Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-02-10 City of La Porte Meet and Confer Committee Meeting minutes THE CITY OF LA PORTE MEET & CONFER COMMITTEE MET THE 2nd DAY OF DECEMBER, 2010, 4:00 P.M. AT CITY HALL, COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 604 WEST F AIRMONT P ARKW A Y, LA PORTE, TEXAS. 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 3 :57 p.m. 2. INTRODUCTION OF MEET AND CONFER MEMBERS FROM THE CITY OF LA PORTE AND THE LA PORTE POLICE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION (LPPOA) Committee Members: Ken Adcox, Chief of Police Ron Parker, Assistant Chief of Police Heather Weger, Human Resources Manager Matt Novosad, Patrol Officer - LPPOA President Matt Daeumer, Patrol Lieutenant - LPPOA Member Marcus Upchurch, Support Services Sergeant - LPPOA Member Sherman Moore - PAR Officer - LPPOA Member Other Attendees: Tom Barby, Representative from CLEAT ,.~ Ken Adcox advised that the City is reserving the right to have the new Assistant City Manager to be added to the committee once they begin work with the City. The role of Tom Barby from CLEAT was also discussed and decided that he would not actively participate in negotiations, but be available to advise the Association as a subject matter expert should the need arise. 3. DISCUSS AND ESTABLISH GROUND RULES IN WHICH THE MEET AND CONFER PROCESS WILL BE CONDUCTED a) Chief Adcox distributed the minutes from the March 25,2008 meeting in which ground rules were discussed, as well as some information pulled from outside resources regarding ground rules for the Meet and Confer process. b) Spokesman for the City of La Porte (City) and the La Porte Police Officer's Association (LPPOA) were established. Ken Adcox was designated as the Spokesman for the City, Matt Novosad was designated as the Spokesman for the LPPOA. c) The LPPOA would like to change item 3 b) from the last rules regarding pay status. This was discussed and decided that the meeting would take place after normal working hours of the LPPOA committee members to avoid having to reschedule their hours to attend the meetings. d) It was agreed that all research should be completed before reaching tentative agreements. Meet and Confer Meeting December 2, 2010 IIPage e) It was agreed that all previously established rules regarding pay status, communications, meeting location, Agenda items and dialogue will be adhered to. Rules from the March 25, 2008 are as follows: "a) Determine Spokesman for City and La Porte Police Officers Association to ensure that the meetings are orderly and that members will not speak out of place. Ron Bottoms was designated as the Spokesman for the City of La Porte. Matt Novosad was designated as the Spokesman for the La Porte Police Officers Association. b) Officers are considered off duty while attending meetings and will not be in a pay status with the City. They will be allowed to attend the meetings and make arrangements to ensure they are not short hours for the pay period to attend the meeting. c) All communications with the media must be on a "joint" basis. d) There should be no communications regarding the meetings with City Council and City Staff, not limited to the police personnel. Items that are agreed upon by consensus will be taken to City Council. e) The meeting will be held on an as needed basis at City Hall Council Chambers unless unavailable. f) Items to be posted on the Agenda will be agreed upon beforehand. g) The meetings will be held with an open dialogue. " 4. RECEIVE THE LA PORTE POLICE OFFICER'S ASSOCIATION LIST OF PROPOSED DISCUSSION ITEMS FOR FUTURE MEETINGS a) Pay Scales - The LPPOA is looking at shrinking the pay scale to include fewer pay steps. Police Officer's scale would go from 12 steps to 10, Sergeants and Lieutenants would go from 10 steps to 5. The LPPOA is still obtaining information on salaries and certificate pay. Heather Weger has obtained information and will get that information to the LPPOA. The same Cities will be utilized as in the previous negotiations. The LPPOA is just looking to be market comparable, possibly a cost of living adjustment will be looked at. b) Overtime - The LPPOA would like for the City to consider paying double time and a half for officers who work "forced overtime" (in cases such as an employee is scheduled to be off at 1 :00 pm and is told they will have to work to cover a shift). They would also like overtime to be considered after working 8 hours in a day versus after 40 hours in a week. c) Force Flex Time - Chief asked for clarification, and the LPPOA used the example of the DWI task force night where officers were told to flex their time versus