09/18/1984
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Proceedings of Civil Service Board Meeting held September 18. 198/.
Present:. Nugent Ualsh 9 Chairman
Tam Chenoweth, Member
Mary D. Kane, Member
Louis Hosch, Member
Absent:
Dr. Joseph Carwise, Member
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Visitors:
Leonard' Petrick
Sydney J. Snair
Hope Wlasiuk
Doug Wlasiuk
R. Parke
Gregg Smith
Robert Kretzner
Lester Rent
I Don Graham
Fred Ratley
George Leslie
Jean Cesta
Alice Bush
William Buchenhorst
Bill Symons
Mary McCann
Steve Zimmerman
Howard French (Reporter)
The Civil. Service Board Meeting of September 18, 1984 was convened at 7:35 P.M. by Acting
Chairnlan Nugent Walsh. Mr. Walsh introduced Board Members and the Personnel Director to
.t~ose in attendance.
Mr. Hosch moved that Nugent Walsh be named as Chairman for the remainder of the calendar
year. Motion was seconded by Mrs. Kane and passed unanimously.
Mr. qhenoweth moved' that t::,! Hinutes of the meeting of July 179 1984 be approved. Motion
seconded by Mrs. Kane and passed unanimously.
Chairman opened :the floor for discussion by members on Agenda Item #3 - Legal opinion
of Frank'Kowalski relative to "Rights of Civil Service Employees represented by a
Ba~gaining Unit." Mrs. Kane indicated she was disturbed to have had brought to her
attention: actions of:the C"ilA Union'in, its negotiations with the City. in which the Union
proposed that:
"Any matter defined as a grievance under paragraph Ie' of this Agreement
shall only be processed through the grievance procedure of this Agreement
, and .sha~~ not be appealed to the Civil Service Advisory Board. Employees
covered by this Agreement hereby waive any right to resort to the ~ivil
Service Advisory Board concerning any matter defined in this Agreement as a
grievance. Employees shall discuss the grievance with the Union Representative
after:which the Union will decide whether your grievance is meritorious or not."
Mr~. Kane stated that the City's only cl1ange to the Union's proposal was to delete the
wordnadv,isory'~..from the InnglJugp.. She then read from Chapter 447.401, Florida Statutes.
as follows:
"A career 'service employee shall have the option of utilizing the Civil
service appeals procedure or a grievance procedure established under this
section, but such employee cannot use both 11 civil service appeal and a
'grievance procedure."
Mrs. Kane advised that similar proposals to that made by the CWA were made by the City
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- 2 -
Ci~il Scr~ice Boa~d' Meeting
September l8t 1984
to the FOP and to the lAFF. She expressed concern that such proposals were made when the
Personnel Director was a memher of the City Negotiating Teamt and related that she had
discussed this with the Director who advised her he hod' discussed the sam~ concern with
members of the bargaining team. Nrs. Kane related that she hoped employet!B would get
to the. CWAt whether a member or not. and ask them to withdraw the item from the contt'M,t
or to veto Article VI of the Contract. Chairman Walsh asked Mr. Kowalski to comment.
Mr. Kowalski indicated he could' not comment aubstantively as negotiations were not complete.
Jlowevert he noted' that the Personnel Director should not be held accountable for City
propOSals in,~argaining. He related that the Florida Statutes do not sny whether
employees ha~e the right to waive the benefit of provisions of the Statute by adopting
a collective bargaining agreement. that it is not clear-cut as to whether the proposal in
question is illegal~
Chairman Walsh expressed the hope that the City was bargaining in good faith andt as
Civ.il Serv.ice was supposed' to be an independent agency and the Personnel Director is
responsible to the Board' as well as to the City. he was concerned that the Director not
be placed' in an embarrassing position in bargaining. He should be independent and this
should' be con~eyed' to Mr. Weimer.
Eunice Wlasiuk askeq' the Chairman who was responsible for providing information to the
900 e~ployees of the bargaining unit on the proposed contract. Chairman asked
Mr., Kowalski, to respond'.. Mr. Kowa.lski adv.ised' it was the responsibility of the Union
representatives to seek ratification of any proposed' Agreement they negotiate with the
City~ Such vote would be on the Agreement as a wholet and if ratified. would be submitted
to the City' Commission for final approval. '
Mr. Kowalski advise~ that State Law provides bargaining unit members with certain rights.
w.h~ther they are Union members or not. The Union is not allowed to discriminate on the
basis of Union membership. As to any grievance which an employee files, the Union deter-
mines not'meritorious, the employee is entitled' to take that grievance to binding
arbitration. He stated' it was not the intent to change that provision.
