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Home My WebLink About04-Council Office cr -Y OF SAN BERNAR~-~O - REQUE'~T FOR COUNCIL AC'. ..DN From: Councilman Jack Reilly Subject: Special Personnel Committee Report Dept: Council Office Date: November 17, 1988 Synopsis of Previous Council action: Recommended motion: That minutes of Special Personnel Committee meeting held November 17, 1988 be received and filed. --\2\ \ <. \.-\ r- ~. -~' Signa)ure ~ Contact person: Phil Arvizo Phone: 384-5208 Supporting data attached: Yes Ward: N/A FUNDING REQUIREMENTS: Amount: N/A Source: (Acct. No,) (Acct. DescriPtion) Finance: Council Notes: 75-0262 Agenda Item No ~ SPECIAL PERSONNEL COMMITTEE November 17, 1988 ATTENDEES: Councilman Jack Reilly - Chairman Councilman Tom Minor Councilwoman Valerie Pope-Ludlam City Attorney - James Penman Assistant City Attorney - Denice Brue Deputy City Attorney - Henry Empeno Public Works Director - Roger Hardgrave Personnel Director - Gordon Johnson Public Buildings Supt. - Wayne Overstreet Council Executive Assistant - Phil Arvizo Mayor's Executive Assistant - Richard Bennecke 1. VEHICLE ABATEMENT PROGRAM - (Brought on as Emergency Item for discussion regarding the person authorized to administer and enforce the recommended program.) The Com- mittee recommended that the Superintendent of Public Build- ings/Security and Parking Control, under the supervision of the Director of Public Works/Engineering, be listed as the authority on the ordinance and resolution. 2. DISCUSSION OF EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS - Item continued. The Personnel Director was tasked to provide a study to include department heads and return to the Committee the second meeting in January 1989. The attached backup was provided to the Committee. Meeting adjourned. C cilman Jac C airman Personnel Committee JR:ej Attch. C I T Y 0 F SAN B ERN - R DIN 0 IN'L_\.OFFICE MEMORM._JM 8811-2711 TO: Council Personnel Committee jJ1 ~ I~ FROM: Gordon R. Johnson, Director of Personnel SUBJECT: Employment Contracts - pros and cons DATE: November 15, 1988 COPIES: ------------------------------------------------------------- At your October 27, 1988, meeting, you requested me to research the pros and cons of contract agreements with cities of comparable size and report back to you on November 24, 1988. You favored contracts only for the City Administrator and the Director of Redevelopment Agency positions at that meeting. At your November 10, 1988, meeting, I indicated that there are no other cities in California between 50,000 and 500,000 population besides San Bernardino having a full-time Mayor serving as Chief Executive. At that meeting, you requested that I outline the pros and cons of contract agreements in general at a special Committee meeting on November 17. Since the new RDA Director apparently did not request a contract, this memo focuses on the concept of an employment contract with the City Administrator, a matter for immediate concern and Council attention. Once a concensus is reached in this area, the focus should shift to RDA Director if you so desire. The advantages of an employment contract for the City Admin- istrator include: 1. CONTINUITY OF TOP MANAGEMENT The day-to-day management of the City of San Bernardino involves carrying out the policies of the Mayor and Common Council. This includes assigning work to and evaluating the performance of over a dozen department and division heads, super- vising the work of over 1200 full-time employees, and providing day-to-day management of a budget of over $80 million. If this complex task is to be handled most effectively, steps should be taken to encourage continuity of the key player in this activity, the City Administrator. The City has recently lost two key department INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUY 8811-2711 Employment Contracts - ~ros and cons November 15, 1988 Page 2 heads, each having about one year of service with the City, to larger cities with higher paying jobs. The same could occur with a City Administrator not working under a contract. With an employment contract, the City Administrator may be obligated to remain on the job for a set time period or suffer a financial penalty for leaving early. 2. ATTRACTION OF TOP CANDIDATES Last summer's recruitment process included exten- sive nationwide advertising. However, out of our state with over 400 cities, no current City Man- ager, City Administrator, Assistant City Manager or Assistant City Administrator applied. Some action, such as an employment contract, needs to be offered in order to attract top candidates to this critical job. 3. SEPARATION OF POLITICS FROM ADMINISTRATION The Mayor is the chief executive of the city. In this capacity she performs a wide variety of important functions which are of a political and ceremonial nature that have an impact on the amount of time she can spend on a day-to-day basis in the management of the city. She must depend on a competent professional administrator to insure the effective operation of the city continues. That Administrator can perform hiS/her job in the most responsible and professional manner when he/she is provided with some contractual protections from arbitrary and capricious political actions. 