receive overtime. The Chief advised that in that case it would be considered rescheduling and that is the city must retain the right to schedule resources in order to meet operational Meet and Confer Meeting December 2, 2010 2lPage needs. The Chief also advised that he does not believe in doing this "last minute" and wants to be fair to the employees. This is a policy and practice issue and will be communicated to supervisors. The LPPOA said they would like to look at the possibility of minimum notice for rescheduling/flexing time. d) Court Time - The LPPOA would like to change the number of hours received for court to 3 hours for a scheduled day or 4 hours for an unscheduled day (this would apply to those who work the evening/night shifts, as the time would be covered if day shift employee under normal working hours). e) Holiday Pay - The LPPOA would like 24 hours personnel to receive overtime for holiday pay. Heather Weger will bring the policy next time to address how time is currently handled on the holiday and receive further clarification on what the LPPOA is looking for. f) Employee Holidays - The LPPOA would like to ability to move unused Employee Holidays to vacation. g) Longevity - The LPPOA would like for this to be handled on separate checks, which would not affect the bottom line. They would also like to request that longevity be changed from $4 a month to $6 a month. h) Call Out Compensation - The LPPOA would like "on call" pay to be changed from 3 regular hours to 8 regular hours per week and 16 hours on a week where there is a holiday. They would like this to be earned with money or compensatory time. i) Comp Time - The LPPOA would like to increase the maximum accrual of comp time from 40 hours to 80 hours and treat it's usage the same as vacation time (consider the hours taken hours worked). Chief explained that would result in possibly receiving double overtime since compensatory time earned is based on 1.5 times the hours worked. The LPPOA would also like for compensatory time being earned to be at the discretion of the employee and not the supervisor. The LPPOA suggested that the City budget the compensatory time banks if economically feasible, to alleviate the unfunded liability that compensatory time causes. The LPPOA also addressed putting language in the contract regarding not being able to cash out the compensatory time until separation with the City. 5. RECEIVE THE CITY's LIST OF PROPOSED DISCUSSION ITEMS FOR FUTURE MEETINGS a) Provisions - The City would like to keep the current provisions of the contract (i.e. physical fitness, pay for performance, etc.). Acknowledgement that there may be some slight language clean up that is needed by both parties. b) Alternative Testing Procedures - The City would like to see alternative testing procedures put into place, whereas seniority points are earned only after the written test is passed. An assessment center would be Meet and Confer Meeting December 2, 2010 3lPage 50% of the score, and the Chief would have "Rule of 3" in choosing the most appropriate candidate for the position. The "Rule of 3" was discussed, as Chapter 143 of the Texas Local Government Code already addresses gives the Chief this authority, but documentation and justification must be made to the Civil Service Commission. Inclusion in the contract would alleviate the need for the Civil Service Commission to become involved if the Chief did not choose the top scoring candidate. c) No Fault Sick Leave Policy - Chief Adcox addressed that there is still a problem with sick leave, and would like 10 implement a policy regarding unscheduled sick leave. d) Elimination of Comp Time - Chief Adcox realizes that this is an issue that will need further discussion. He explained that compensatory time was supposed to cut down on overtime, which does not appear to have occurred. e) Part-Time Officers - Chief Adcox would like to begin a program where qualified officers could work as part-time officers (retirees, etc.). They would be paid an hourly rate, and would be required to work a minimum number of hours to fulfill their minimum monthly pay. In preparation for this sort of a program, the City is asking that the standard hiring civil service preemptions currently in place for full- time officers be extended to any future part-time officers hired. 6. SET TIME AND DATE OF NEXT MEETING Next meeting will be held December 14th from 4:00 - 5:30 pm in the City Hall Council Chambers. 7. COMMITTEE COMMENTS 8. ADJOURNMENT Meeting was adjourned at 5:10 p.m. APPROVED ON THIS THE \1..\ DA Y OF '9L<:.. ,2010. )~~ ,Ken Adcox, Chief ::/ ~A President Meet and Confer Meeting December 2, 2010 4lPage