HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/13/2000 Adjourned Meeting 382
CITY OF YAKIMA, WASHINGTON
JUNE 13, 2000
ADJOURNED MEETING
The City Council met in session on this date at 11:30 a.m., in Room G
at the Convention Center, Yakima, Washington, Mayor Mary Place,
presiding. Council Members Larry Mattson, John Puccinelli, and Henry
Beauchamp, were present, Council Member Clarence Barnett, Lynn
Buchanan, and Bernie Sims were absent and excused. Civil Service
Commissioners Bill Wright, Tim Carlson, Bev Warren, and Jesse Cox
were present. City staff members in attendance were: Dick Zais, City
Manager; Marketa George Oliver, Administrative Assistant to the City
Manager; Rita Anson, Director of Finance & Budget; Don Blesio, Police
Chief; Al Gillespie, Fire Chief; Carol Bates, Chief Examiner; Paul
McMurray, Assistant City Attorney; and Sheryl Smith, Deputy Personnel
Officer.
Mayor Place called the meeting to order at 11:30 a.m.
MEETING WITH THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION
Mayor Place welcomed everyone and provided some background
information about the Civil Service Commission and the City's
charter. She also spoke about how the Commission is funded.
Commissioner Tim Carlson said that sometimes there is concern
expressed about the budget, but there has never been a major dispute
over it. He further stated that the Chief Examiner is supposed to be
an agent of the Commission. Mr. Carlson, who is Chair of the
Commission, explained how the Commission functions and discussed how
the two Commissions were combined a few years ago. He said the
Commission decides how people are hired by the City, classified, and
compensated. He said the Commission monitors the system to make sure
that people are paid fairly and classified correctly. As they go
through the classification system, the Commission tries to insure
people who are doing like work receive like pay. Mayor Place asked
if the municipality's ability to pay was taken into consideration
when setting salaries. Mr. Carlson said that the Commission does
consider that when making decisions. Mayor Place asked when the
Commission looks at comparables, if they also look at other benefits
the employees are receiving. She said the City's benefits are
awesome compared to the people working in private industry.
Mr. Carlson confirmed the Commission does look at other benefits in
addition to pay. City Manager Zais clarified that benefits are
negotiable issues and the Commission focuses primarily on pay issues.
383
JUNE 13, 2000
ADJOURNED MEETING
Council Member Puccinelli said the Cost Of Living Adjustments (COLA)
are based on percentages and by using a percentage the people with
higher wages get a substantial raise and those in lower wages receive
much less of a raise. He asked why it was not possible to give a
dollar amount. Mr. Carlson explained that COLA's were outside of the
scope of the Civil Service Commission. The. Commission looks at
issues which are, by law, not subject to collective bargaining and
COLA's are a subject of collective bargaining and ultimately
determined by the City Council. Mr. Zais discussed compression and
maintaining proper separation between the management employees and
other employees.
Mayor Place suggested the discussion re -focus on the issue of
reclassifications. Mr. Carlson said that Carol Bates, Chief
Examiner, generally walks the Commission through how a
reclassification developed and how the need for it evolved. He said
the Commission looks to see if the job has substantially changed.
Mayor Place said she has a real problem with the idea that sometimes
technology changes and is considered a substantial change; for
example when someone used to type and now that person needs to use
word processing. She said a change in technology is not necessarily
a change in job descriptions and she had spoken with Ms. Bates about
it several times. Mr. Carlson agreed.
Mr. Carlson said that when doing a job survey, it is difficult to get
responses, especially from the private sector. Therefore, the
Commission relies heavily on other public sector comparables.
Council Member Puccinelli said that if the City wants private sector
employers to fill out a survey, then they need to be paid. They fill
out many government forms and they get tired of it. Commissioner Bev
Warren said everything the Commission does is public record and that
is the most likely reason why the private sector employer does not
want to respond because they may end up disclosing information they
do not to or should not.
Mayor Place said that the Commission was mandatory for Fire and asked
whether it was for Police. Mr. Cox explained that there is the same
language for Police in the Revised Code of Washington (RCW). The
Police and Fire Civil Service Commissions were created by RCW and the
City Charter created the Commission for the other employees.
There was discussion about the Commission's disciplinary record and
Mr. Carlson said that he felt the action taken by the Commission had
avoided lawsuits.
2
•
3 84
JUNE 13, 2000
ADJOURNED MEETING
Mayor Place asked if the Commission has the ability to address issues
arising from State mandates such as the State's new Labor &
Industries rules regarding ergonomics. Ms. Warren said there is a
statewide meeting in the Fall, whether or not it is on the agenda she
does not know. Mr. Carlson said that the implementation of that rule
belongs with the management group and he sees the Commission's role
as dealing with specific instances relating to implementation of any
given rule.
Mr. Wright said some reclassifications are employee initiated and the
Commission has asked Ms. Bates to be sensitive to these items and not
put them on the agenda until they have received supervisory approval.
He thinks it is important for management to be sensitive to issues
that are discussed around the water cooler. Sometimes, employees
come before the Commission because of recruitment problems. When
minimum requirements are so stringent that no one could qualify,
employees come to the Commission and say they need to raise the wages
so that qualified applicants would apply.
Mr. Wright talked about the functions of the Police and Fire Civil
Service Commission including holding hearings and handling
classification and pay matters. He said it is not uncommon to have
500 or more applicants when the City tests for' Police Officer or Fire
Fighter positions. City Manager Zais asked Ms. Bates to discuss what
she does to obtain a good balance for an interview panel for position
testing and Ms. Bates described the process.
c r
Ms. Warren suggested the Commissioners provide some background
information. Ms. Warren said she had been a nurse for many years.
Mr. Carlson said he had been a lawyer in town for approximately 20
years. His practice is in the area of business. Mr. Wright was with
the Washington State Patrol for 10 years and then went with the State
Department of Personnel for 20 years. Mr. Cox was in education for
30 years as a teacher, assistant principal and then in personnel.
Mayor Place thanked the Civil Service Commissioners for their service
and their time. City Manager Zais discussed the applicant tracking
system briefly and said it may help with the Civil Service process.
He also thanked the Civil Service Commission for their assistance
during the layoff and adjustments related to the passage of
Initiative 695. He said he thought it was handled fairly and
humanely and was glad that of the 37 positions affected, only 3
people were actually laid off.
3 •
385
JUNE 13, 2000 •
•
ADJOURNED MEETING
•
The meeting adjourned at 1:20 P.M. to June 27th at 7:30 A.M. in the
second floor training room at the Police Station /Legal Center.
•
/ i ce , n
READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY: / % / I' , � / /r OU
•UNCIL MEMBER IY`T
•
1,/T0)
• OUNCIL MEMBER A
ATTEST:
0/ 01% .
,4<a)t12-1" '(/17/
CITY CLERK RY PLACE, MAYOR
Minutes prepared by Marketa George Oliver. An audio tape of this meeting is available in
the City Clerk's Office
•
•
•
1
4