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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAdministration MINUTES 09-12-19 Page 2 of 6 Arlai CENTRAL SAN CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT 5019 IMHOFF PLACE, MARTINEZ, CA 9,4553-A392 SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS: DAVID R, WILLIAMS CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA President SANITARY DISTRICT MICHAEL R.MCGILL President Pro Tem ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE PAULH CAUSEY JAMES A.NEJEDLY TAD J PILECKI MINUTES PHONE: (925)228-9500 Thursday, September 12, 2019 EAx. cent alvan. rg www.centralsan.or 8:30 a.m. Executive Conference Room 5019 Imhoff Place Martinez, California Committee: Chair David Williams Member Mike McGill Guest: Rick Hernandez, representing Local One (left after Item 3.c.) Staff.- Katie Young, Secretary of the District Ann Sasaki, Deputy General Manager Phil Leiber, Director of Finance and Administration Teji O'Malley, Human Resources Manager Christina Gee, Management Analyst Donna Anderson, Assistant to the Secretary of the District Heather Fryman, Administrative Assistant (left after Item 3.b.) 1. Call Meeting to Order Chair Williams called the meeting to order at 8:36 a.m. 2. Public Comments None, although it was suggested that Item 3.c. be heard out of order, immediately after Item 2. September 19, 2019 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 118 of 122 Page 3 of 6 Administration Committee Minutes September 12, 2019 Page 2 3. Items for Committee Recommendation to Board a. Receive the Fiscal Year 2018-19 Strategic Plan Annual Report This item was heard following Item 3.c., which was taken out of order. Ms. Gee reviewed the presentation included with the agenda material. The Committee was very pleased with the report. Member McGill asked if the report could be made available to the Board next year in advance of the 2020 annual Executive Management Team performance appraisals. Staff said the final report in booklet form may not be available at that time, but the accomplishments certainly could be provided to the Board for earlier review. Both Committee Members agreed that would be very helpful. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the report. b. Receive update on Mentorship Program and presentation of Cycle 2 mentorship project on Evaluation of Central San's Appraisal Process Ms. Gee reviewed the presentation included with the agenda material after which she and Ms. O'Malley responded to several questions/comments from the Committee as to the selection process for the mentors/mentees and the feedback received from past participants which has been used to develop program enhancements going forward. Member McGill suggested that to the extent the new handbook being developed for the program includes useful information for mentors, it would be beneficial to incorporate that information into the curriculum for the next session of the Management Leadership Academy. Upon conclusion of the update, Ms. Fryman reviewed the presentation on her mentorship project entitled "Evaluation of Central San's Appraisal Process." The Committee thanked Ms. Fryman for an excellent report. Member McGill said he is pleased that the new performance evaluation forms will include general descriptors for appraisal categories, which should help reduce bias. Ms. O'Malley said staff has been meeting with both the Local One and Management Support/Confidential Group bargaining units to review the forms. The unions have welcomed the overall proposed changes to the process. As of now, Ms. O'Malley said it is a matter of working out the details and the procedures for implementation. September 19, 2019 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 119 of 122 Page 4 of 6 Administration Committee Minutes September 12, 2019 Page 3 Chair Williams agreed with Member McGill that the new process certainly appears to be an improvement. As a Board Member, he said he would be interested in knowing how often appraisals are performed, what data can be gleaned from them (including possible development of a performance bell curve), and if raters are expected to compare performance both within Central San and within the broader wastewater community. Ms. O'Malley said evaluations are currently conducted on the employee's anniversary and are based on an employee's current position. She added that, based on experience at other companies, she would be very hesitant to develop any sort of bell curve; however, the new process should provide Human Resources with more meaningful data and an opportunity to make or impact organizational changes based on the information. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the update and presentation on the mentorship project and provided input to staff. C. Conduct biennial review of Board Policy No. BP 031 — Use of Temporary Employees This Item was heard out of order, immediately after Item 2, to accommodate Mr. Hernandez, who was present for this item only. Ms. Young explained that the only change recommended by staff to BP 031 was the addition of a sentence requiring General Manager approval for hiring temporary employees, which Ms. O'Malley said simply codifies current practice. Mr. Hernandez, representing Local One, said that Central San's temporary employee program has worked very well in the past. Temps have historically been used when employees are out or to help with peak workloads. Of late, however, Local One has received complaints from employees inquiring whether the temporary employee program is being used as part of the recruitment process. He said this would conflict with Title 4 (Personnel) of the District Code, which clearly sets forth the recruitment process and is meant to provide equal opportunity. Local One has no issue with the proposed change to the Policy as described by Ms. Young; rather, it takes issue with the third and fourth bulleted reasons for using temporary employees: • Succession planning/retirements • Backfilling vacant positions while awaiting a recruitment He further explained that the problem is not so much with entry-level positions. A problem arises when temps are used for positions that current employees could move into, as is the case with the Permit Counter. He September 19, 2019 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 120 of 122 Page 5 of 6 Administration Committee Minutes September 12, 2019 Page 4 read from page 20 of the 2016 Succession Planning Summary Report that recommended making the Cross-Training Pilot Program permanent to help prepare for departures and retirements, and to cross train individuals to assist the Permit Counter staff. He said he does not know why that has not occurred. Instead of following that recommendation, outside consultants and temps have been brought in to be trained on the job. Historically, in- house administrative support employees have been utilized for that purpose. The practice of using temps to fill vacant, non-entry-level positions until someone is recruited can be problematic because it can give the temp an edge over current employees who may be seeking to advance. He said it can be used as a "back door"means of getting someone in place who will have an opportunity to be groomed for the position. Chair Williams asked Mr. Hernandez if he had a proposal for revising BP 031. Mr. Hernandez said Local One would recommend striking the third and fourth bullets from the Policy until there has been an opportunity for further discussion. Member McGill said that not bringing this policy forward to the Board at this time does not necessarily address the two referenced bullets because the policy already exists. He also said he could intellectually conceive how someone might "game the system,"as described by Mr. Hernandez. Having said that, he noted the Strategic Plan metric to fill vacant positions is within 60 days. It was determined that this item should be revisited at a future meeting, and the Committee requested the following information be provided for that discussion: 1. Any relevant information from the current Memoranda of Understanding regarding the inclusion of internal candidates as part of the pool for open positions; 2. Any policies on backfilling and overfilling of positions; 3. Information as to why the past practice of rotating employees among various divisions was ceased; and 4. Any relevant information from the 2016 Succession Planning Summary Report. COMMITTEE ACTION: Recommended bringing this item back for discussion at a future meeting with the information requested. Upon conclusion of the above item, the Committee reverted back to the original agenda order, starting with Item 3.a. September 19, 2019 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 121 of 122 Page 6 of 6 Administration Committee Minutes September 12, 2019 Page 5 4. Announcements a. Ms. Young announced that staff is trying to schedule a four-hour active shooter training session and she is waiting to hear from several Board Members as to their availability. Chair Williams said a four-hour training is a long time. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the announcement. 5. Suggestions for Future Agenda Items a. Receive list of upcoming agenda items and provide suggestions for any other future agenda items 1) Member McGill said he wished to add a future agenda item to review and discuss a recent presentation from the August 2019 California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) Conference entitled "What Not to Email." It was noted that District Counsel Kent Alm is reviewing the presentation and will provide his input when it the item is discussed with the Committee. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the list. 6. Future Scheduled Meetings Tuesday, October 15, 2019 at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, October 22, 2019 at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, November 5, 2019 at 8:30 a.m. 7. Adjournment— at 10:13 a.m. September 19, 2019 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 122 of 122