Mrs. Kane read from Florida Statutest Chapter 447.401 (grievance procedure) as follows:
"All public employees shall have the right to a fair and equitable grievance
procedure ad~inistered' without regard to membership or non-membership in any
organization, except that certified employee organizations shall not be
required' to process grievances for employees who are not members of the
o~ganization."
She.suggested the Union should obtain a copy of Chapter 447, Florida Statutes.
Steve Zimmerman, CWA Union representative>> stated that he had personally provided copies
of the Statutes to CWA Executive Board Members and the Union was fully aware of the law.
Chairman asked the Personnel Director to summarize Item #4. Director. in response to
,previous Board' action, had' d'irected' a letter to the City Manager asking that two
questions be laid' before the City Commission; one>> whether it was app~opriate to grant
employees an 8% increase as confidential employees based on a list not approved by PERC;
two, whether the ~ction taken in granting certain employees the 8% adjustment caused
conflicts with Civ.il Service Rules on position classification. The City ~lanager had
responded' to the Director"s letter. indicating the City Commission discussed the item
and it was their consensus that the matter should be handled by the City Manager and
administration. The City Manager"s response indicated that PERC was the appropriate
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-(:};,:.;.:,.,,::' ' positions, abolished those jobs, and made them unclassified to set the person to the job.
'};-'>:';:,," She related the purpose of Civil Service is to protect the employee and to ubolish a job
:f~}~(',';"'. ,and set a person in that job who doesn't have to take a Civil Service exam. whereas I
e.::,.".~,::' somebody in that department, if it was a classified position, could take an examination
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t,;:,'., ~. :.: and. be p1;"omoted'..This is a bad situation. Chairman Walsh agreed nnd noted that he would
~~/;" ,.,'" like th,e Di1;"ector to bring to the attention of the City that the voters approved the
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fr,::'~\~':, :'" CiVil Ser\!,ice Ordi:nance, and' that Section 25.01 provides that:
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- 3 -
Civil Scrv:l.cc Hoard Meoting
Scptcniliur 10. 19H~
body to resolve disputes as to the composition of bargaining units; the City lIIul CWh
had discussed the matter and were working to submit a revised Certlf lcntiull I.tHt to
PERC; and that the City action in defining confidential employees wos contJiutont with
the existing Certification. The City Manager concurred with the noard on the !Jucond
question and indicated that the City would establish new job clasHeR us ncudcd to
remove confidential employees from classes which also included non-confidentiul omptoyccn.
Mrs. Kane asked if the new list had been approved by llERC. PcrHonncl Director atoted thnt
he understood a list was submitted to PERC and a response mny llRVC been received. but ho
had not seen the response. Mrs. Kane asked how it was determined which employee" wore
confidential. Personnel Director advised that a committee (Mr. Weimer. Mr. Kownlski
and himself) had revie'oled and made the determination, subsequently submitting this to
the City'Manager.
Mrs. Kane expressed concern that Clerk Typist II positions in Personnel were called
confidential but that employees ill the same class in Data Processing who dealt with
employee records and employees in the same class in the Police Department who have
access to criminal records were not called confidential. Chairman Walsh indicated his
, concern was with the I;'ay Plan -- that confidential employees have nothing to do with Pay
Plans. Confusion over this designation may have generated 0 new pay clussification not
,approved by the Board or City Commission. He suggested the Director look into this
matter.
"All appointments and p'romotions in the city service shall be made without
regard to sex, race, religion, or political affiliation and 8ho11 he based
on merit and fitness."
He noted that Section 25.02 establishes the Civil Service Career Service and denotes
what is involved and what 'is excluded, ~s follows:
lIThe following positions which by their nature cannot and Hhould not
appropria tely be included in the Career Civil Service..." eXl3mp t ion ~ being
IIDepartment, Division or Agency Headl:l and persons serVing in positions
. funded in whole or in part by United StateH Government manpower assistance
programs."
Mr. Walsh related a concern that any reclassifications from classified to unclassified
take these provisions and strictly construe tllem because thls 1s whnt the. 'Voters
approved. He noted that employees need llssurance that their jobs would be there and
tbeycould be promoted from within.
Mrs. Kane asked the Director to bring to the attention of the Hoard any positions which
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Civil Scrvi,cc Board Meeting
September l8t 1984
are changed from classified to unclassified status in the future.
