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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAdministration MINUTES 02-02-21 Page 2 of 12 ol&)i Cwil ENTRAL SAN CONTRACENTRAL • IMHOFF PLACE, MARTINEZ, CA 9AS53-A392 BOARD OF DIRECTORS: REGULAR MEETING OF THE TAD PresiddentPILECKI ent CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA DAVID R. WILLIAMS SANITARY DISTRICT President Pro Tem ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE BARBARA°URITZEN MICHAEL R.MCGILL MINUTES PHONE: (925)228-9500 FAX.- (925)372-0192 Tuesday, February 2, 2021 www.centralsan.org 9:00 a.m. (All attendees participated via videoconference) Committee: Chair David Williams Member Tad Pilecki Staff.- Roger S. Bailey, General Manager Katie Young, Secretary of the District Philip Leiber, Director of Finance and Administration Steve McDonald, Director of Operations Teji O'Malley, Human Resources and Organizational Development Manager Tim Potter, Environmental Compliance Superintendent, and President of the Management Support/Confidential Group (MS/CG) (joined during Item 4.a.) Chris Carpenter, Community Affairs Representative (left after Item 5.a.) Christina Gee, Management Analyst Donna Anderson, Assistant to the Secretary of the District Amelia Berumenm, Senior Administrative Technician 1. Public Notice Regarding COVID-19 This meeting was held in accordance with the Brown Act as in effect under the State Emergency Services Act, the Governor's Emergency Declaration related to COVID-19, and the Governor's Executive Order N-29-20 issued on March 17, 2020 that allowed Board Members, District staff, and the public to participate in and conduct the meeting by teleconference, videoconference, or both. The agenda included instructions for options in which the public could participate in the meeting. 2. Call Meeting to Order Chair Williams called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. February 18, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 101 of 147 Page 3 of 12 Administration Committee Minutes February 2, 2021 Page 2 3. Public Comments — None. 4. Items for Committee Recommendation to Board a. Review draft Position Paper to consider adopting Resolution No. 2021- to include two additional classifications as part of the unrepresented at-will employees' group, and to rescind Resolution No. 2020-058 Ms. O'Malley pointed out an error in the exhibit to the proposed resolution included with the agenda packet. Section B.2. of the resolution regarding elections for payments of the cash equivalent of vacation accruals inadvertently excluded the limitation of"up to a maximum of one hundred sixty (160) hours,"as is set forth in the current Resolution No. 2020-058. She acknowledged that the error would be corrected when the item is presented to the full Board. Ms. O'Malley said the justification for adding the Director of Operations classification to the unrepresented, at-will employee group was to keep like positions together(department directors). Adding the Internal Auditor position was deemed necessary to mitigate the potential for conflicts of interest if the position were to be part of a bargaining unit. With respect to the Internal Auditor position, Mr. Bailey said he has looked at other organizations, both public and private, and the internal auditor is independent and generally not represented, either answering to a governing body or a committee. When the Board approved a full-time position for an internal auditor approximately six years ago, it wanted the position to report to the General Manager. When looking at the overall audit function as a program, he said it was essential that it be independent to ensure the District is functioning within the guidelines and regulations under which it must abide. Member Pilecki asked if the Internal Auditor position was eligible for overtime. Ms. O'Malley said that because the position is FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act)-exempt, it was not eligible for overtime. If the Internal Auditor were to become a member of the unrepresented, at-will employee group, Member Pilecki asked if the components of the compensation package could be modified for each member of that group. Ms. O'Malley said yes, in theory. She said the Board or General Manager could develop separate employment contracts for each position. Because they are unrepresented and at-will, the terms and conditions of employment could be drafted by the District. Member Pilecki said he took issue with the Internal Auditor receiving 80 hours of administrative leave each year like the other unrepresented, at- will positions. In his opinion, the other positions deserve it, but the Internal February 18, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 102 of 147 Page 4 of 12 Administration Committee Minutes February 2, 2021 Page 3 Auditor position should be comparable to the District's managers, who also serve at-will and only receive 40 hours of administrative leave per year. He advocated for the Internal Auditor to have its own employment contract that would limit administrative leave to 40 hours annually. A discussion took place about the approaches Central San has taken over the last several years to meet the District's internal audit needs. After factors associated with contracting the function to an outside agency were deemed cost prohibitive by the Finance Committee, a different approach was tried. Rather than hiring a full-time employee, the function has been fulfilled by two individuals (not concurrently), each serving as temporary auditors for approximately one-and-a-half years. Both left voluntarily, the most recent having relocated in spring 2020. Mr. Leiber pointed out that staff contracted with Maze &Associates to perform a specific audit in one functional area. It was cost-effective based on Maze's familiarity with the District. Ultimately, Mr. Bailey said he decided to fill the position with a full-time, unrepresented, at-will employee who would report to the General Manager. Chair Williams acknowledged the challenges associated with an internal auditor being an employee versus an outside contractor. He also pointed out that an employee's