Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Operations Committee - 05/19/2015 OPERATIONS COMMITTEE MINUTES May 19, 2015 Committee Members Present: Dana Ralph and Bill Boyce; Chair Les Thomas was absent. The meeting was called to order by Dana Ralph at 4:02 p.m. 1. ROLL CALL 2. CHANGE TO AGENDA. There were no changes to the agenda. 3. APPROVAL OF THE CHECK SUMMARY REPORT DATED 4/16/2015 THROUGH 4/30/2015 B. Boyce moved to approve the check summary report dated 4/16/2015 through 4/30/2015. D. Ralph seconded the motion, which passed 2-0. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES DATED MAY 5, 2015. B. Boyce moved to approve the Operations Committee minutes dated May 5, 2015. D. Ralph seconded the motion, which passed 2-0. 5. SUPPORTED EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM - UPDATE. Human Resource Director Lorraine Patterson and Community Outreach Analyst Johnetta Rowsey updated the Committee on the Council approved Supported Employment Program managed by the Human Resources Department (HR). This project remains a high priority for the Council and the City. As of this date, HR has made considerable effort towards establishing a best practices approach to a replicable program that can be supported throughout the City. To help get the program off the ground, King County Developmental Disabilities Division (KCDDD) provided technical assistance to the City free of charge. At the recommendation of KCDDD, HR contacted GoWise, a non-profit consultant, to understand how they can support the City’s efforts. One of the most important contributions of the consultant is creating job descriptions that will allow the City to select candidates that will be a good fit with the work environment. GoWise provides skill at clarifying expectations for the hiring supervisor and the job-development agency to ensure that the City will have the best fit possible and will also assist in creating positions that encourage growth over time. In addition to the task of defining and sourcing the employees, HR is working with city unions to create contract language that meets their needs, as the work identified to date is covered by existing collective bargaining agreements. In the next week, HR is in the position to submit two part-time, temporary job openings to job-development agencies that KCDDD works with. These positions will be paid a Operations Committee Minutes May 19, 2015 Page: 2 minimum of $10 an hour with all candidates sharing a 40 hour work week. These positions should be filled by June 2015. 6. ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT REORGANIZATION. Economic and Community Development Director Ben Wolters explained this is legislation in the form of three motions to formally adopt the proposed reorganization. Having been in operation for over six years, and with staffing changes recently affecting key personnel, it is appropriate to clarify the authority of the position of the Economic and Community Development (ECD) director as well as the department’s role within the overall city organization in a manner that is consistent with the Council’s practice with other city departments. The planning director position, which was carried over in 2009 when the planning department became part of the larger ECD department, should be eliminated, and consistent with other city departments, the ECD director should be authorized to establish, fill, and organize, subject to appropriate authorization, a deputy director as well as departmental subdivision managers, and other positions. With this authorization and the proposed changes, Mr. Wolters plans to consolidate some of the management responsibilities within ECD while recognizing the internal management talents. This reorganization plan would rely on the department’s existing funding to recognize and properly compensate the internal managers who are stepping up to take on additional management responsibilities. Not filling two vacancies at their formal management level would also enable ECD to increase line level staff to accomplish more of the daily workload within the department. ECD is currently authorized for three new positions to be funded and filled in 2016. This plan would seek to use existing budget to enable the department to accelerate the filling of these positions in 2015. Accelerating the creation of these three positions is proposed under a separate motion to amend the budget. The three positions are Planner, Administrative Secretary I, and an Office Tech III. Committee members recognized and gave kudos that the reorganization layout has a budget neutral impact to the remainder of 2015-2016 biennial budgets. B. Boyce moved to recommend Council adopt an Ordinance amending Chapter 2.30 of the Kent City Code, entitled “Economic and Community Development Department” by clarifying the structure of the Economic and Community D evelopment Department, including the authority of the department’s director, to conform with the authorization and structure established by council for other city departments. D. Ralph seconded the motion, which passed 2-0. B. Boyce moved to recommend council establish the positions of Deputy Economic and Community Development Director, Building Services Manager, and Current Planning Manager, as described in the job descriptions created for those positions, to authorize Operations Committee Minutes May 19, 2015 Page: 3 the salary ranges recommended for those positions, and to adjust the budget accordingly. D. Ralph seconded the motion, which passed 2-0. B. Boyce moved to Recommend council authorize to fill as soon as possible in the 2015 calendar year the positions of Planner, Administrative Secretary 1, and Office Tech 3, all of which were authorized to be filled in 2016 under the city’s biennial budget, using existing 2015 budget year savings incurred from department reorganization and from savings incurred by other unfilled or under filled positions. D. Ralph seconded the motion, which passed 2-0. 7. PUBLIC RECORDS POLICY Assistant City Attorney Tammy White made a request to have the current ordinance be converted back to policy in order to be updated more frequently. The Public Records Act, currently codified at Chapter 42.56 of the Revised Code of Washington requires local governments to adopt reasonable rules and regulations to carry out its provisions in a manner that provides for the fullest assistance to requestors and the most timely possible action on requests, while contemporaneously protecting public records from damage or disorganization and preventing excessive interference with other essential governmental functions. The City’s code provisions regarding public records requests are currently codified in Chapter 1.05 of the Kent City Code and were last amended in 2006. Prior to 2002, the provisions regulating staff’s processing and response to public records requests were maintained within the City’s Policy Manual. In 2002, the Council adopted Ordinance No. 3588, which converted these provisions to code under the belief that codification would result in the procedures being more accessible to the public. An unintended consequence of that action was that the procedures were not regularly updated in response to the rapid evolution of the law regarding public records. Therefore, it is staff’s belief that reverting these provisions back to policy format and publishing them on the City’s website will allow them to be readily available to the public while still giving staff the flexibility needed to update them in response to frequent changes in the law. Ms. White further explained should Council adopt the proposed Ordinance, the Mayor would then establish a public records policy similar in form to the draft included with this agenda item. This draft policy includes no drastic changes; it merely memorializes the existing process and addresses those matters required by state law, such as a list of the possible exemptions that may be applied to a public record before it is produced. This draft will be further revised in the near future to address the retention of text messages sent and received by City employees and substantively related to City business. B. Boyce moved to recommend Council adopt the proposed Ordinance that amends Chapter 1.05 of the Kent City Code regarding submittal and response to requests for public records and converts those provisions from code to policy to allow for more timely revision in response to changes in the law. D. Ralph seconded the motion, which passed 2-0. The meeting was adjourned at 4:36 p.m. by D. Ralph. Operations Committee Minutes May 19, 2015 Page: 4 ___________________ Jennifer Hays Operations Committee Secretary