Town Council - Personnel Issues Committee

MEMBERS Braintree Town Council Timothy Carey, Chairman Committee on Personnel Issues Stephen O’Brien, Vice-Chairman One JFK Memorial Drive Thomas Bowes, Member Braintree, Massachusetts 02184 September 6, 2018 MINUTES A meeting of the Committee on Personnel Issues was held in the Fletcher Hall, Braintree Town Hall on Thursday, September 6, 2018 at 6:00 p.m. Chairman Timothy Carey was in the chair. The meeting was opened with the pledge of allegiance, followed by a moment of silence for all those serving in our armed forces, past and present. Clerk of the Council conducted the roll call. Present: Timothy Carey, Chairman Stephen O’Brien, Vice-Chairman Thomas Bowes, Member Also Present: Karen Shanley, Director of Human Resources James Casey, Town Clerk Approval of Minutes • May 22, 2017 Motion: by Councilor Bowes to Approve Minutes of May 22, 2017 Second: by Councilor O’Brien Vote: For (2–Carey, Bowes), Against (0), Absent (0), Abstain (1-O’Brien) Old Business None New Business • 18 048 Council President: Reclassification Town Clerk and Clerk of the Council or take up any action relative thereto Councilor Carey, Chairman of the Committee on Personnel Issues asked Karen Shanley, Director of Human Resources for an overview. September 6, 2018 Committee on Personnel Issues Page 1 of 5 Karen Shanley, Director of Human Resources stated she was involved in the re-classification of the three union positions. Which were the BPMA and two AFSCME positions that will take on responsibilities of the Licensing Coordinator who retired. It made sense to the Town and the Town Clerk’s office where Jim Casey is the head of the Licensing Board for it to fall under the Town Clerk’s office. Previously this person had no back up and when this person was out there really wasn’t anyone besides the Town Clerk who could handle any of those functions. When we met about this it made sense for some other people to absorb that position and because they did absorb that position we felt it was justified to elevate their grade classification from an S7 to S12. Once we agreed with it we presented it to the Union and they agreed to it also. This is good to go to the Council to vote for the transfer of funds. In addition the Assistant Town Clerk will now also be the Licensing Coordinator and she has additional responsibilities so with that we reclassified that BPMA Union position from M8 to M12. Those are the three positions I was involved in with regard to reclassification. Jim Casey, Town Clerk explained the reclassification of the Town Clerk and the Clerk of the Council positions. Mr. Casey explained back in February 2018 the Licensing Coordinator was out on medical leave. The duties fell on the Town Clerk which added over 20 hours per week with no backup. The former Licensing Coordinator was always staying late to work on Licensing duties. The initial proposal was to move a new position of Licensing Coordinator to the Town Clerk’s office. In June the Mayor presented a substitute proposal and asked if the Town Clerk’s staff would take over responsibilities amongst the entire staff and sprinkle a portion of the Licensing Coordinator’s salary and therefore the request for reclassifications. Human Resources was presented the three union positions to be from S7 to S13 and M8 to M13. Human Resources made some proposed changes and stated they should be S7 to S12 not S13 and M8 to M12 not M13. Mr. Casey took that information back to the staff and they agreed to those grade reclassifications. It was requested by the Council President that during these discussions the Clerk of the Council should be included as a back up to these functions and add these as duties to that job description. This position grade is currently the same as the non-Union BPMA M8 to be reclassified to M12. Karen Shanley, Director of Human Resources stated these fit into the scale of these added responsibilities. The two non-union management positions under the Charter report to the Legislative body and the Town Council is responsible for our positions. That is why we are before the Council to reclassify these positions. It is your decision. September 6, 2018 Committee on Personnel Issues Page 2 of 5 In 2016 the Town Clerk was asked to take over the additional administrative control of the Plain Street Cemetery. The Town Clerk created a database and found and corrected many deficiencies. MGL changed in 2017 for Public Records Requests and the Town Clerk became the Chief Records Officer for the Town. Each department has a Records Officer. The Town Clerk created a database and each day the Town Clerk checks to be sure each department is processing their requests accordingly. The Town can be subject to fines if requests are not complete in a timely manner. The Clerk of the Council is the Records Officer for the Town Council. The prior Licensing Coordinator’s salary was $68,000. The Town will save $42,000 plus benefits that could be $15,000. The cost to the Town will be $24,488 spread amongst 5 individuals to assume these responsibilities instead of hiring a new employee. A comparison with Quincy shows the Town Clerk’s office has 8 full-time staff positions including a full-time Licensing Coordinator who works in the Town Clerk’s office. We will save the Town money by not hiring a full-time Licensing Coordinator as a