clarified by explaining that the board will be presented with the finished job description for an employee, and it will be the board's job to review the job description to determine where it fits on the salary schedule, based on the process that is currently in the manual. Bill King stated that there was some confusion the last time the board met, which was in 2001, that had to do with some employees not being happy about the way that their job descriptions were written. There was much discussion at that time about the responsibility of the board for re-writing job descriptions, and that if the employee felt that the department head did not rewrite the job description to the satisfaction of the employee, some employees thought that it was then up to the board to rewrite the job description at that point. There was some discussion at that time that the board might be in the position to recommend arbitration or action if an employee was to bring forth a grievance based on a disagreement about the rewrite of their job description. He went on to say that it wasn't clear then and since there were no other meetings after that particular one, that it never got resolved. The Manager stated that there is something that mentions that in the contract and it is something that he will have to look into to see how that would work. Mr. King went on to say that as an air traffic controller, he would find it difficult to rewrite a job description for someone who works down at the baler facility. Ms. Foreman stated that some years ago, she served on the City of Kodiak Personnel Advisory Committee and that as a member of the committee, they handled grievances, but it is her understanding that the KIB PAB does not handle grievances, but can make recommendations to arbitration. Manager Gifford stated that it depends on what the issue is and if it has to do with the collective bargaining Personnel Advisory Board Page 3 of 5 July 18, 2006 agreement, they already spell out how to handle a grievance; the process is spelled out in the agreement. The Personnel Manual does address grievances and arbitration and there may be some involvement for the Board, but for the most part, as it relates to the responsibilities of the Board, it will be spelled out in the Personnel Manual. If it is related to job descriptions, which is not covered under the collective bargaining agreement, then it will come under the Personnel Manual. Discussion followed on the process that will take place to review all of the job descriptions since a review has not been done for quite some time. Manager Gifford stated that we will work on the one job description that we agreed to consider first, and once that is done, we will then gear up to review all of the other job descriptions. It is a process that will take some time to get done. Ms. Foreman stated that at this point, she recommends that the Board become familiar with the Personnel Manual, and understand how they will utilize the information in the manual to recommend placement of the job descriptions on the pay scale. Manager Gifford stated that it is his understanding that the Board will be presented with the job description and the recommended placement and will be asked for input on whether or not they are in agreement with the recommended placement. Ms. Foreman added that in order to do that, they need to be aware of the process as it is outlined in the manual. Marylynn McFarland asked whether or not employees are welcome to talk to the Board personally about any issues that they would like to see placed on the agenda. Pam Foreman stated that although she has not yet had the chance to read through the Personnel Manual, it is her understanding that Board Members can add any items for discussion to the agenda and also have the right to call a special meeting. Sharon Kennedy stated that in the past, when notice of the meeting was sent out, employees were given the opportunity to add agenda items at that time. She asked whether or not this practice would continue. Lauri Whiddon stated that it is something that may be considered, but since this first meeting was more of an organizational meeting, the agenda was brief and limited to a couple of items. Mr. Nielsen said that it is helpful to have the employee present at the PAB meeting, when their position is being considered, since the Board would not be familiar with the duties of their position. Ms. Foreman added that these meetings are open to the public. Ms. Foreman thanked Manager Gifford for his taking the time to walk the Board through this process, and thanked the employees for their patience while the board becomes familiar with the process. b) The Personnel Status Report was accepted as presented. VIII COMMENTS a) Board Comments Ms. Eoff mentioned that since Mr. Nielsen was interested in serving on the board, and asked about the process for appointment. Clerk Javier answered that Mr. Nielsen's application will be Personnel Advisory Board Page 4 of 5 July 18, 2006 scanned and emailed to all Borough employees for any input. His application will be reviewed at the Assembly work session on July 27t1i and hopefully, Mr. Nielsen can be appointed at their Regular Meeting of August 3rd Ms. Foreman mentioned that when general comments are received from the citizens during a meeting, action may not necessarily be taken at that time. However, it can be placed on the agenda through the amendment process. If it is agreed by all the members of the Board, through unanimous consent, to add an item to the agenda, after the agenda has already been approved, then it can be added. Another option is to consider adding the item to the agenda of a future meeting. Clerk Javier also suggested that if there are any informational materials that employees would like to present to the Board members, information can be distributed through the Clerk's office. Manager Gifford thanked the Board for volunteering their time through participation on the PAB, and stated that he looks forward to working with the board as we go through the process. It was decided that the next quarterly meeting will be October 17`h, which is the third Tuesday of the month. IX ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:48 p.m. Respectfully submitted: Lauri Whiddon, Secretary Pam an, air g ~-OiD to Approved Personnel Advisory Boazd Page 5 of 5 July 18, 2006