familiarity with how the District functions can be more efficient than with an outside contractor. If an employee, he supported the position being unrepresented, at-will. Member Pilecki said he was not opposed to the Internal Auditor position being unrepresented; but the 80 versus 40 hours of administrative leave was, in his opinion, unfair to the managers. He said he was concerned about the long-term impacts of this difference. Chair Williams sought confirmation from Mr. Bailey that the reason the administrative leave for the unrepresented, at-will group was increased to 80 hours was to recognize the fact that they gave up their right to bargaining unit protection. Mr. Bailey confirmed that was true. Member Pilecki said the managers also serve at-will, and their group does not receive the same protections afforded the employees in Public Employees Union, Local#1 or the Management Support/Confidential Group (MS/CG). Ms. O'Malley confirmed that the District recognizes the Management Group as a bargaining unit with rights to bargain on matters of wages, hours, and working conditions, but managers still are considered at-will employees. Nevertheless, Mr. Bailey said the Board made the decision to increase administrative leave to 80 hours for the unrepresented, at-will group. Member Pilecki said that from a salary perspective, the Internal Auditor should be an MS/CG position. He opined that providing this position with February 18, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 103 of 147 Page 5 of 12 Administration Committee Minutes February 2, 2021 Page 4 80 hours of administrative leave would send the wrong message to the Management Group. Mr. Bailey said if the Internal Auditor position were to report directly to the Board, as do the General Manager and the Secretary of the District, setting a different level of administrative leave could easily be accomplished. However, the Board has expressed its desire to have the position report to the General Manager. From his perspective, the most critical component for the Internal Auditor position is that it is unrepresented and at-will, the number of hours of administrative leave was secondary. Chair Williams concurred that the independence of the Internal Auditor position was extremely important. He said the Board could debate the merits of entering into a separate contract with the position versus including the position in the unrepresented, at-will group. Thus, the Committee was split on whether to recommend Board approval. Mr. Potter acknowledged that MS/CG had initially advocated for the Internal Auditor position to be part of MS/CG to protect the employee if he or she were to be let go because of an unfavorable finding with which the Board and/or General Manager disagreed. But it was no longer pursuing that route. Mr. Potter also raised the issue of disparity between the three bargaining groups concerning dual sick leave benefits (counting as both service credit and cash value upon retirement). He said having different benefit levels for different classes of employees does not sit well with employees. Mr. Bailey said each of the bargaining units negotiates separately with the Board. The rationale and deliberation process for that benefit was not an appropriate discussion in this forum. COMMITTEE ACTION: The Committee was split on how to move forward with this item. b. Review draft Position Paper to consider reclassifying a Senior Administrative Technician position and current incumbent Cindy Granzella to a Human Resources Analyst and adopt the salary range of S72 ($4,289.86 - $5,193.29 Bi-weekly) Ms. O'Malley summarized the information included with the agenda material in terms of the rationale for this reclassification of both the position and the current incumbent. She said staff was seeking a waiver of the competitive hiring process so Ms. Granzella could immediately be put in a position to take over for Human Resources (HR) Analyst Carrie Shields who oversees payroll. Ms. Shields recently gave notice that she was leaving Central San. Had that not occurred while a new payroll February 18, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 104 of 147 Page 6 of 12 Administration Committee Minutes February 2, 2021 Page 5 system was being implemented, a competitive recruitment would have been conducted. The waiver and immediate reclassification would ensure continuity of function during this time of significant transition and avoid a potentially huge adverse impact on the District. Member Pilecki noted that the HR Division's organization chart currently includes two HR Analysts (S72) and three Senior Administrative Technicians (S57). He said he was unable to glean from the draft Position Paper how the organizational chart would change if this request were to be granted. Ms. O'Malley said if the request were granted, there would be three HR Analysts and two Senior Administrative Technicians, until Ms. Shields leaves. Beyond that, no decision has been made as to how the structure would change. The intention was to look at what would serve the organization best. What has become clear, she said, is that a full payroll backup person is needed because of the criticality of the function. Mr. Bailey added that since he came to the District in 2013, the payroll function has been handled by a single employee. Ms. Shields is the second employee handling the payroll function who has resigned since that time. He said the structure of the division needs to be modified to provide full redundancy for the payroll position. He was asking the Board to give him the authority to manage this function and structure the division in the best interests of Central San. Member Pilecki asked if that included permanently moving to three HR Analysts and two Senior Administration Technicians in that division. Mr. Bailey said he was asking for that decision to be left to him to manage. Member Pilecki expressed concern about the widely held perception among employees that the HR Division always manages to get reclassifications (and associated pay hikes) approved more often than other workgroups. He said this has been true over multiple rounds spanning many