Relative to Agenda Item #6, Personnel Direct~r summarized the procedure relating to
granting of veteran's preference points. Veteran's points are provided on entry-level
open exams where a person enters City employment. Points are not provided on promotional
examinations. Director noted' that this follows the State law on veteran's points as
referenced in a legal opinion on the State Statute received from Mr. Kowalski. He also
passed out copies of an Attorney General's opinion relative to veteran's points which
relatns that the only time an employee could use veterants points on a promotion would
be the first promotion after "reinstatement" following a break in City employment
involving military service.
Mrs. Kane questioned the administration of examinations on a joint open and promotional
basis and suggested, that exams should first be given promotionally and if no one passedt
then the exam be given on an open basis. Robert Kretzmer, Finance Department employee,
stated he felt the open and promotional lists resulting from a single exam were adequate,
but he did not understand why each was used. The Personnel Director explained that the
primary reason was to hest serve the needs of the various departments in staffing their
positio~s timely. Delays ranging from two to six weeks can result where an exam in
giv.en, prQmotionally and then has to be -re-scheduled' on an open basis. Further discussion
was directed' to the standing of employees on open and promotional lists and the fact
that ~mployees on an open list were in competition with outside candidates who benefit
from veteran's points.
Personnel Director adv.ised' Board' Members that a memo had' recently been forwarded to City
departments requesting them to make greater use of promotional examinations and eligibility
1ists~ Othe~ discussion focused on the status of score groups, the integration of
eligible~ on a list involv.ing d~fferent exam datest and' the right of departments to re-
quire five whole score groups on a certification. Director related that the rules require
the department to make a selection from a certified list when it has been provided (i.e.t
they may not augment the list).
Bill Symons, Engineering Department employee, asked how the process worked with respect
to confidential employees. Personnel Director advised' that confidential employees
and' employees in the Professional-Managerial Pay Plan are Civil Service and the same
standards apply to them as to other employees in the classified' service. Mrs. Kane
concurredt noting that these employees would have Civil Service protection, whereas those
covered' by. the Un~on contract, if the Union's proposal to waive Civil Service grievance
rights were approved', would' not have that protection.
Cha,irman Walsh asked' if the DirElctor had' investigated' whether other cities gave po.ints
for continuing employment as such a system would' offset the advantage given to non-
City employees through their use of veteranl.s points. Directo~ advis~d that the City
does provld.e "seniority" points on exams to employees.
Re.Lativ:e to Agenda Item (17, Director summarized the request of Carmen Iacono, Library
C1erk~\ Ms., Iacono had' received' counseling trom her department and' had initiated the
Civ.il Service grievance procedure, carrying through to the City Manager level of the
procedure. Her request for review by the Board was not timely, having been submitted
late: Director noted that the employee is on Medical Leave of Absence and this may
have impacted her ability to respond timely. Asst. City ~fanager Gerald Weimer advised
the Board that the City Manager's Office had no objection to their hearing the
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- 5 -
Civil Service Board Meeting
September 18. 1984
appeal. Chairman Walsh asked the Director to contact Ms. Iacono to determine if she
wished to continue the appeol, and, if so. to ask her to provide relevant materials to
the Board for their consideration.
Personnel Director related that Agenda Item fl8 wos based on receipt of 0 request from
Eunice Wlasiuk to appear before the Board. She had resigned from City employment and
subsequently requested to withdraw her resignation. Her request was denied by her
Department Director. Mrs. Kane related she knew she was a good employee and that her
resignation waS marked uwould rehire" by the department. Mrs. Wlasiuk advised the Board
she had resigned from the City on a previous occasion to take an administrative job in
another state; that the climate there caused her to return to Florida and she was re-
employed by the City. Subsequently. she married and sometime later became pregnant,
requiring that she and her husband seek a larger residence. A suitable residence was
found, but required a 20% down payment. The only way to obtain sufficiont monies was
to withdraw her contributions from the lCMA Deferred Compensation Program. She had
found she could not get this money or make a loan against the sum; therefore. she
resigned and was able to obtain her contributions. She related her supervisor was aware
of her reasons for ~esigning and that no indication was given that she would have any
problems returning. although her supervisor did advise her that Mr. Carter's approval
would be required. Mr. Sid Snair, Occupational License Inspector commented that her work
spoke for itself; she was an excellent worker as reflected by her record.
Chairman \~alsh asked about the performance evaluations and whether the job was still
vacant. Mr. Snair stated the job was still vacant.
Mrs. Kane moved that the Board accept Eunice Wlasiuk's Withdrawal of Resignation and that
she be placed back in her job in the Occupational License Division of Central Services.
