01-04-11 City of La Porte Meet and Confer Committee Meeting minutes

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written examination, 50% assessment center, and the final score shall include seniority points. c) The Chief would also like to implement the "Rule of 3". This would enable the Chief to choose the best candidate for the promotion should the top scoring candidate, not be the best fit for the position. d) Officer Novosad believes that the "rule of 3" would be a very hard sell to the membership of the Association. The LPPOA is concerned this would portray the "good ole' boy system" if put into place. They are concerned about future Chiefs. Officer Novosad stated that he believes that the assessment center is a good idea. He also suggested that in addition to seniority points that time in pay grade should be considered. e) The Chief indicated that research would show that it is fairly standard that an applicant must pass the written exam prior going through the assessment center process. He advised that this alternative would be adopted under the new contract if agreed to. 3. Compensatory Time a) Chief expressed that he is still open to continuing compensatory time, but the number of hours that can be accumulated would not be increased. Although the use of compensatory time eliminates some overtime on the front end, the end results is losing productivity at 1.5 times. Originally, the City wanted to end the comp time program. The Chief is also open to treating comp-time taken the same as time worked for the purposes of overtime calculations, however, stressed again that, as with all items being discussed, concessions must be considered in the totality of the contract with both sides giving and taking. 4. Part-Time Officers a) Chief explained that the program he would like to consider would be for part-time officers, such as retirees, to be hired part-time, at the same rate they retired. This would allow a officers with more flexible schedules to be called in on an as needed basis, helping to alleviate overtime expenditures. The officers would have to work a minimum number of required hours. The person would have the same probationary period as a regular officer. To be hired they would have to be licensed, and preemptions would include the necessary experience level to avoid hiring inexperienced officers. The officer would have to maintain training requirements. b) The LPPOA feels that the legality of having a part-time officer program needs to be looked into. The Chief agreed that if found to be illegal, the City would not be pursuing this option, but believes it would be allowed so if civil service provisions were preempted in the contract. This was confirmed by Tom Barby. Meet and Confer Minutes January 7, 2011 3lPage