years of labor negotiations of which he has been a part. The impact on employee morale is significant, and he was very concerned about how this proposal would be received. He requested that the draft Position Paper be augmented to clearly state the reason for the reclassification and the waiving of the recruitment process, including being very clear that there will likely be three HR Analysts in that group going forward. Furthermore, once Ms. Shields leaves, there will be a promotional opportunity for current employees. He said he was prepared to support the request if this information was included. Ms. O'Malley agreed that the optics of waiving the competitive hiring process were very serious, and she struggled with the potential ramifications of bringing this item forward. She noted that Ms. Granzella February 18, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 105 of 147 Page 7 of 12 Administration Committee Minutes February 2, 2021 Page 6 did not request the reclassification, and Ms. O'Malley was concerned about what might occur if she did not apply for the position or did not complete the recruitment or competitive process. She considered the risk too great at this time. A general discussion took place about the history of reclassifications at the District. Chair Williams said that no full-time employees were being added, and he would rely on Mr. Bailey's recommendation that this request was in Central San's best interests to bolster the payroll function and provide redundancy. He agreed with Member Pilecki's suggestion to augment the language in the Position Paper. Mr. Potter agreed with Member Pilecki that the optics of this request were poor, and similar to some previous HR reclassifications that took place before he became MS/CG President. In this instance, however, he understood the pressing nature of the situation and said MS/CG had no objection to the request. However, he urged staff do what it can to mitigate this becoming a precedent. Ms. O'Malley and Mr. Bailey said they receive numerous requests for reclassification. While the terminology can be confusing, Ms. O'Malley said the position must have evolved independent of the incumbent and should not be utilized to waive the competitive recruitment process to fill a position that is performing day-to-day functions. Mr. Bailey said he takes each request seriously and always strives to assure it makes sense for Central San. Chair Williams asked how many reclassifications have been approved since Ms. O'Malley joined Central San in 2012 and how many were requested by the bargaining groups. Ms. O'Malley said she would incorporate that information when the item is presented to the full Board. COMMITTEE ACTION: Recommended Board approval, with augmentation of the Position Paper to justify waiving the competitive process, the impact on the HR Division organizational structure, and the addition of historical information about reclassifications starting in 2012. 5. Other Items a.* Discuss plans for the celebration of Central San's 75th Anniversary in 2021 Ms. Barnett noted that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it would be inadvisable for Central San to hold an in-person event to celebrate its 75th Anniversary on July 16, 2021. Because safety remains an issue, staff is proposing a virtual event, but not for a single day. It would be available for viewership over a long period of time. February 18, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 106 of 147 Page 8 of 12 Administration Committee Minutes February 2, 2021 Page 7 Ms. Barnett shared an example of a virtual event done by Elsinore Valley Water District where all aspects of the District were set out like event booths, with each booth having its own video. Using a similar approach, Central San could showcase the many ways it helps further its mission to protect public health and the environment. She also shared highlights of how the site would be organized, some of the processes that would be able to be viewed, and how Central San serves its customers (see attached). She said it would take a massive up-front effort on her team's part to build the virtual site, but she believed it would be relevant for at least three years. In terms of budget, Ms. Barnett said the Fiscal Year 2020-21 Budget includes $75,000 for a signature event. The costs for the proposed virtual event would be substantially different than for the 70th Anniversary, which utilized roughly 80 employees to plan and host the event, multiple vendors, and equipment rentals. This effort would involve the Communications Team working the next five to six months to build the virtual site. It would cost about$600 per year for the site host. (In contrast, Elsinore hired a third party to shoot all of its videos and photography, all of which Central San can do in house.) Technical difficulties would be virtually nil because the effort in building the site would be done in advance with no live events. In summary, Ms. Barnett said this idea is more cost-effective, more resilient from a technological standpoint, with a good return on investment. In response to a question from Chair Williams, Ms. Barnett said the Board Members could be part of the site because the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) only restricts featuring elected officials in printed communications, not virtual. Member Pilecki said he liked the idea of virtual video tours. He suggested adding information about Central San's successes, including awards and recognitions. He also said a banner or two would be nice to include as signage around the District, as would advertising the anniversary in the Pipeline and possibly hosting a drawing contest for children honoring the 75th Anniversary. Finally, Member Pilecki said he also wanted to celebrate the 75th Anniversary with employees to boost morale. Ms. Barnett said she would convey this employee engagement suggestion to the HR team. Chair Williams thanked Ms. Barnett for laying out the framework for such an innovative event. He noted that the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) had been planning a big 50th Anniversary gala in 2020 but it was canceled