separate position but absorb it into current positions willing to take on the work. Councilor O’Brien stated the Licensing Coordinator position also worked for Legal and got paid salaries 50% from each department. Councilor O’Brien stated if we request to lower the grades do we have to go back to re-negotiate with the Unions? Director Shanley stated yes. We would have to go back and re-negotiate with the Unions. Mr. Casey stated the prior Licensing Coordinator worked much more than 50% on the Licensing Coordinator functions. Councilor O’Brien asked if when Town Clerk, James Casey took on the extra burden of the Cemetery did you request a reclassification? Mr. Casey stated no. I was new to my position and wanted to be a team player. It was a lot of work and overwhelming. I wanted to get it straight. There were a lot of deficiencies found. I created the database and spent a lot of time afterhours working on this. I did a lot of this on my own time. This will now go the new DPW position who will take this over. If the Town Clerk’s office was to continue with the Cemetery work I would have approached this issue. Director Shanley stated in discussions with the Mayor’s office the decision to cover reclassification money will be taken from half of the Licensing Coordinator/Legal position. Town Clerk, Casey stated we went to HR and got their input on what these jobs should be reclassified as. September 6, 2018 Committee on Personnel Issues Page 3 of 5 Councilor Bowes asked Director Shanley what the percentage of work was for the Licensing Coordinator/Legal Assistant. Director Shanley stated more than 50% of the former employees time was spent on Licensing clearly. It became especially true in recent years as Town Solicitors changed. Councilor Bowes asked what the $5,000 additional request for Consulting is for. Jim Casey, Town Clerk stated this is a request, on the table, to have consultants and state licensing train the group and help assist with issues. The ABCC is conducting a 2 hour training session on September 13, 2018 with the 5 staff members and the Town Solicitor. Annual renewals come up throughout the year for different licenses. Many are time sensitive. I want a game plan in place. Councilor Bowes asked while the former Licensing Coordinator was out on medical leave who did the work. James Casey, Town Clerk stated he did most of the work and the staff assisted with some things. Town Clerk, James Casey stated the proposed M23 grade for the Town Clerk is in line with other Department Heads within the Town. Councilor Bowes asked the Clerk of the Council to gather more information from similar size communities and see what their Town Clerk has included in their job description. Town Clerk, James Casey stated it is important what the functionalities are of the job and what responsibilities are included. Councilor Bowes asked Director Shanley how the Assistant Town Clerk position came to be an M12 grade. Karen Shanley, Director of Human Resources stated she looked at other BPMA positions that are assistant positions and it was in line with grade M12. The former Licensing Coordinator was an M8 but the Assistant Town Clerk increase to M12 is due to additional responsibilities on top of what the Assistant Town Clerk has. Councilor Bowes requested the Clerk of the Council gather more information on Assistant Town Clerks from similar size communities also. Chairman Carey asked an estimate for increased work loads. Mr. Casey stated approximately 25 hours per week or 5 per person but more the first year as we all learn the licensing job. A large part of this is dealing with the required paperwork and legal issues that need to be looked into. We all need to be CORI certified. There is lots of confidentiality and attention to detail. Mr. Casey stated the former Licensing Coordinator did a great job but put in a lot of extra time. September 6, 2018 Committee on Personnel Issues Page 4 of 5 Chairman Carey asked if there are steadier or busier seasons for Licensing. Town Clerk, James Casey stated Liquor License renewals begin in September and finalize around December. If not complete their license expires January 1st. Class 2 which is Dealerships and used cars begins around December/January timeframe. The Taxi industry is around February/March which we are looking to change to around May because we want to wait until all their Excise Taxes are paid. The job description color coding is the following: Yellow indicates Licensing; Blue indicates Records Access Officer/Public Records Requests; Grey indicates a re-wording; Green indicates Cemetery; Magenta indicates Elections. Mr. Casey indicated during Elections the staff and the Clerk of the Council are all qualified to step into any and all of the Election functions whenever needed and it happens often. Councilor Bowes stated he is not ready to vote on this tonight. Councilor O’Brien made a Motion to TABLE asking for comparison data from other cities/towns. MOTION: To TABLE Order 18 048. Motion: by Councilor O’Brien to TABLE Order 18 048 Second: by Councilor Bowes Vote: For (3 – Carey, Bowes, O’Brien ), Against (0), Absent (0) It was unanimously voted to adjourn the meeting at 7:20pm. Respectfully submitted, Clerk of the Council Susan M. Cimino Documents provided for Meeting • May 22, 2017 Minutes September 6, 2018 Committee on Personnel Issues Page 5 of 5