City Council Work Session

CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION Cedar Falls Council Chambers March 7, 2022 The City Council held a work session at City Hall at 5:30 p.m. on March 7, 2022, with the following persons in attendance: Mayor Rob Green, Gil Schultz, Susan deBuhr, Daryl Kruse, Simon Harding, Dustin Ganfield, Dave Sires, and Kelly Dunn. Staff members attended from all City Departments and members of the community attended in person. Mayor Green introduced the only item on the agenda, Continuation of Public Safety Model Discussion. Mayor Green gave a brief overview of the previous work session including the Public Safety Director position opening and the consensus; he states since the last meeting Council would like to revisit consensus on moving ahead with status quo without any immediate changes and revisit in six months with no additional discussion until then – consensus not reached. Mayor Green requested consensus to have discussion – consensus reached. Councilmember Schultz requested to address the vacancy for Public Safety Director first. Councilmember deBuhr asked if the PS22 plan was campaign literature and if Public Safety leadership had any input into it; Director Olson responded that they did not. Mayor Green requested clarification on the historical duty of the Director; Director Olson stated he was Director and Police Chief at the same time but had an Assistant Chief, and when he moved to Director only, the assistant became Police Chief; Fire Chief also had an assistant. Councilmember Harding requested numbers on pay and benefits for having two Chiefs and two Assistants vs. one Director and two Chiefs. Councilmember Dunn asked who was involved in the creation of the PS22 document and their credentials, were Public Safety administration involved; Mayor responded he created the document. Councilmember deBuhr asked Director Olson if Fire or Police Chief took over Director duties also, would it create chain-of command issues without an Assistant level and if his opinion was current hierarchy is best for the model; Director Olson stated if one was in the dual-role, they would require an assistant, and yes to current hierarchy. Councilmember deBuhr asked Finance and Business Operations (FBO) Director Jennifer Rodenbeck if there were available numbers for two Chiefs with two Assistants; she responded from a salary perspective, 1 Director and 2 Chiefs would be lesser, but benefits and retirement also to consider; Councilmember deBuhr questioned if current model is cheaper why does Council want to change it. Mayor Green asked about current succession for Police Chief; Chief Berte responded he and Chief Bostwick work at the operational level of the department, below them are Captains, then Lieutenants, and many are well-groomed to be Chief; Councilmember Schultz asked about promotions; Chief Berte provided information on additional trainings/schools attended and qualifications. Councilmember Schultz questioned starting salary for the Director position; City Administrator Ron Gaines stated he’d need to check the pay band to be sure, but the City likes to start below mid-range and experience will be considered. Councilmember Kruse asked how upper management in our PS Model compares to other cities’; Director Olson stated our department is “leaner”. City Administrator Gaines stated that Cedar Falls has a pyramid structure; all Department Directors act as “deputy city managers/ administrators”; other cities have an assistant City Administrator, but our department heads take on those responsibilities. Councilmember Harding requested a third party consultant to report on the current model, the PS22 report, and gather metrics and data; Councilmember Kruse stated the ISO (insurance) report for fire is upcoming in the next year; Councilmember Harding agreed those are good metrics but the goal is to regain public trust. Mayor Green requested direction for staff on the Public Safety Director opening; Councilmember Harding stated he wanted to wait til a third party evaluation is complete; Councilmember deBuhr stated the employee survey is upcoming, and asked if the third party review is premature to the survey results. Councilmember Kruse asked about grievances; Chief Bostwick stated there have been no grievances in the past two years, he sees people getting along and working together, and is not hearing discussion of the model out in public; Mayor Green asked to clarify if there were no problems or if they were solved at a lower level; Chief Bostwick and Berte stated problems have been resolved quickly, and the Labor Management Committee is utilized as well as Union services. Mayor Green asked if there is a policy stating officers cannot speak out against Public Safety; Chief Berte stated there is no policy against it, although there are things regarding department business that can’t be discussed on social media; he states the department encourages Council to visit and obtain administration permission to do ride-alongs. Councilmember Sires asked if the state requires both a Fire and Police Chief and if there are outside options for filling the interim Director position; Mayor Green stated current City Code only allows the existing Fire or Police Chief to be interim Director. Councilmember Dunn asked the purpose of continuing this discussion [of the model] and hiring a third party consultant, what problem is Council trying to address. Councilmember deBuhr stated the last consensus was to set a discussion for 6 months to follow-up on the Public Safety Special Report goals; Mayor Green asked if there’s anticipated change to the model or if it’s set; Chief Berte responded the model is set but there are always things to work on including the Special Report goals. Councilmember Schultz asked to settle the discussion for Public Safety Director position opening, his understanding is Chief Berte has been named as acting Director and the City should publicize the opening; City Administrator Gaines clarified the interim timelines for Director and Police Chief. Mayor Green asked for consensus to advertise for the Public Safety Director position opening; consensus reached. Councilmember Dunn addressed items 1-4 in the PS22 document and asked if they required Civil Service Commission and/or Union agreement; item number 2 was previously struck from consideration; City Attorney Kevin Rogers stated that for item #1, the Fire Fighter is still a job class but with no one filling it; he stated items #3 and #4 would require collective bargaining/Union agreements and Civil Service Commission action. Councilmember Dunn asked about budget if these job positions were changed and additional staff had to be hired; Director Rodenbeck stated there isn’t room in the current levy to support that. Councilmember Ganfield agreed with Councilmember Harding to request a third party audit and stated there is mistrust from the public; Councilmember Dunn asked who the neutral third party would be and if a small but vocal minority is reflective of the use of City resources, staff time, and funds. Councilmember deBuhr stated she has received many e-mails in support of the Public Safety officers and department, and asked about funding for the review. Councilmember Kruse asked why the review is necessary; he requested more clarity on Emergency Medical Service (EMS) response and evolution; Chief Bostwick stated the City had an ambulance 40 years ago before Sartori (now MercyOne) started providing the service. MercyOne provides ambulance service in the City, and they are the primary paramedic service with Public Safety assisting; he stated there are two additional ambulances available for use at MercyOne in Waterloo; Director Olson stressed the teamwork between Cedar Falls EMS, MercyOne ambulance services, and the Care ambulance service and said MercyOne also provides paramedic services for outlying communities. Mayor Green requested consensus on a third party audit review. Councilmember Kruse requested a timeframe; Councilmember Harding stated the first step would be finding an entity; Mayor Green asked if Council’s preference would be more or less time; Councilmember Kruse replied less time, and to consider budget; Councilmember Dunn stated first a consensus is required to do the review. Mayor Green requested consensus on a third party audit review – consensus reached; Mayor asked if it needed to be a referral for the third party audit or if this consensus was enough; City Attorney Rogers stated no referral is necessary. There being no further discussion, Mayor Green adjourned the meeting at 6:57 p.m. Minutes by Katie Terhune, Administrative Assistant