04/20/1999 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 4/20/99 responsible for success or failure. He feels strongly that such action falls within the ~'~ prerogative of the Mayor. Also, Section 167.03 of Chapter 167 of our Codified Ordinances entitled "Department of Personnel & Administrative Services" states in part that: "The salary range for the director of the Department of Personnel & Administrative Services as well as other employees of the department shall be determined by Council. The specific salary for the director shall be determined by the Mayor." He understands that Council has the final say by not appropriating the monies for a salary increase beyond a general increase given to all employees even if it is within the range for that position. However, if Council makes that decision, he feels that Council has an obligation to set forth the reasons as to why that person is not entitled to such awithin- range salary increase-perhaps in an executive session. Further, there have been statements made that the Recreation Center needs many dollars to fund the various required repairs, which he concurs with. The proposed within-range increase of the Personnel Director over the general 3% was on the order of an adjusted $5,955. By denying the raise, Council has saved on the order of $5,955. He fails to see what impact this savings will have on major Recreation Center needs. There is a situation wherein Council approved awithin-pay range salary increase over and above the 3% given to all the employees. He had requested the EDP Commissioner's salary be increased to $49,500 from $42,405. Some Council members wanted his salary increase cut back to the 3% general increase. After discussions regarding the realities of the computer technology salary environment, Council cut the proposed salary increase by $4, 500 thereby reducing his salary to $45,000. However, an increase of 3% would put the commissioner at $43,677. He considers the extra $1,323 as a within-range salary increase over the general 3% increase. On our way to becoming the premier city in Ohio, it is imperative that we concentrate on three very important pillars of strength: fire protection, police protection and service. He considers these three pillars of strength to be second to none in the State of Ohio. At one of the Finance Committee appropriations meetings, he and a Councilperson engaged in a conversation regarding the personnel status of the Police and Fire Departments. When the Councilperson asked him about the rumors of personnel cuts in these departments, he indicated that his policy is not to reduce the professional staff of the safety forces. We do have an obligation to assess and evaluate support staff positions when they retire, or otherwise leave their position. We do not live in a perfect world. If we did, we would have all the monies we need to take care of current needs, which runs in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. In our real world, we must prioritize our needs and obtain maximum benefit from our available resources, without jeopardizing the health, safety and welfare regarding the residents of, the workers in and the visitors to the City of North Olmsted. During the course of our internal budget appropriations process, the budget was adjusted many times to fall within our available resources. The budget process is an on-going dynamic process. All of us have an obligation to improve efficiency or otherwise reduce expenses. 12