Charter Review Commission 2015 Presentation to Village Council May - PDF document

Charter Review Commission 2015 Presentation to Village Council May 26, 2015

Reminderville Charter Review Commission: Rodney Wiggins, Chairman Joseph Phillips, Vice Chairman Sara Basel Victoria Jeromos-Blayney Michael Owcarz Article XX. Charter Review Commission Section 20.01 Composition and Term In January, 2015 and each five (5) years thereafter the Mayor shall, subject to confirmation by Council, appoint a Commission of five (5) qualified electors of the Municipality holding no other office or appointment in this Municipality as members of a Charter Review Commission to serve until their duties as provided in Section 20.02 of this Charter are completed. The members shall serve without compensation. Section 20.02 Duties The Charter Review Commission shall, in meetings open to the public, review the Municipal Charter, and, no later than August 1 of the same year, recommend to Council such amendments, if any, to this Charter as in its judgment are conducive to the public interest. Section 20.03 Submission to the Electors Council may submit to the electors any such proposed amendments to this Charter, which submission, in each instance, shall be in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of Ohio. 2

The Commission’s Report : The 2015 Charter Review Commission held its first meeting on February 11, 2015. Subsequent meetings were held on February 18, February 25, March 11, March 18, April 1, and May 13, 2015. All of the meetings were open to the public. Agendas and minutes were maintained on the reminderville.com website. The Commission was supported by Stacey Task, Clerk of Council. In addition, Mayor Alonso was available to give insight into how the Village functions and answered all questions provided by the Commission. Council President Mario Molina, Councilman Mark Kondik, and Councilman and Charter Commission member Tom DiCarlo were also present to give their valued perspective on the Charter. After a complete review of each article of the Charter, recommendation from department heads, insight provided by Village officials, and discussion of public comments and suggestions that were sent in, the Commission has determined a recommendation to put to the Reminderville Council for its consideration to be placed on the ballot at the November elections. 3

Recommendation: (Changes in red) Article X. Civil Service Section 10.03 Classified and Unclassified Service The civil service of the Municipality is hereby divided into the unclassified and the classified service. (1) The unclassified service shall include: a. Elected officers; b. Head of departments, including the Fire Chief and the Chief of Police; c. Members of all boards and commissions appointed by the Mayor or Council; d. The Clerk of Council, the Fiscal Officer, and the Mayor’s administrative assistant; e. Other personnel having access to confidential information as defined by the Civil Service Commission; f. Part-time, temporary, and seasonal employees. (2) The classified service shall comprise all full-time positions not specifically included in the unclassified service, and personnel hired for promotional openings. Rationale: Charter Article X. Civil Service, Section 10.04 states: The Civil Service Commission shall make, present, prescribe, and enforce rules for the appointment, promotion, transfer, lay-off, reinstatement, suspension, and removal of employees in the classified service and such other rules as may be necessary and proper for the enforcement of the merit system and for the procedures of the Commission. The Civil Service Commission shall determine the practicality of competitive exams for any non-elected office or job classification in the service of the Municipality. The Commission shall keep a record of its proceedings, which shall be open to public inspection. The proposed amendment to Charter Article X. Civil Service, Section 10.03 assigns positions into classes of full-time, part-time, temporary, and seasonal. Based on the recommendation from the Civil Service Commission (see attached) and supported by Fire Chief Tom Plunkett, Police Chief Jeff Buck, and Service Director Sam Scaffide (see attached), an amendment adding part-time, temporary, and seasonal employees to the unclassified service list would have a positive fiscal impact on department budgets as well as allow the department heads to hire quality applicants in a timely manner. Civil Service testing would no longer be 4

required for part-time, temporary, or seasonal positions in the fire department, police department, or service department. Over $6,000.00 would be saved in testing costs annually. Besides the cost effectiveness of this amendment, it is vital to the hiring process as well. It would allow the departments to handle roster openings in a timely manner so as not to disrupt their commitment to residents. The current procedure is time consuming and allows top test scorers to move on in the hiring process even if they have no experience. Finding qualified, experienced applicants is what is important for Reminderville. Bigger cities with bigger budgets can take the risk and time to train the less-experienced top test scorers fresh out of the academy. This proposed amendment would benefit all departments in continuing to serve the Village of Reminderville in a manner to which it has become accustomed. Surrounding municipalities that have assigned part-time, temporary, and seasonal employees to unclassified service include Aurora, Chagrin Falls, Fairfield, Mayfield, and Medina. Civil Service testing and procedures would continue to be required for full-time employees and for the use of hiring for promotional openings. The Charter Review Commission voted on presenting this proposal to Council and it passed 5-0. The Charter Review Commission recommends referring to the voters the adoption of the proposed amendment. 5

I n closing, the members of the Charter Review Commission give thanks to Mayor Alonso for appointing them and for giving them the opportunity to serve their community. We, the undersigned, submit this proposal to the Village of Reminderville Council on this 26 th day of May, 2015 _________________________ _________________________ Rodney Wiggins, Chairman Joseph Phillips, Vice Chairman _________________________ _________________________ Sara Basel, Member Victoria Jeromos-Blayney, Member _________________________ Michael Owcarz, Member 6