Mr. Chenoweth questioned whether the Board had authority to take this action. Personnel
.Director read Rule~" Section 3 which relates that approval is required by the Department
Directorf Appointing Authority and the Civil Service Board. Chairman Walsh stated that'
Rule 15. Page 56, says that if an employee feels a decision of the Appointing Authority
is discriminatory or capricious. then they do have an appeal directly to the Board.
He noted that this case involved unusual circumstances and he was not sure the Department
Director was aware of the circumstances.
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Mrs. Kane stated Mr. Carter should be asked to app~ar before the Board and noted that he
had previously asked that Mrs. Wlasiuk's position be up-graded.
In response to Mr.'Chenoweth's request for legal advice, Mr. Kowalski related that the
Civil Service Rules require. for the approval of a request to withdraw resignation, the
approval of the Department Director. the Appointing Authority and the Board. This
meant that the Board could veto a City decision to permit a recissian of a resignation.
hut could not compel the City to accept it. He further related that he could not comment
on Rule IS (grievances) without the opportunity to read it through completely.
Board asked the Personnel Director to proceed with Director's Report while Mr. Kowalski
reviewed Rule 15.
The Personnel Director advised the Board that a new Section 11 of Rule 8 would become
effective 'October 1. 1984. This addition to Rule 8 was originally proposed by the Board
and had been reviewed and approved by the City Manager. The addition relates to a
requirement that p~rsons employed under a Grant funded position must compete to retain
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Civil Service Board Meeting
- 6 -
September 18. 1984
that position if it is subsequently established by tlte City os a regular position.
Director distributed copies of the City's new Suggestion Awards Program to Board
Members. This program became effective September 1, 1984. Director provided Board
Members with copies of three job descriptions proposed for three confidential job
classes necessitated by the issue of confidential employees under Chapter 447 of
Florida Statutes and the City's providing confidential employees an 8% wage adjustment.
,
Director distributed copies of proposed revisions of Civil Service Rules 1 through 4
to the Board. The proposals were developed by the Director in an effort to bring the
Rules into compliance and consistency with the Ordinance and were offered for discussion
purposes. Mrs. Kane moved that the Board review and discuss these proposals at the
next regular Board Meeting. Motion was seconded by Mr. Chenoweth and passed unanimously.
Copies of the 1983 Annual Report of the Personnel Department were distributed to Board
Members. Mr. Chenoweth moved that the Board accept this report. Motion was seconded by
Mr. Hosch and passed unanimously.
Mrs. Kane asked why it took so long to complete job audits. Director advised that such
audits were gerierally considered of low priority among the many responsibilities of the
Personnel Department. He advised the Board that he had recently put a freeze for six
weeks on processing audits due to other project workloads. Since that time. the
department has established a goal of completing all existing job audit requests within
the next 90 days. Additional staff will be assigned from other department areas as
needed to help reach this goal. "
At this point. Mr. Kowalski responded to the question of whether the Board has the
authority to approve the withdrawal of a resignation (where the Department Director
disapproved it). He ind~cated.the Board did not have the authority at this time.
However, Rule 15 provides an aVenue for an employee to grieve an action of the employer
he/she believes discriminatory or capricious. Thus. an employee has the right to file
a grievance and carry it through the various levels. which may eventually corne before
the Board. He noted that the Civil Service law (which takes precedent over the Rules)
does not give the Board' any authority to act in this matter or to inhibit the Board
from taking any action, as long as there is a rule whereby the City confers that right
on the Board, then they have the authority conferred. At this point. Mr. Kowalski
advised the only action the Board could take would be advisory to the employee or to make
a -recommendation to the Personnel Director.. He noted the employee now knows she has
the option of grievance procedure.
Chairman tJalsh asked the Personnel Director to meet with the Department Director to
see if this matter could be resolved. Board Members concurred with this request.
Chairman Walsh asked if any employees or citizens wished to speak to the Board.
Robert Kretzrner asked' why the City's Pension Plan was limited to those under age 45.
Director related that the Pension Law provides this requirement and that it had existed
for many years. Mr. Kretzmer asked if this was enacted' before the Age Discrimination
Ac t. Mr. Laursen related' ths t the issue had been raised by EEOC a t one pain t due to
an employee complaint, but had d~~pped the issue. Director perceived that action was
because the City's Plan pre-dated the Age Discrimination Act and was not a subterfuge
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- 7 -
, Civil ServIce Boatd Meeting
September 18, 1984
to avoid its requirements. He also noted that the Pension Advisory Committee at its
last meeting discussed the same concern. This employee-elected Committee has asked tho
Finance Department to research how many employees hud been hired in the last five years
who were between the ages of 45 and 55 years of age. Personnel Director suggested
employees direct their concern to the Pension Advisory Committee.
