Council to review employee policies, attorney position
JANESVILLE — The city council is considering changing policies and the power structure at City Hall to better protect city employees.
“There’s always that sense, ‘Are we really doing enough (to protect) our employees?’ ” Amy Loasching, council president, said. “I guess the council really wants to make sure.”
The city’s recreation director, Bonnie Davis, recently went to The Janesville Gazette with tapes she made while meeting with her supervisor. Davis said she felt she had to record the conversations to protect her job.
“It would concern me if any city employees feel they have to tape record conversations in order to protect themselves,” Loasching said.
“That bothers me, both as a council member and a citizen.”
Acting City Manager Jay Winzenz will ask an outside agency to review the city’s human resources policies.
And the city council Monday night is expected to discuss whether the city attorney should be given more autonomy from the city manager.
Some council members are asking for reviews because they heard from city employees that they have no place to go with concerns under the current structure, Loasching said.
In April, for instance, council member George Brunner suggested that outgoing City Manager Steve Sheiffer refrain from hiring, firing or promoting employees. He said some employees were feeling “stress and concern” with the transition to a new city manager.
During orientation meetings, some council members noticed what they consider weaknesses in the city’s personnel policies, Loasching said.
Winzenz said the personnel manual will be reviewed by an outside agency and be compared against “best practices” in the public sector. Staff already has contacted several consulting agencies as well as the Cities and Village Mutual Insurance Corporation, of which the city is a member.
Winzenz will return to the council with any recommendations for changes.
The council also is expected to discuss whether to keep the city attorney’s position under the authority of the city manager, Loasching said.
Currently, the city manager hires and fires the city attorney.
State statutes outline the responsibilities and duties of a city attorney, and give options for who should have the authority to hire and fire the city attorney:
-- The city manager.
-- The manager with council approval.
-- The city council.
-- Voters.
Moving the attorney from under the city manager’s umbrella would weaken what is one of the strongest council/manager forms of government in the United States.
The council also recently shifted from the manager the power to name residents to city committees. A committee of residents will now name residents to committees.
“One of the things we’re going to look at is, ‘Are we happy with the structure the way it is now?’” Loasching said. “Or do we feel it would better serve the city if we moved that out from the city manager’s umbrella and make the council responsible for hiring and firing the city attorney?”
Loasching said council members have heard that some employees are afraid to seek legal council from the city attorney because he reports directly to the city manager.
“And that in one respect concerns us,” Loasching said.
Council members have wondered if the city attorney might give a slanted opinion because he or she is hired and fired by the city manager, Loasching said.
The council trusts Wald Klimczyk, the current city attorney, and believes that he does a good job, Loasching said.
“We’re not criticizing him in any way.
“We’re strictly looking at the office, no matter who’s in that office. Would it better serve the city and city council and the citizens if that person doesn’t have to worry about whether or not to please the city manager? … We’re looking at where we can make improvements.”
Loasching said now is the perfect time to make changes because City Manager Steve Sheiffer retired Friday, and the search for a new manager is ongoing.
“We kind of see this as an open window,” she said. “We just feel this is the best time to address those concerns and fix anything that’s been broken.
Sep 10, 2008 at 2:40 p.m.
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Let me see I seem to remember a little City to the south of us called Chicago with Mayors and Aldermen and I seem to remember that was labeled as one of the most corrupt city governments in in the country.
Right now you are allowed to talk to ANY council person and make your case and under an alderman form you could only speek to YOUR alderman so it would limit your ability greatly.
Review a little history before you start touting the virtues of another form of government.
A Mayoral form is just inviting graft and corruption in the form of election funding and paybacks for election support.
LOOK around yourself and see how good the process is working in almost every form of elected government right now.
It costs tons of money and requires favors from all sorts of places to get elected and stay in office so why would we be different?
Sep 9, 2008 at 8:24 a.m.
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Gazettegazer, yes, there are many places that advocate for employees. They're talking about employees that don't want to lose their jobs and/or be retaliated against if they complain. Which apparently is a big fear amongst City employees. Who's going to be there day to day to make sure a person that has a legitimate complaint (and made it to an agency) against management isn't treated even worse?
Sep 6, 2008 at 6:15 p.m.
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You mean there aren't ways an employee who is wronged can't be heard? That's just poppycock. There are so many agencies that will advocate on behalf of an employee it's not even funny. If there's any real meat on a complaint then employees have avenue.
Sep 6, 2008 at 5:35 p.m.
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Another comment I have is that power is a good thing if put in the right hands. For the majority of time in history, power in the wrong hands has ugly results.
Sep 6, 2008 at 5:33 p.m.
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I agree with the meat of this article. It is the right time and there are obvious personnel concerns within the city employees. I believe every employee deserves to be heard by an unbiased party when there are questions about employment policies and risk management.
Sep 6, 2008 at 3:13 p.m.
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Now we know why the people should vote for city management as this is one example of the problems of hired and appointed officials........ No person should have to fear for his/hers employement by bringing concerns upfront, and in my opinion WE NEED CHANGE, for the benefit of our city employees.. I hope the new city mananger is from our area and understands the HUMAN person and not their own EGO and closed minded personal reasons.
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