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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/13/1988 Council Minutes018 COUNCIL WAYS AND MEANS MEETING APRIL 13, 1988 Mayor Benson called the Ways and Means Council meeting to order ar 5:15 P.M. Council Members present: Bisel, Bohjanen, Reinert. Council Members absent: none. City Administrator, Randy Schumacher and Clerk - Treasurer, Marilyn Anderson were also present. Mayor Benson acknowledged the presence of John Miller, City Planner; Pete Kluegel, Building Inspector; Accountant, Paula Romocky and Secretaries Cindy Houle, Laura Elken and Connie Husby. Mayor Benson explained the purpose of the meeting was to consider Mr. Schumacher's evaluations of the non -union employees and his salary recommendations. Mr. Schumacher explained that the past policy has dictated that all union contracts be finalized before non -union employee salaries are addressed. The 49ers union contract was finalized recently. Mr. Schumacher told the Council that he has completed all employee evaluations and has met with each employee and discussed his recommendations. Mr. Reinert asked for an explanation of Mr. Schumacher's procedure. Mr. Schumacher explained that he takes last years goals and goes over them with the employee and discusses if the goals have been met. He provides an analysis of his evaluation for this meeting with the employee and gives a copy to the employee after the Council makes their decision. Mr. Reinert questioned the fact that the employee does not get a copy of the recommendation until after the Council has acted. Mayor Benson asked Mr. Schumacher if he offers the employee the opportunity to come back and deal with him regarding his recommendation. Mr. Schumacher explained that if anyone has a problem they should contact an elected official and himself and go through the recommendation step by step. The Mayor can then evaluate and bring the matter to the Council. Mayor Benson asked if this can be done without the employee having Mr. Schumacher's recommendations in hand. Mr. Schumacher explained that if the employee has specific problems with the recommendation he can come back. Mayor Benson said he would like the employee to have a final copy of the recommendation. PAGE 1 1 1 1 COUNCIL WAYS AND MEANS MEETING APRIL 13, 1988 Mayor Benson asked if the employee has a copy of his evaluation at this time. Mr. Schumacher said no and Mayor Benson asked if this was something sacred, why not give them a copy? Mr. Schumacher said everyone will get a copy. Mayor Benson said that if they want to rebuttal it is difficult to remember everything that is on the evaluation. He suggested that if they received a copy of the evaluation they could possibly add something. Mr. Schumacher said he would not want to give them a copy of the back page. Mr. Schumacher asked if the Council would like a procedural change. Mayor Benson said he would like to see that the employee gets a copy of the evaluation so that if there is a mistake or rebuttal the employee has a document to refer to. Mayor Benson asked if some of the evaluations have not been completed. He noted that some were not aware of his recommendations. He felt the process needed to be changed. Mr. Schumacher said he wanted a clear understanding on what direction the Council wanted the change. Mr. Reinert questioned the procedure when an employee performance evaluation is discussed with the employee. Is this your list of accomplishments? Do you have a sheet and after evaluation they get a copy? Mr. Schumacher said no. Mr. Reinert said that in fairness to the employee, he did not understand why they did not get a copy. Mr. Bisel said the Council is responsible to set policy and if we want a change this should be done as a Council. He said if you don't like what is being done, recommend something else. Mr. Bisel said he was uncomfortable about what is going on, this is almost like a trial situation putting Mr. Schumacher on the spot and he did not feel it was fair. He did not like reviewing in front of the people that Mr. Schumacher was trying to work with. Mr. Bohjanen said he felt it was the same principle as evaluating union proposals. He was concerned that the employee did not have a copy of his evaluation before this meeting. He felt a policy should be laid out but he felt he did not have enough information to evaluate tonight. Mayor Benson said he had been approached by some employees who feel there has not been adequate direction and fair evaluation from the City Administrator. He said when no change was foreseen, they came to the Mayor and that is not the Mayor's job. Mr. Bisel said the Mayor should quite PAGE 2 019 '-b 2o COUNCIL WAYS AND MEANS MEETING APRIL 13, 1988 acting like an administrator. Mayor Benson said that it is evident that there is a problem in City Hall and it is evident that it has to be taken care of and this comes back to the man who runs the team. Mr. Bisel said when he first came aboard there was a problem in the police department, now it is the clerks. He said he could not go to the Board of Education and he has no problem with setting policy and objects. The Administrator has to be able to operate. Mayor Benson said that the police department was having problems and today this no longer appears to be the case. The Council took a firm hand and straightened the situation out. Mr. Bisel said it is also up to the responsible people in each department. Mayor Benson said this was true but if the problem was ignored they have to come back to the Council. Mr. Bisel felt nothing was being accomplished by this meeting. Mr. Reinert noted that the makeup of the Ways and Means Committee has changed within the last couple of years. He felt the Council must agree among themselves first regarding the responsibilites of the Ways and Means Committee. Ms. Husby 'explained to the Council that when she was reviewed she was asked to sign the review form without having the form completed with salary recommendations. She was told that there would be a completed form on her desk by Friday. Ms. Romocky said she had originally seen the recommendation of the Administrator but did not get a copy of it. Ms. Houle told the Council that she thought this was an open meeting and there would be discussion regarding the position and discussion of salaries. She understood that Mr. Schumacher makes his recommendation and if the Council has any question on what each employee does or if the employee has a question on what he /she deserves this is the chance to get these answers. The Council moved to closed session at approximately 5:45 P.M. and reconvened at 7:40 P.M. Mayor Benson explained that the Council had met with the City Administrator and has reviewed the specific things he has notes on. The Administrator will follow up with each individual employee. If there is a need for a future Ways and Means Committee meeting they will meet again. Mr. Bisel moved to adjourn at 7:41 P.M. Mr. Reinert seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. PAGE 3