City of Bigfork

Personnel Committee Regular Meeting February 3, 2010 4:45 p.m. City Council Chambers

Members Present: Mayor Roger Logdahl, Lance Koppelmann, Mike Stevens and John VanNyhuis

Members Absent: None

Also Present: Streets Commissioner Gene Rajala, Gus David, Public Works Superintendent Chuck Almhjeld, Water/Wastewater Assistant Joe Zimmer, Airport Manager Hiram Gene Ward, Police Chief Jon Babcock and City Clerk/Treasurer Michael McKinney

Logdahl called the meeting to order at 4:45 p.m.

Approval of the December 2, 2009 Regular Personnel Committee and the December 17, 2009 Special Personnel Committee Meeting Minutes

Motion by VanNyhuis, second by Stevens, to approve the December 2, 2009 Regular Personnel Committee and the December 17, 2009 Special Personnel Committee minutes, motion carried unanimously (MCU).

Review of Employee Time Cards/Logs for December and January

No formal action was taken on this agenda item.

Review of Casual Maintenance Laborer Hours

Public Works Superintendent Almhjeld presented information on the Casual Maintenance Laborer position to the Personnel Committee. Almhjeld noted that the Casual Maintenance Laborer currently is working on a part-time basis and only comes in when necessary. Stevens noted that the City’s concern is that the hours worked by the position are not abused and remain within budget.

No formal action was taken on this agenda item.

Personnel Committee Authority

Logdahl outlined the responsibilities currently held by the Personnel Committee. Stevens felt that performance reviews and investigations of misconduct would be the likeliest items to be passed on to the City Council. He also noted that his concern in doing so would be if this authority was abused by the Personnel Committee, VanNyhuis noted that the actions of the Personnel Committee can be overridden by the City Council. Stevens was also concerned about the potential for Committee members to make inappropriate comments during Committee meetings.

Stevens asked if the Committee had a fifth member in mind that the Council would be willing to approve.

Stevens noted that the section of the Personnel Policy dealing with the Personnel Committee should also include language on interviewing and providing hiring recommendations to the City Council as well as making recommendations on performance reviews to the City Council.

No formal action was taken on this agenda item.

Review of City Employee and Commissioner Job Descriptions

City Clerk/Treasurer McKinney provided a summary of the changes made to the Police Chief job description. Logdahl noted that during the course of the closed session of the January 26, 2010 City Council meeting, the Council discussed maintaining the Police Chief title and cutting approximately $10,000 from the Police Department budget while still maintaining a budget for part-time help, if necessary. Stevens noted that the City should also work to identify potential revenue possibilities for the Police Department, including contracting out police time to neighboring communities.

City Clerk/Treasurer McKinney noted that the Council also discussed changing the name “Commissioner” in the Commissioner positions to “Liaison”. Stevens felt that the word “Liaison” did a better job of communicating the intent of the position. Stevens identified several errors in the Commissioner job descriptions that should be changed before they are approved by the Council.

No formal action was taken on this agenda item.

Other Business

Closed Session for preliminary consideration of allegations of misconduct made against individuals subject to the City Council’s authority

The individual subject to this closed session made a formal request that it be made open to the public.

Logdahl offered a brief description of the incident in question. He noted that the Airport Commissioner had asked the City Clerk/Treasurer to close the airport on the morning of January 27, 2010 due to ice on the runway and wind. He also noted that the Public Works Superintendent was upset with the City Clerk/Treasurer for closing the airport and had informed him that he did not have the authority to close the airport and should not have done so. He added that this incident was witnessed by a local resident, who sent an e-mail to the mayor to let him know what had taken place.

Stevens noted that the issue in this case seemed to be that the Airport Commissioner overstepped his authority by asking the City Clerk/Treasurer to close the airport. Logdahl noted that he did not feel that the Airport Commissioner exceeded his authority by making the request.

City Clerk/Treasurer McKinney noted that he did not wish to file a formal complaint regarding how the Public Works Superintendent handled the situation and considered the matter settled since the Public Works Superintendent did offer him an apology for his behavior.

Public Works Superintendent Almhjeld stated that only a qualified individual can close the airport. He also noted that this complaint was one of a series of accusations made against him by the same individual and asked that the Personnel Committee consider a recommendation to the City Council to allow him to pursue a harassment order against the individual who had initially filed the complaint.

Stevens asked why the issue was added to the agenda since the problem did not seem to be between the Public Works Superintendent and the City Clerk/Treasurer. Logdahl noted that he contacted the City Clerk/Treasurer about this issue because he wanted to look into what had happened. Stevens felt that since there was not a formal complaint regarding this issue that there was no purpose for the closed session.

Logdahl noted that the City needs to establish a chain of responsibility and a standard operating procedure for closing the airport to know when the airport should be closed and when it should remain open. Logdahl felt that the Airport Commissioner is ultimately the manager at the airport. Stevens noted that accurate information must be relayed to the right people in order for things to run smoothly and felt that the Airport Commissioner did not go through the proper channels and must understand his role in this process. Koppelmann noted that there must be a clear chain of command when closing the airport. Logdahl added that the chain of command should be left to the Airport Manager. Logdahl also felt that it was important to establish a job description for the Airport Manager position to outline his responsibilities. He also felt that the Airport Commissioner erred on the side of safety and noted that an inexperienced pilot may not be able to land in those conditions.

Stevens felt that City employees should be able to speak to the City Attorney about alleged harassment issues. He also felt that harassment seemed to be a local issue with which the City has always had problems. He wanted to involve the City Attorney to find out what liability the City may face due to alleged harassment issues. VanNyhuis felt that harassment is a civil matter that should be handled by employees without the City’s involvement. Stevens felt that employee harassment is a City issue and it is something that cannot be tolerated. He also felt that the City must ensure that its employees are able to work in a positive work environment. Logdahl noted that the City Attorney can begin an investigation into alleged employee harassment if directed to do so by the City Council.

Motion by Stevens, second by Koppelmann, to forward a recommendation to the City Council that the City Attorney be allowed to investigate alleged employee harassment, motion later withdrawn.

Logdahl noted that the Personnel Policy forbids harassment of any sort. Stevens asked that the issue be added to the Council agenda for February.

No formal action was taken on this agenda item.

Motion by Koppelmann, second by VanNyhuis, to adjourn, MCU. The Personnel Committee meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m. The next Personnel Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 7, 2010 at 4:45 p.m.

Michael McKinney City Clerk/Treasurer