HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-08-82 Personnel & Finance f
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OIu the Gammon Qlounrll atilt Mfg of Onutfi limb: Personnel and Finance Committee
The September 8, 1982 meeting of the Personnel and Finance Committee
was called to order at 3: 00 p.m. in the Council meeting room by its chairman,
Councilman Crone.
.Persons in attendance included: Councilmen Serge, Szymkowiak, McGann,
Crone, Harris , and Voorde, Joseph Kernan, John Leszczynski, and Kathleen
Cekanski-Farrand, Sherrie Petz, Eugenia Schwartz, and Marchmont Kovas .
. Councilman Crone noted that the purpose of the meeting was to disucss
Bill Nos . 97-82 and 98-82 which would increase the salaries of the City Attorney
and City Engineer by $3,000 each.
Councilman Crone then called upon Joseph Kernan to give a brief
presentation. He stated that the Mayor' s cover letter to the proposed bills
basically gave the information. He noted that the City Engineer had been
receiving monies since April and the City Attorney had been receiving additiona]
monies since January. The Administration believes that such increases were
consistent with "past policies" . The filing of- the ordinances were done to
respond to the ' Council's wishes" and that all future salary increases would
be done in ordinance form He stated that in both instances' the increases
were necessary in light of the additional duties being done by the two
employees .
Councilman McGann questioned the "past policies" , in light of the fact
that there was a City ordinance mandating that all additional increases
be approved in ordinance form as well as the state law which addressed the
issue. He also questioned why money wasn' t paid directly to the City for
such multi-funded positions
Councilman Voorde asked if there were any other persons being paid which
the .Council had not addressed in the salary and budget ordinances . Mr. Kernan
stated that "to the best of his knowledge" there were none.
Councilman Szymkowiak voiced concern due to the fact that when the
position of City Attorney was changed from part-time to full-time, that he was
to assume additional responsibilities so that the City would not have to hire
attorneys . He said that he agreed with the full-time status because in the
long run it would save money for the City. Mr. Kernan stated that the City
was saving money but that the additional increase was necessary because of
the additional responsibility. It was further noted that in addition to the
City Attorney being full time that he had two Assistant City Attorneys which
were also full time
Councilman Crone questioned whether Redevelopment still had their own
attorney who serves as attorney to the Commission. She was informed that
Redevelopment does have their own attorney and would continue to have their
own attorney. Councilman Crone further noted that the salaries of both the
Engineer and Attorneys were higher than most other second-class cities for
those positions and that the salary for the attorney was almost as high as
a judge' s salary. She stated that in her opinion the question was "what can
the City of South Bend afford to pay" . She further added that we must look at
salaries and wages being paid to all City employees.
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Personnel and Finance Committee
Councilman Voorde stated that he would like to lay to rest the practice
of paying over and above what shows up in the current salary ordinance. He
stated that the salary ordinance sets forth the maximum allowable amounts
unless a proper ordinance is passed by the Common Council to increase them.
Mr. Kernan stated that he agreed.
Councilman Szymkowiak then questioned whether these amounts were being
paid without the cznsent of the Common Council . Mr. Kernan stated that they
were.
Several Councilmen questioned the additional "duties" being performed
by the two employees to which Eugenia Schwartz stated that the individual
specifics;& could only be addressed in Executive session.
Councilman McGann referred to salaries being paid in the private sectors
for engineers and believed that the present amount was well within the range .
Following further discussion Councilman Voorde made a motion seconded by
Councilman McGann that Bill Nos . 97-82 and 98-82 be recommended unfavorably
to the Common Council . The motion passed 4-0.
It was noted that with the Committee' s action if concurred by the
Common Council the salaries would be $38, 195 for the City Attorney and
$34, 351 for the City Engineer..
There being no further discussion the meeting was adjourned at 3: 55 p .m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Beverly Crone, Chairman
Personnel and Finance Committee