Agenda - Council - 03/13/2001 - Laserfiche WebLink

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-80- Service Officers enforced state statutes and City ordinances that pertained to parking ordinances and violations, nuisance code regulations, junk cars, burning violations, violations relating to use of public parks and playgrounds, accumulation of refuse, and zoning code enforcement. A second factor to consider is the overall safety of the employee doing code enforcement. A Community Service Officer wears a uniform and is better prepared to deal with potential verbal abuse or mmdy behavior due to his/her experience in a law enforcement/security related field. This individual will be expected to conduct himself/herself in a diplomatic and businesslike matter. Mayor Gamec stated that the City is receiving more complaints than staff can handle and residents have become very verbally abusive to staff members. He felt that having the Community Service Officer handle the complaints would be a much better situation because they have the appearance of more authority. Councilmember Anderson stated she thinks the City would receive a better response with having the Community Service Officer (CSO) handle the complaints rather than staff members. Councilmember Zimmerman inquired if the CSO would be responding to complaints or seeking violations. Police Chief Gustafson explained that the CSO will'have several duties and will not have a great deal of time to do strictly code enforcement. The CSO will not be out looking for violations, 'but if it is a very obvious violation then yes, they would involve themselves directly. He stated that he plans on having the Community Development Department triage the complaints and then forward the most problematic complaints onto the CSO. Councilmember Zimmerman replied that he did not want the City to begin purposely looking for violations. Motion by Mayor Gamec, seconded by Councilmember Hendriksen, to recommend that the City Council approve the inclusion of code enforcement duties in the Community Service Officer's job description. Motion carried. Voting Yes: Mayor Gamec, Councilmembers Hendriksen, Anderson, Kurak, and Zimmerman. Voting No: None. Case #2: Authorization to Hire Part-Time Community Service Officer Human Resources Manager Heryla stated that on December 12, 2000, the City Council authorized staff to begin recruitment for a part-time Community Service Officer. In accordance with the union contract, staff posted the position internally on January 19, 2001, and one application was received. Carey Schiferli was interviewed by a panel on February 1, 2001, and based on the panel recommendation, staff recommended Mr. Schiferli for the position of regular part-time Community Service Officer with an annualized salary of $27,186 or $13.07/hour. Due Personnel Committee/February 13, 2001 Page 2 of 4 I I I I I I i I i I I I I I I I ! I