Alice Bush, Engineering Department employee, related she had been rejected from pension
and relegated to Social Security status 27 years ago because of being ltunhealthy"; yet
she has accrued over 11 year of sick leave and hasn't missed work in several ycars.
Personnel Director related that pension concerns such as thoBe being discussed should
be directed to either or both of the groups established under the Pension l.aw to
administer the pension - the Pension Advisory Committee (employee-elected committee)
and the Pension Trustees (the City Commission). He related that the Pension Advisory
Committee meets on the first Wednesday of every month in the Personnel Department
Conference Room and that employees may attend such meetings.
Mr. Raymond Parke, Gas Division employee, indicated he was going through a grievance
which has thus far been processed through the City Manager level. He has now been told
that a Hearing Officer will be appointed and was told that he would not be able to
appear before the Board on his grievance.
Chairman Walsh asked the Personnel Director to comment. Director stated that this
relates to an area where the Board has disagreed in the past, i.e., interpretation
of the Ordinance on the appointment of a Hearing Officer. The real question is, what
is the appropriate manner to hear this issue?
Chairman Walsh noted the Ordinance provides that questions of discipline or job dis-
crimination shall be heard by the Hearing Officer, and this appears to be a pay
problem not discipline or discrimination. Director reflected the employee lost his
pay due to disciplinary action, the question being was the discipline appropriate.
Greg Smith, Gas Division employee, expressed to the Chairman that he seemed to be saying
that the employee could go before the Civil Service Board whereas the Personnel Director
was saying the grievance would go before a Hearing Officer. He asked which is the
correct way? The Director noted that this question has been discussed by this Civil
Service Board and past Civil Service Boards and the closest to a resolution was the
recent response of the Attorney General which stated this should be a product of the
local Legal Department.
Mr. Kowalski expressed his opinion that the Ordinance provided two methods for the
appointment of a Hearing Officer: one was for the Commission to submit five names to
the Boa~d and they select a Hearing Officer, the other was for the City to contract
with the State to provide a Hearing Officer. He related that the City had chosen to
contract with the State. At a Hearing, the employee would have a full due-process
hearing. Subsequently, when the Hearing Officer submits a report to the Civil Service
Board, the employee may appear before the Board but he cannot go back over the facts.
Chairman Walsh indicated the parties were at an impasse; the Chief Assistant City
Attorney had rendered his opinion, however, he did not agree with this.yiew. Chairman
Walsh indicated he read the Ordinance differently, Le., 25.04 sub-section lie" the
Civil Service Board (comma) upon its own initiative...shall have the responsibility of
condu~ting public hearings...on employee grievances. Another section states that the
Hearing Officer shall hear all cases of employee grievances relating to discipline
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Y;::(i.~,..,:,,; Mr. Steye Zinunerman, Vice President of the CWA Union, expressed that some of the comments
}/:\>::'~..::.; of the meeting might give a false impression of what the Union is trying to do. He
;1~:~~;:':!:/~:',' stated it was not the Union's intention to take protection away from any employee; 'that
t~,>:?;'/:,:employees could proceed through the grievance procedure all the way to binding
t.:::~-::;'::'-~ arbitration.
'~ll "'~ ,.';'" .
;jt~:;::>::f~ ,F~ed Ratley, Building & Maintenancn Division employee, askBd Mr. Zimmerman why he should
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'~~~.:\:"{;~~::'~ properly, discuBs. the issue at this time, however, when a contract was negotiated a meet-
.\":A?).',"~ ing would be, held with employees to review the proposal before a vote on ratification
'~}~Ht): :'~ . and he would see tha t every ques tion was answered.
'i~&H~1~ij~ . Chairm~n . Walsh' asked the Personnel Direc tor if he would see that all employees were
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~~('t.~;\l.',i';r", Mrs. :Kane' thanked the many employees for their attendance at the meeting.
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- 8 -
September 18, 1984
or job discrimination. He concluded that discipline and job discrimination grievances
must go to a Hearing Officer but that the Ordinance was open for interpretation on
grievances.' He nuted that while respecting the opinion of Mr. Kowalski, he was
employed by the City a~d the Board could ask for independent legal counsel to scttle
this issue.
Director
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