04-26-2021 Council Work Session Minutes

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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION APPROVED 44 Administrator with everything on her plate is ideal. The mayor remarked that he has 45 come to a place of supporting the new position; he sees it's needed. 46 47 Councilmember Stoesz asked if there is process for considering employee compensation 48 ratings regularly and not on an immediate change basis. Administrator Cotton suggested 49 that if changes occur and the City doesn't recognize them in the system,the system 50 becomes less accurate; she believes a new position or a change in job responsibilities 51 should trigger a review. Councilmember Stoesz asked if, for example,the Public 52 Services Director position will be reviewed because he has added responsibility with 53 handling the YMCA building; Ms. Cotton explained the criteria for reviewing a position. 54 Councilmember Stoesz asked if the communications individual would be the person 55 representing the City if there were something like a 9:00 p.m. public safety incident. 56 Public Safety Director Swenson said it would depend on the incident and communication 57 duties would possibly work down from Public Safety personnel to communications. 58 59 Councilmember Stoesz asked if the communications person would be attending the North 60 Metro TV Board meetings. Ms. Cotton said probably not but she sees the position 61 working closely with North Metro on communication collaboration. 62 63 Councilmember Ruhland said he shares some of the concern expressed about moving up 64 another position. He requested and received information on the salary level for the 65 current Human Resources Manager. Ms. Cotton provided information on how the 66 implementation of the Keystone system affected some positions. Councilmember 67 Ruhland noted the decrease in the point level assigned to the communications position 68 from what was anticipated from initial discussions about the position. 69 70 Councilmember Cavegn asked if there would be cost savings by hiring two part time 71 individuals to fill the one full time position. Administrator Cotton said that option was 72 discussed and staff felt that a full time position would bring a higher quality;there would 73 also be some question about how two positions transition to each other. Ms. Cotton 74 pointed out the possible savings would be limited to the cost of health care. 75 76 Administrator Cotton noted that through investigating, she's determined that there are 77 only three cities of this City's comparable group that do not have a position like this in 78 place. 79 80 Councilmember Ruhland asked how the supervision will actually function. 81 Administrator Cotton explained that there would be policies and procedures that guide 82 functions and approvals. Councilmember Ruhland asked what specific supervision 83 functions would occur and Ms. Cotton pointed out that performance review would be one 84 function; she added that it is a new position and would therefore will require more 85 intensive supervision and development. 86 87 Mayor Rafferty noted the importance of considering stress factors so that the City doesn't 88 experience a revolving door with key positions. 2