PERSONNEL APPEALS BOARD

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2007

REGULAR MEETING

6:00 P.M.

1. Roll Call- Mr. Sells called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. with the following members present: Mr. Wagner, and Mr. Sells. Ms. Hymes arrived after roll call. Others present were: Linda Fersch and Stacey Bashore.

 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF June 26, 2007, Regular Meeting. Mr. Wagner moved to approve; Mr. Sells seconded the Motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Wagner and Mr. Sells voting "Yea." Motion passed, 2-0.

3. EMPLOYEE/COMMUNITY COMMENTS- None

4. SECRETARY’S REPORT- Mr. Wagner stated there were several items to review including updates on the Employee Manual and Revision of PAB Rules and Public Safety Dispatcher and Police Officer Testing.

5. STAFF REPORT

Mrs. Fersch stated that Jacque Hymes would be resigning from the Board because she is taking a position in Boston. She further stated that Lynda Yartin had been informed and once the formal resignation is received she will advertise and it will go through Rules Committee.

A. Employee Manual – Update Mrs. Fersch stated that this will not be discussed at Council until later in August or September. She stated she received feedback and proposed changes from AFSCME. Mrs. Fersch stated this manual is more of a policy and procedures manual and that is why it was elaborated on a lot of the laws. Mr. Wagner stated that you try to be as succinct as possible with Policy and Procedure manuals. He stated that you try to put the major concepts in the Policy manual and the way you implement them can change from time, because the law changes. Mrs. Fersch stated that AFSCME was looking for more specific offenses to be listed. Mr. Wagner stated it would be hard to have an all inclusive list because what happens if it is not on the list. Mrs. Fersch requested Mr. Wagner submit his proposed changes so it can be presented to Council. Mr. Wagner asked if the State Personnel Board of Review had to be notified for non-union terminations and Mrs. Fersch stated she didn't know and she will share it with Clemens Nelson.

B. Revision of PAB Rules - Update Mrs. Fersch stated that item has been put on hold and would be picked up in the next couple of weeks.

Clerk's Note: Ms. Hymes arrived at 6:18 p.m.

6. ELIGIBILITY LISTS

A. Public Safety Dispatcher Update- Mrs. Fersch stated that we hired Melissa Dawes Bailey and she will be on a nine month probation period.

B. Police Officer Testing Update- Mrs. Fersch stated that we will be advertising for the test in the second week of August and we are sending out notification to those that requested to be on a notification list. She further stated that the testing is tentatively scheduled for September 15th at Pickerington North and then September 22nd and 29th would be reserved for the physical fitness test.

Mrs. Fersch stated that the Police Commander requested that the Board discuss the possibility of allowing five extra bonus points for someone who is already an auxiliary officer for Pickerington. She stated that it had been discussed in the past by PAB and had been done in prior testing, but there was never any formal motion on it. She further stated we currently have three or four auxiliary officers. Mr. Wagner asked why the Commander felt the volunteer time was valuable and how do we add value for previous experience. Mrs. Fersch stated that one of the stipulations before was auxiliary in Pickerington because different departments have different rules. Mr. Wagner stated he thought it would be difficult to discriminate between being an auxiliary in Pickerington versus anywhere else. He further stated the issue is if that experience is valuable then it would be giving preferential treatment to someone who volunteered in Pickerington. Mrs. Fersch stated the difference would be that they would be familiar with what the Police Department expects. She stated it would be helpful if a decision was made tonight because the testing is coming up. Mr. Wagner stated he was assuming we gave points to someone with experience in the experience category and Mrs. Fersch stated we don't. Mr. Wagner stated if you would only give points to being a volunteer in Pickerington because they all go through the same certification program. Mrs. Fersch stated when they take the test they do not have to have that certification but they are asked at the interview how close they are to certification because it is required. Ms. Hymes stated she agreed with Mr. Wagner and if they want to give points for volunteer it needs to be across the board and not just Pickerington. Mr. Sells stated auxiliary officers have full arrest powers and in some departments they can fill in for the regular offices. He stated his feelings on awarding a Pickerington auxiliary points is because they are familiar with the area and the procedures. Ms. Hymes stated those are skills someone can learn. Mr. Sells stated he didn't have a problem with granting it, but why just the Police, what about the Service Department if they have someone Part-Time, we could grant them five extra points. He stated we should cover the whole City. Mrs. Fersch stated it could be put in the PAB rules. Mr. Wagner stated he thought we would be setting ourselves up for all kinds of trouble because that is why there are discrimination laws. He stated he understands the concept and the desire, but that is why we have some of the discrimination laws that we have. Mrs. Fersch stated she wanted this to be in the minutes. Mr. Wagner stated that you may also miss some experience if you narrow it down to only Pickerington. Mr. Sells asked if the Chief had checked with other Cities to see if they do this.

Mrs. Fersch stated she has Clemens Nelson checking on a nepotism policy that the City Manager adopted, but since it has not been adopted here, she wasn't sure how to handle it. Mrs. Fersch reviewed the Policy with the Board. (Attachment 1 to these minutes) Mr. Wagner asked if the third paragraph was only for people who were already hired from working in the same department. Mrs. Fersch stated that it was already in our policy now that you can't have family members working in the same department. She stated that Clemens Nelson advised us to leave it as it is and unless they tell us different we will leave it the same. Ms. Hymes clarified if someone had a family member working for the City they couldn’t be hired regardless of what position or department. Mrs. Fersch stated previously we had family members working for the City. Mr. Wagner asked what the reason was for the policy being so strict. Mrs. Fersch stated they are worried about perception because we are a small community. She further stated it also prevents summer employment for relatives because we had a lot of that. Ms. Hymes stated she could understand it in a small community, but she didn't think she had ever heard that two people from the same family could not work at the same place. She stated if you were born and raised in Pickerington and you can't work here because someone in your family worked here that is very strict. Mrs. Fersch stated it was just adopted by the City Manager as an administrative rule, but it will be incorporated into the manual.

7. OTHER BUSINESS- Mrs. Fersch stated that she had a conflict on the fourth Tuesdays of the month and she wanted to see if they could move the meetings to the third Wednesday of the month. She stated that we don't have any agenda items so we can cancel the August meeting. Mrs. Fersch stated that Council was working on the Administrative Code, but it has not been approved yet.

8. ADJOURNMENT: There being nothing further, Ms. Hymes moved to adjourn; Mr. Wagner seconded the motion. Mr. Sells, Ms. Hymes and Mr. Wagner voted "Aye." Motion carried 3-0. The Personnel Appeals Board adjourned at 6:28 p.m. on July 24, 2007.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

Stacey L. Bashore

Deputy Municipal Clerk

Linda Fersch, Interim Personnel Director