4. ENHANCED ABILITY TO ATTRACT AND RETAIN TOP PEOPLE IN DEPARTMENT HEAD AND OTHER MANAGEMENT POSITIONS with a competent professional as the City Administrator, top candidates will apply for department head and other management positions because they will know of the City's reputation of professionalism and competence. This will provide the City Administrator with a stable cadre of key staff to administer the day-to-day affairs of the city. 5. CLARIFICATION OF CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT Under a contract, both parties clearly understand what is expected of each and what options are available to each as part of a continuing employ- ment relationship or if the employment relationship INTEROFFICE MEMORAND~" 8811-2711 Employment Contracts pros and cons November 15, 1988 Page 3 must come to an end. This forces both sides to "lay all of their cards on the table" during the amic- able days when they are negotiating the contract, thus creating the framework for a constructive working relationship. 6. AVOIDANCE OF NEGOTIATING A SEPARATION AGREEMENT IF THE MAYOR WANTS TO REMOVE AN INCUMBENT If the Mayor desires to change City Administrators and the incumbent is unwilling to voluntarily resign or retire, it may be necessary to negotiate a separation agreement with that incumbent. This is an awkward position to be in and often costs the city as much as providing for severance pay in the original contract. Protracted negotiations during such a situation may be avoided with a contract providing for such situations. Disadvantages of an employment contract include: 1. PRECEDENT FOR FUTURE RECRUITMENTS Once a contract has Administrator, future demand a contract. been negotiated with a City administrators may also 2. CREATION OF ONE-OF-A-KIND BENEFITS OR OTHER PROVI- SIONS Some employment contracts provide for special perks that are not provided to any other city employee. Their creation could lead to requests from other employees for similar perks, and could add to the administrative burden of administering employee benefits. 3. INCREASED COST An employment contract may include prOV1S1ons which cost the City more money than treating the Admin- istrator as a regular employee. These include not only buyout provisions but more liberal benefits. 4. SHIELDS ADMINISTRATOR FROM POLITICAL PROCESS Some people feel that the City Administrator will not be effective if he/she is at all shielded from the political process. They feel that he/she will be less responsive to the perceived needs of elected officials if he/she can only be terminated for cause or is entitled to severance pay for early INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUY 8811-2711 Employment Contracts - ~ros and cons November 15, 1988 Page 4 termination. i C I T Y 0 F SAN B ERN A R DIN 0 INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM 8811-210 TO: Personnel Committee FROM: Councilwoman Esther R. Estrada SUBJECT: Proposed Policy for Employment Agreements DATE: November 15, 1988 COPIES: I looked at the Personnel Committee agenda and the proposed policy for employment agreements and I am concerned that it does not reflect what I requested, and believe Councilman Flores requested, of the Committee at the last Council Meeting. I thought we were clear in our descriptions of what we needed which were: 1. A review of the City's top management positions; a study by the Committee asking them to recommend the position they thought should be contracted out as a matter of policy. 2. A possible draft of what they proposed; what con- tractual agreements should look like. Based on the information requested, I certainly antici- pated that it was going to take some time to produce these documents and have to say that, from the list I have reviewed thus far for the meeting of November 16, it does not appear that it is in keeping with the request of the Council. Fur- ther, I am extremely concerned that it appears to be another attempt to expedite t~e employment agreement for the City Administrator position. Again, without regard for the overall impact that this will have in the future, I respectfully request that this Committee thoroughly discuss and come to some kind of con- sensus as to what it was that we requested be done or be accomplished by this Committee relative to this issue. Thank you. ~y:~ ESTHER R. ES~RADA councilwoman, First Ward ERE:jv