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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/14/1996 Council MinutesSPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING OCTOBER 14, 1996 CITY OF LINO LAKES DATE : October 14, 1996 TIME STARTED : 5:30 P.M. TIME ENDED : 6:30 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT : Bergeson, Kuether, Lyden, Landers MEMBERS ABSENT : Neal Staff members present: City Attorney, Bill Hawkins and Clerk -Treasurer Marilyn Anderson. The purpose of the special meeting was to discuss allegations or charges against individuals subject to City Council authority and to determine what action should be taken3pn this matter. An investigation has been completed by an outside investigator. This person has now completed the investigation and has written a summary of the investigation and has included in the summary possible actions that the City Council could take regarding the allegations. Supervisor A Council Member Kuether explained that allegations of inappropriate comments in the presence of staff have been made against Supervisor A. She moved to put a written reprimand in the file of Supervisor A and send this individual to a sensitivity course. She added that all department heads should attend this same course if possible. Council Member Bergeson seconded the motion. Council Member Lyden said that the City Council has to deal with the protection of every person under the supervision of Supervisor 2. A vehicle to hold everyone responsible and accountable needs to be put in place while the City Council looks at policies which the City presently does not have. He suggested that the City Council adopt recommendation No. 2 since it will protect all employees. Council Member Bergeson read recommendation No. 2 and said he was not comfortable with the second half of the recommendation. He said he felt that what has come from this investigation has no bearing and goes beyond what is appropriate. Council Member Kuether said that she agreed with Council Member Bergeson. Recommendation No. 2 would be appropriate if there had been more than one complaint. However, the City Council is dealing with only one complaint at this time. Council Member Lyden said that the possibility of implementing additional policies will allow everyone to come back to work without fear. Council Member Kuether said that the City Council should be drafting these policies. Council Member Lyden said that he felt implementation of the entire recommendation No. 2 is necessary because presently no safeguards in place. PAGE 1 SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING OCTOBER 14, 1996 Mayor Landers said that he is not totally convinced that a letter of reprimand should be placed in Supervisor's file for the first offense. He said he had a hard time accepting a letter of reprimand. Mayor Landers said that legally a motion has to be made to tighten polices dealing with this type of situation. Mr. Hawkins was asked a question regarding the matter. He explained that he had to withdraw from comment on this situation because of his personal affiliation with staff. Council Member Bergeson said that there are letters of reprimand and then there are letters of reprimand. He noted that there are letters that go into a personnel file without reprimands stated in them. Supervisors are responsible for the work place environment and they do have some responsibility to correct the environment. However, sometimes the supervisor does not know there is a problem. Council Member Bergeson said that a letter could be drafted noting that at least one person feels there is a problan. Council Member Lyden asked if the Council is saying that this is the first time you are aware of an environmental problem. Council Member Bergeson said no, this is the first time that the Council is aware of sexual or gender discrimination. This is the basis for retaining a special investigator. If there were no gender laws the City Council would have to deal with the matter differently. He suggested that if there are non -gender issues, they should be dealt with separately. Vernon Reinert, said that he understands that outside council had been retained to deal with the matter. He asked how much time has been spent on this issue and what did it cost. He asked where was the City Council, they should have been on top of this long before outside investigators were hired. Mayor Landers explained that one Council Member was told that there was a problem and this Council Member asked for an investigation. Most Council Members learned of the problem when they were asked to retain the investigator. Council Member Kuether noted that the matter would eventually cost between $20,000.00 and $30,000.00. Mr. Reinert felt that an investigation initiated by one Council Member and one staff member was uncalled for. He said someone "slipped a cog". Mr. Hawkins explained to Mr. Reinert that one staff person made allegations to one Council Member who then talked to him. He told the Council Member that he would contact an investigator because he wanted to make sure that the City was protected and would not become embroiled in allegations and accusations. Mr. Hawkins said that the investigation was not started by the City Council. Mr. Reinert said that staff did not fulfill the City Charter requirements. Ms. Kim Sullivan, 7132 Whippoorwill Lane spoke regarding letters of reprimand. She said that it is not unusual for letters of reprimand to be placed in an employees file on the first offense. She felt that the letter has to be made strong enough to make sure that the activity does not continue. PAGE 2 • • • SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING OCTOBER 14, 1996 Council Member Bergeson asked Council Member Kuether what she felt should be in the letter. Council Member Kuether said that it should be detailed and strong enough depending on the severity of the employees actions. She said that she was not sure that the supervisor knows what the allegations are. Council Member Bergeson asked if reprimand letters are confidential or public. Mr. Hawkins said that he would have to review the Data Privacy laws, however, since the City Council has discussed this matter in public, it may be public and would be available for inspection bythe public. Voting on the motion, motion carried with Council Member Lyden voting no. Supervisor B Council Member Bergeson noted that information regarding Supervisor B came to light through the investigation of Supervisor A. He said he was not sure that this matter would have ever come before the City Council if it were not for the allegations against Supervisor A. Council Member Bergeson said sometimes people in the workplace say things they wish had not been said. There may be a difference between two (2) employees and he suggested that the City Council send this matter back and say if there is any lingering differences, a report should be sent back to the City Council. Council Member Bergeson noted that the Assistant to the City Administrator is in charge of employee relations. If the employee is not satisfied, the Assistant to the Administrator can bring the matter back to the City Council. He felt that the allegation is non -gender and there should be opportunity for staff to resolve the matter. Council Member Bergeson moved to ask Supervisor B to meet with the employee and try to resolve the differences. The Assistant to the City Administrator can inform the City Council of the outcome of the meeting. Council Member Kuether seconded the motion. Council Member Lyden asked if the motion is saying that two (2) persons who are not "equal" are to meet to resolve the situation. If the subordinate wants to pursue the matter, that may be a problem. Council Member Kuether said that the City Council could instruct the Assistant to the City Administrator to speak with the employee. She felt that the employee would be honest with him. Council Member Lyden said that he wished the City has a Human Resource person. Council Member Bergeson said that the two (2) individuals involved in this matter could choose a third person to be present at the meeting and that third person could report back to the City Council. If this suggestion is chosen, the two (2) individuals would not be identified. Council Member Bergeson rescinded his first motion regarding Supervisor B and Council Member Kuether rescinded her second to that motion. Council Member Bergeson moved to ask the two (2) individuals involved to choose a third party and discuss the concern of PAGE 3