HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-20-2022 Personnel Board Meeting MinutesCITY OF FAIRHOPE
Personnel Board Meeting
5:30 p.m. – October 20, 2022
161 N Section Street
Fairhope, AL 36532
Present were:
Members: Diane Thomas; Genie Frazier; Terry Ullrich; Jake O’Neil; Tyler Garner; Councilman
Corey Martin; HR Manager Cory Pierce; Safety Coordinator Donnie Grice; Police Chief Stephanie
Hollinghead; Gas Superintendent Jeremy Little
The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m.
Minutes of the September 15th, 2022, meeting were approved as presented.
Diane Thomas opened by raising several items of new business including job
descriptions and budget. Cory Pierce stated that pay grades will be corrected due to formatting
issues and noted that pay grades passed through Council approval on the resolution itself. The
Board reviewed job descriptions that were approved with the last budget. Diane and Police
Chief Stephanie Hollinghead discussed the police department’s internship program. Chief
Hollinghead explained that the pay would hopefully serve to incentivize high quality applicants
and expressed hope that the program would help overall recruitment efforts within law
enforcement and corrections. The emergency management coordinator is in Community
Affairs, so Cory is planning to combine this position with the community outreach and
communication position’s description, because the Mayor would like to incorporate emergency
management into the scope of the community outreach and communication specialist. Based
on her years of experience, Diane expressed concern that not specifying the department that
an operations and compliance supervisory position listing will serve can lead to uncertainty.
Cory stated that the field in Munis does not allow for that lengthy of a job title. Councilman
Martin and Jake O’Neil brainstormed some on how you could edit the title to fit into the title
field. Councilman Martin asks for clarifications around how many maintenance crew members
and maintenance supervisory roles the City plans to staff. Diane points out that an
organizational chart would be very helpful, in cases like this specifically. Discussion over
sufficiency of job titles and how job titles do affect who decides to click the job
postings. Pertaining to pay scales and classification systems, Diane emphasizes the importance
of rating scales. Issues with the study conducted by Auburn were discussed. Differences in
seasonal interns and part-time employees are discussed. Councilman Martin identified the
need for any intern to have an assigned mentor to guide them. Diane asked whether the
seasonal nature of the internships should be added to the job descriptions themselves.
Whether the seasonal nature is sufficiently implied by the intern title alone is considered. IT
staffing was discussed. An IT person that specializes in software, rather than cybersecurity,
hardware etc., is needed. A promotion within the right-of-way staff is discussed, and the pay
grades of inspectors and supervisors is discussed. There is an increase in inspection needs due
to new construction projects. Money spent now on inspecting and ensuring that new build
infrastructure is complete can prevent the City from having issues and incurred expense once
the build is complete. Progressive disciplinary processes are discussed. Diane addressed
department head concerns with the appeals process and states her desire to clearly
communicate with department heads on what the board reviews during an appeals process.
Gas Superintendent Jeremy Little stated communication and relationship building between
superintendents and the Board could and should be improved. Hearing procedures are
discussed. Education on documentation and performance evaluation for supervisors is
proposed. Diane’s retirement is discussed. Jake O’Neil nominated Genie Frazier to serve as the
Personnel Board’s next chairman, and Genie accepted. Recent incidents within the City were
discussed. Improvements to the organizational chart were discussed. Open enrollment training
for Munis was discussed. Cory mentioned the potential to secure workforce and training grants.
Symbol Clinic’s drug screening and wellness program, including biometric screening, are
discussed. Cory touched on handbook review. Genie raised concern that the recently approved
holiday schedule is not competitive compared to surrounding municipalities and proposed that
the Board discuss this at the next meeting. Corey expressed the importance of raising concerns
with Council before motions are passed. Donnie Grice updated the Board on safety within the
City.
A motion was made, and a second to adjourn.
With gratitude,
Jake O’Neil, Secretary
Personnel Board