because of the pandemic. They have since decided to forego the event in 2021. He suggested that this option be February 18, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 107 of 147 Page 9 of 12 Administration Committee Minutes February 2, 2021 Page 8 presented as an alternative when the item is presented to the full Board. He said that the idea described for a virtual, long-term event appeared to be a good return for the investment. COMMITTEE ACTION: Recommended Board approval. b. Receive Fiscal Year 2020-21 Strategic Plan Tracking Reports- Second Quarter Ms. Gee responded to several suggestions and questions from the Committee as follows: 1) Comparisons to Prior Year Metrics: Member Pilecki requested that the prior year's metrics be included in brackets for those Key Success Measures designated as either yellow or red. Given that this was the first year of a new Strategic Plan, Ms. Gee said she could include that data to the extent the Key Success Measures remained the same as in the prior plan. 2) Global Positioning System (GPS) Trackers and Incident Response Times: Member Pilecki asked whether the installation of GPS trackers in Collection System Operations vehicles has helped reduce incident response times. Ms. O'Malley said that information could be obtained from Collection System Operations Division Manager Paul Seitz and provided to the Committee after the meeting. [Mr. Seitz subsequently responded that the use of GPS trackers began at the end of January 2018. He provided the annual response times for the three years before implementing GPS and the three years post-implementation as follows: Annual Response Times • 2015— 36.5 minutes • 2016— 34.2 minutes • 2017— 36.5 minutes • 2018— 32 minutes • 2019— 29 minutes • 2020— 32 minutes The average response time from 2015-2017 calculates to 35.73 minutes. The average response time for 2018-2020 calculates to 31.00 minutes. Therefore, the response time during working hours has been reduced by 13.2% since GPS was implemented. Staff has been able to more accurately locate the closest service truck to the overflow location and dispatch that vehicle. The GPS data is being used to dispatch for emergencies.] February 18, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 108 of 147 Page 10 of 12 Administration Committee Minutes February 2, 2021 Page 9 3) Average Annual Training Hours: Member Pilecki noted that the average annual training hours have significantly dropped while the worker's compensation experience modifier has risen. He noted that much of the District's training is safety-related and asked if there was any relationship between the drop in safety training and rise in experience modifier. Ms. O'Malley said that was possible; training at the District has been impacted by COVID-19. However, there are plenty of online training opportunities available to staff. She said she does not have the data for the worker's compensation experience modifier, but COVID-19 has probably impacted both sets of data. Chair Williams said he too had wondered about the pandemic's effects on the first- and second-quarter tracking results and understood this was the first year of a new strategic plan. Hence, comparisons are not necessarily analogous in every area. He said these tracking reports continue to be an excellent tool and a great dashboard to assess progress toward the Strategic Plan goals at a glance. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the reports and provided input to staff, including incorporating data comparing the Key Success Measures with the prior year's strategic plan where possible. C. Review timelines (Gantt Charts) for activities related to upcoming labor negotiations with the Management Group, Management Support/Confidential Group, and Public Employee Union, Local #1 In addition to the Gantt Charts, Member Pilecki asked for staff to provide a rolling look-ahead at each meeting regarding significant decisions the Board will be facing in the next three months. COMMITTEE ACTION: Requested another report be included at each meeting indicating the decisions the Board will be asked to make in the next three months with respect to labor negotiations. 6. Announcements a. Ms. Young announced that Assistant to the Secretary of the District Donna Anderson would be retiring March 30, 2021. 7. Suggestions for Future Agenda Items a. Receive list of upcoming agenda items and provide suggestions for any other future agenda items COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the list. February 18, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 109 of 147 Page 11 of 12 Administration Committee Minutes February 2, 2021 Page 10 8. Future Scheduled Meetings Tuesday, March 9, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, April 6, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, May 4, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. 9. Adjournment— at 10:40 a.m. * Attachment February 18, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 110 of 147 Page 12 of 12 COMMITTEE ITEM 5.a. (Handout) (Shared Virtually During Meeting) • The Organization o Working at Central San—Why do you work at Central San? o A day with an ...? (A few different employees and what they do on a daily basis, eg. Night operations) o Q&A sessions/interviews(pre-recorded?) o Digital version of 60' book?/historical content o Meet our Board, What our Board Does, Board focus/initiatives, strategic plans,finance • Processes o Virtual tours (live and self-guided versions) Follow the flow o How we maintain the collection system (replacement methods, cleaning, CSO videos) o How we maintain the treatment plant—Information/videos highlighting the maintenance shops o Lab—About our lab and what we do there, how the lab supports different parts of our operations (Environmental Compliance,Treatment process control, regulatory compliance) • Services o Education page links o Wastewater epidemiology o Behind the scenes making of our videos o HHW—videos, what we do with the waste we collect o RW—What is recycled water, how do we treat it, who's using it and what for February 18, 2021 Regular Board Meeting Agenda Packet- Page 111 of 147