General Counsel Commission

MINUTES GENERAL COUNSEL COMMISSION SPECIAL MEETING OF JULY 25, 2023 Present: Council Member Carta, Council Member Nocera, Council Member Salafia, Council Member Blackwell, and Council Member Marino. Staff: Deputy General Counsel, Kori Wisneski; HR Director, Justin Richardson Public: Ann Gregg, Brianna Skowera, Donald Flamenco, Cathy Lechowicz, J.D. McCauley, Ashley Flynn-Natale, Patricia Alston, Linda Reed, George Souto, Sarah Towne 1. Call to Order: Meeting was called to order at 5:32 p.m. 2. Public Comment: Ann Gregg, president of UPSEU, spoke on behalf of the UPSEU Labor Management agenda item. She explained that she and Brianna Skowera were the two union representatives who served on this year’s labor management committee. She explained the process and expressed that all applications were worthy of being reviewed, but were limited to forwarding only six positions. She also expressed how the current system is outdated but the union supports the labor management items because they followed the defined process outlined in the CBA. 3. New Business A. Ordinance – Elections (36-1 to 36-3) Attorney Wisneski introduced the ordinance. She explained that the Registrar’s Office approached her regarding polling locations because the South Fire location will be under construction for a year or more. The Registrar’s office is complying with state law to get proper notification out about the new polling location, which will be the Rec Center. Attorney Wisneski also explained that she sat down with Registrar’s Office and Ashley Flynn-Natale from the Town Clerk’s Office to figure out how best to revise the ordinance. She advised that there is nothing requiring polling locations to be in our ordinance, so the proposal is to remove the locations so that the ordinance does not need to be updated every time a polling location changes. This will save on costs. Council Member Salafia questioned if there was a way to remove the Wesleyan location and who has the authority to make that change. Patricia Alston from the Registrar’s office explained that they are looking into removing the location and are open to new suggestions. Council Member Nocera made a motion to approve the ordinance and Council Member Salafia seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. B. UPSEU Labor Management Council Member Nocera made a statement that a family member is involved in one of the Labor Management positions and he will not be voting on anything to do with that position. He also stated that he spoke with both caucuses and would like to vote on each position one at a time. There was a discussion on the labor management process and the requirements of the contract. Attorney Wisneski explained that under the contract, the Common Council is the body to consider the recommendations of the labor management committee. She explained that while we have a past practice of putting this matter forward to GCC, ultimately, it needs to go forward to the full Common Council per the language of the UPSEU contract. She further explains that this process is brought to GCC for purposes of talking about the process in more detail so that it can be brought back to the caucuses for discussion. She explained that if the City fails to bring this to the entire Council, the City could be subject to a prohibited practice complaint by the union under the Municipal Employee Relations Act. Council Member Blackwell asked if she could have the names of the six or seven members of the Labor Management Committee. She also asked how the committee reviewed six applications instead of three and would like to see the documentation that was submitted. Director Richardson clarified if Council Member Blackwell was asking for the applications. Council Member Blackwell responded that according the section three of the contract, it talks about documentation that must be submitted and whatever labor management review to make their decision she would like to see as a Council Member. Attorney Wisneski clarified that she is not on the Labor Management Committee, Justin is. Director Richardson explained that the labor management committee consists of himself, Carl Erlacher, Ann Gregg, Brianna Skowera and Deborah Gill, who is a former city employee and the neutral. He stated that he would get copies of the applications after the meeting. Council Member Blackwell requested that the full council get the documentation. Council Member Salafia asked if there was a time limit on when these recommendations have to go to the Council. She would like to know that if they can be postponed until after Baker Tilly finishes with the classification study. She also asked if there were any statistics on Unions agreeing with the downgrading of a position. The last question she asked was after the job descriptions we rewritten, were they given back to the employees and supervisor for review. Attorney Wisneski answered Council Member Salafia’s questions. She explained that the labor management language in the contract talks about the fact that the committee will hear and act upon any request for review within sixty days after it’s received by the union, but there is no specified timeframe for when it goes to Council. She 2 also explains that the Municipal Employee Relations Act requires bargaining in good faith. She spoke on the question regarding Baker Tilly and explained that that labor management process has to still go forward under the contract notwithstanding the Baker Tilly study. More discussion ensued. Council Member Blackwell would like to know from a historical perspective, what is the number of positions that have been downgraded as a result of the rubric and what the positions are. Director Richardson explained that a few months ago this council voted to downgrade the Manager of Accreditation position for the PD and was an exact replica of what is happening. Council Member Blackwell asked to have a list in writing. She next asked is if any of these positions fall under the Mayor’s new expectations with respect to service ratings. Director Richardson explained that performance evaluations are not tied to these labor management recommendations. Council Member Carta wanted to address the grievance settlement and why we have six positions instead of three. Director Richardson read off his executive summary, which was provided as supporting documentation for the meeting. Council Member Nocera asked if the Council can overrule Labor Management and recommend a different salary grade that the labor management process. Attorney Wisneski explained that under the contract, the Council has to approve or reject the recommendation. He then asked what the rights of the employee are and Attorney Wisneski explained that the employee shall have the ability to appeal and the arbitrator’s decision shall be final More discussion ensued regarding the importance of GCC with processes such as labor management. 1. Manager of Recreation Services Director Richardson introduced the job description. Council Member Marino made a motion to table until the next GCC meeting and Council Member Salafia seconded the motion. Discussion ensued as to what tabling these job descriptions look like. Council Member Blackwell questioned if this job description and resolution could go to council if it was voted down at GCC and did not have a council sponsor. Attorney Wisneski answered that the individual council members can bring resolutions to the agenda or the Mayor with one sponsoring Council Member. When asked again, Attorney Wisneski stated, “no.” The motion passed with 4 ayes and 1 abstention. 2. Director of Recreation Services Director Richardson introduced the job description. Council Member Salafia made a motion to table until the next GCC meeting and Council Member Nocera seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 3. Clerk of the Common Council 3  Director Richardson introduced the job description. Council Member Salafia questioned if after the job was rewritten if it was given back to the employee to review before it was put through the Maximus system. Director Richardson explained that it is not the process to give the job description back to the employee. More discussion ensued. Council Member Salafia made a motion to table until the next GCC meeting and Council Member Nocera seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 4. Field Maintenance Manager Director Richardson introduced the job description. Council Member Salafia made a motion to table until the next GCC meeting and Council Member Nocera seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 5. Assistant Field Maintenance Manager Director Richardson introduced the job description. Council Member Salafia made a motion to table until the next GCC meeting and Council Member Nocera seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 6. Manager of Youth Services Director Richardson introduced the job description. Council Member Salafia made a motion to table until the next GCC meeting and Council Member Nocera seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 4. Other A. Recruitment Efforts Director Richardson reported that there is not much to report on recruitment efforts because Cayla has left for an opportunity with the State. He stated that they are currently looking to fill the position with a temporary employee. Attorney Wisneski further explained that they are looking for a temporary to cover the outreach and staff the anti-racism task force responsibilities and intend to wait until the Baker Tilly process is over to hire permenatley. Council Member Blackwell questioned what the process is to hire a temporary employee and Director Richardson explained that they received a recommendation from the Mayor’s office and also asked for recommendations from the Anti-Racism task force and that there will be an interview. Council Member Blackwell then questioned if the intent was to have someone from the anti-racism task force sit through the process and Attorney Wisneski explained that, yes, this was definitely the intent. 5. Adjournment: 4 Council Member Nocera made a MOTION to adjourn and Council Member Blackwell seconded the motion. The meeting adjourned. 5