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Case #2: Discussion Regarding Parks Maintenance Worker Vacancy <br />Human Resources Manager Reed Kone' reviewed the staff report. <br />Councilmember McGlone questioned if there would be any grievance issues. <br />Public Works Director Olson reported that there would not be grievance issues. <br />Councilmember Dehen advocated for the use of the Department of Correction workers for park <br />maintenance work, such as mowing and clearing brush. He did not think it would be fair to hire <br />a person for three to four months and then let that person go. Councilmember Dehen stated he <br />understood that the City may consider a two week furlough and that utilizing the Department of <br />Corrections may be a better choice than hiring someone for four months and then letting that <br />person go. <br />Public Works Director Olson did not feel that it would be fair to the Department of Corrections <br />to bring them on for such a short term as they buy equipment specifically for jobs in the City. <br />He stated that if the Council believes the Park Department is completing tasks that should not be <br />done, staff should be alerted what is of higher priority. He explained that the seasonal workers <br />are hired to do this type of work with the understanding that they would only be brought on for a <br />certain amount of time. The seasonal workers are taking a two week furlough this year already. <br />Public Works Director Olson suggested moving forward with the recommended action at this <br />time. He did not think that the full-time position should be cut from the parks budget in 2010 <br />unless the workload for that department is reduced. He noted that certain activities, such as <br />bathroom clean-up, trash pick-up, and playground inspections could be contracted out. <br />Councilmember Jeffrey stated that the nature of a seasonal position is that there is a definite start <br />and end date for the position. Because of the nature of the position, he thought that a seasonal <br />worker would be a good solution at this time. Councilmember Jeffrey suggested researching the <br />use of the Department of Corrections in 2010, and agreed it would be good use of a seasonal <br />position to fill the vacancy in that manner for the remainder of the year. <br />Chairperson Dehen thought that the option should be presented to the Department of Corrections <br />and asked whether or not it would be fair to them. He stated he would like to see what the costs <br />would be to the City. <br />Public Works Director Olson advised that the Department of Corrections also had to cut some of <br />their supervisory staff due to lack of work so he did not think it would be fair to expect them to <br />hire someone for a term of four months in order to take this work. <br />Chairperson Dehen stated that the Department of Corrections would be alerted to the short time <br />frame of the position with the idea that the City may be interested in a longer term agreement in <br />the upcoming year. <br />Parks Supervisor Riverblood stated that the Department of Corrections workers used in the past <br />were not youth offenders or sentence to serve offenders, but hardened criminals who have earned <br />Personnel Committee / July 28, 2009 <br />Page 3 of 5 <br />