06-25-18 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING June 25, 2018 SOUTH BEND ELECTED OFFICIALS, AND ALL CITY OF SOUTH BEND APPOINTED OFFICIALS Councilmember Karen White made a motion to accept the second (2"d) Substitute for Bill No. 27- 18. Councilmember Regina Williams-Preston seconded this motion which carried by a voice vote of eight (8) ayes. Councilmember Karen White, Chair of the Personnel and Finance Committee, reported that they met this afternoon and send this bill forward with a favorable recommendation. Councilmember Oliver Davis, 1801 Nash Street, South Bend, IN, served as the presenter for this bill. Councilmember Oliver Davis stated, I would like to thank all of you all for all of your input. We had good discussion this afternoon which lead us to a second (2nd) substitute. I would like to go over that. As we learned this afternoon, the Human Resources Department for our City is already in the process of emphasizing these issues. We wanted to acknowledge that part. Under Section C we added that each supervisor employee is required to complete a minimum of two (2) hours of interactive sexual harassment awareness and prevention training each calendar year. The original had every other year. This is going to be done on a yearly basis. This includes any full or part-time employees with the authority to hire, fire, promote, demote, transfer or discipline an employee.And from our meeting this afternoon there is another section. The last one(1)in Section One (1) is Letter I and it says beginning January 1St, 2019 the training required by this section for supervising employees shall be completed by the new employee within ninety (90) days after the employment.The training by this section for non-supervising employees shall be completed within thirty (30) days of employment. Council Attorney Bob Palmer with offices on the 4th floor of the County-City Building, South Bend, IN, stated, In Section A, seasonal and temporary personnel are also included. Councilmember Oliver Davis stated, That was to be sure everyone has some type of training. I would like to thank the State Legislature for passing a similar bill. We could be one (1) of the first municipalities in Indiana to have something like this in Municipal Code. We, as City leaders,need to be at the forefront of these issues and relationships. I would like to thank Aladen DeRose, Bob Palmer and our Department of Human Resources. Kyra Clark, Director of Human Resources with offices on the 12th floor of the County-City Building, South Bend, IN, stated, I think we are all on the very same page. We want to create awareness on this very important issue. We are excited to help implement your vision. Councilmember Jake Teshka asked, Ms. Clark, were you able to see the second(2nd) substitute? Ms. Clark replied, Council Attorney Palmer sent it via email and I was reviewing it while Councilmember Davis was going through them. Councilmember Jo M. Broden asked, So those changes won't create too terrible a burden for you or your Department? Ms. Clark replied, I think it will probably be helpful to show a video which is something we are happy to do. We will able to make it work. Councilmember Jake Teshka stated, We got together after Committee and talked about this and we felt that perhaps the seasonal and temporary employees might actually be more vulnerable to this type of harassment than full or part-time employees. Even if it is just a video, we want to be sure they are aware that we take this seriously. I think that is why we wanted to amend this ordinance to read how it is now. This being the time heretofore set for the Public Hearing on the above bill, proponents and opponents were given an opportunity to be heard. None from the public wished to speak in favor of or opposition to this bill. Councilmember Karen White made a motion to send Substitute Bill No. 27-18 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Councilmember Regina Williams-Preston seconded this motion which carried by a voice vote of eight(8) ayes. 7