Personnel Committee

MINUTES PERSONNEL COMMITTEE September 7, 2021 VERONA CITY HALL 6:00 P.M. 1. The meeting was called to order by Chad Kemp at 6:00 p.m. 2. Roll call: Chad Kemp, Heather Reekie, and Phil Hoechst were present. Also present: Mayor Luke Diaz, City Administrator Adam Sayre, and Human Resources Coordinator Mitch Weckerly. 3. Public Comment: There were no comments by the public 4. Approval of minutes from the June 2, 2021 Personnel Committee meeting. Motion by Kemp, seconded by Hoechst, to approve the minutes of the June 2, 2021 Personnel Committee meeting. Motion carried 3-0. 5. Discussion and Possible Action Re: Ordinance amendment to Title 11, Chapter 7, Sec. 11-7-1(b) (c) Purpose and Intent and Sec. 11-7-2 (f) Definitions, regarding Accommodation and Employment. Weckerly stated several typos were discovered within the ordinance. Weckerly recommended substituting the word “affiliation” for the word “alienation” in several locations throughout the ordinance. Weckerly added the change is necessary because public employers cannot discriminate based on political affiliation and that the word alienation does not apply. Motion by Kemp, seconded by Hoechst to recommend the ordinance amendment to Common Council. Motion carried 3-0. 6. Discussion and Possible Action Re: Position Description, Compensation and Recruitment of Director of Parks and Urban Forestry position. Weckerly stated that Dave Walker, the current Director of Parks, Recreation and Urban Forestry submitted his retirement effective January 4, 2022. If needed, Dave has offered to stay on through the end of January to ensure a smooth transition. Weckerly stated that several proposed changes were made to the position description. The proposed changes would not impact the pay grade of the position and the position would remain at grade 16. Weckerly explained with the proposed changes the Director of Parks and Urban Forestry would be the formal supervisor of the Recreation Director and would provide oversight of the coordination and supervision of community recreation programs. Sayre added that the proposed change in reporting relationship would eliminate one direct report for the City Administrator who directly supervises 13 employees currently. Sayre added the change in reporting relationship would be logical based on the www.ci.verona.wi.us  organizational structure of the department and the potential future growth based on operation needs of the department. Weckerly stated several changes were made to the qualifications of the position. The changes included requiring municipal park, recreation and forestry management experience and a minimum of three years of supervisory experience. Weckerly added that urban forestry experience and GIS experience were added as preferred qualifications and that the CDL requirement would be changed to a preferred qualification. Mayor Diaz suggested adding a task statement relating to management of native prairies. Heather Reekie proposed adding the task statement “Evaluate and maintain native prairies” to the position description. Mayor Diaz agreed and suggested adding the proposed language to the position description. Weckerly provided an overview of the tentative recruitment timeline. The position would be posted by September 13, 2021 and close on October 11, 2021. Phone screens would be conducted during the week of October 18, 2021 with in-person interviews occurring the week of October 25th. Following interviews a background would be conducted with the goal of starting negotiations at the end of November and a target start date of mid-December. Sayre added participation on the interview panel would likely include Dave Walker, Casey Dudley, and Theran Jacobson. Additionally, members of the Personnel Committee and Parks, Recreation and Forestry Commission could participate if interested. Motion by Kemp, seconded by Hoechst, to approve the position description and recruitment of Park, Recreation and Urban Forestry Director with the changes proposed by the Personnel Committee. Motion carried 3-0. 7. Discussion and Possible Action Re: Position description, for Recreation Director Position. Weckerly explained the proposed update would reflect the change in reporting relationship from the City Administrator to the Director of Parks, Recreation and Urban Forestry. Weckerly added the changes would not impact salary. Reekie added that the word “or” needed to be added to the summary paragraph of the positon description. Motion by Kemp, seconded by Hoechst, to approve the position description of the Recreation Director with the changes proposed by the Personnel Committee. Motion carried 3-0. 8. Adjournment Motion by Kemp, seconded by Hoechst, to adjourn at 6:17 p.m. Motion carried 3-0. Mitch Weckerly, HR Coordinator www.ci.verona.wi.us