04/08/08 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Chairperson Jeffrey stated that under a City Administrator form of government, the Council approves all hires, but under a City Manager position, the Manager has the power to hire employees without Council direction. Human Resources Manager Reed Kone stated that in most of the cities she spoke with, even if their Council's have not stated that the city is under a hiring freeze, most of them are operating under a "soft" freeze mentality. Councilmember Dehen stated that he doesn't remember too many positions that have come before the Council for discussion. Human Resources Manager Reed Kone stated that the City does not have a lot of turn over. Mayor Gamec stated that several years ago, the City tried to implement a freeze and, in the long run, it ended up costing the City more money than it had saved. Councilmember Dehen stated that he does not advocate a hard freeze on every position, but noted that it would send a message to residents that the City is being cognizant of its expenditures, if the City took a close look at each opening. Chairperson Jeffrey stated that he thinks the better message to send residents is that the City will review its hiring policies and evaluate each position based on certain criteria before they are filled. Councilmember Dehen stated that these positions are only reviewed by the Personnel Committee. Chairperson Jeffrey stated that this could be changed to say that the Council will evaluate all positions and whether replacement is warranted or not. He stated that there could be Council discussion every time there is a potential hire and answer the questions out loud about why the position is needed and where the funding for the position will come from. Motion by Mayor Gamec, seconded by Councilmember Dehen, to recommend that the City Council Finance Committee review the preliminary budget in relation to a potential hiring freeze and after their review, the Personnel Committee once again have a discussion regarding a potential hiring freeze. Further Discussion: Human Resources Manager Kone noted that in the packet she had included information that included a response from the State on the number of people they actually hired during the hiring freeze of 2002 and 2003. She stated that she had also included information on hiring from the year before and the year after to enable comparison of this data. She stated that she had included in the staff report, potential questions for the Council to consider in evaluating vacancies. City Administrator Ulrich suggested that the motion include that staff come back with a document for Council consideration to layout criteria for looking at every potential full- time position. Personnel Committee / April 8, 2008 Page 3 of 4