T o w n o f C h i l m a r k P e r s o n n e l B o a r d
Approved March 5th, 2009
M i n u t e s
Thursday February 5th, 2009
Chilmark Town Hall
08:00
Present: Max McCreery (Chair), Susan Heilbron (Vice-Chair), Jennie Greene, Stephen Lewenberg, Polly McDowell (Staff Liaison)
Also Present: J.B. Riggs Parker (Selectman), Tim Carroll (Executive Secretary), Marina Lent (Personnel Board Secretary), John Flender (Cemetery Commission)
Minutes of January 22nd, 2009 adopted as amended.
The Personnel Board will hold a Special Session March 12 to address revisions to the Personnel Bylaw and creation of an accompanying Procedure Manual.
Cemetery Superintendent Position
John Flender (Cemetery Commission) reported on the hiring process for the Cemetery Superintendent. Of four candidates interviewed, one had stood out well ahead of the others. However, this individual already has a 40-hour per week position with the Town of Chilmark, and would thus have to be paid overtime for his work as Cemetery Superintendent.
The Commission has considered whether the position of Cemetery Superintendent could be considered an “exempt” position. Purely in his capacity as a board member and without providing legal advice, Stephen Lewenberg noted that the “exempt” designation attaches to the individual, not the position, and that if the primary job carried out by this individual is “non-exempt”, then the individual is a non-exempt employee of the Town.
Discussion ensued as to whether he could be hired as a private contractor. John Flender pointed out that the Commission wants to keep control of which body is buried where, and that the independent contractor model would have to allow for that kind of control. Another option discussed was to downgrade the position sufficiently so that the pay would be low enough to pay the overtime rate without going over budget.
The Board decided that Stephen Lewenberg, Susan Heilbron and Tim Carroll will meet to review these options.
Receptionist/Administrative Assistant
Stephen Lewenberg stated that the title of the position should better reflect the broad range of public service functions performed by the person at the front desk. The Board agreed that a good, accurate title for the position should be found. The suggestion of “Administrative Assistant to the Office of the Selectmen” found general approval. It was unanimously agreed to request Marina Lent to enter the changes agreed at the January 12th meeting of the Personnel Board with the Selectmen and include this title.
Employee Evaluation Process
Stephen Lewenberg reported that he discussed with Frank Fenner the work that the Board has been doing to develop a more effective performance evaluation process,. The format of the review would be very simple and direct. It would consist of three questions, to be answered by supervisors in a narrative format:
1. What were the major functions that this individual performed over the course of the last evaluation period, and how well did that person do with regard to these major functions?
2. What are the areas of significant achievement and areas of needed improvement of this employee over the course of the last performance period?
3. In collaboration with the employee, please outline the goals and objectives for the coming performance period.
Members agreed that it seemed like a refreshingly simple, but comprehensive format. The third question would set the stage for evaluations in the future, when the fulfillment of goals and objectives can be reviewed. Members noted that this simple format is to be viewed as an interim procedure. Members felt that a balance needs to be struck between evaluation of easily quantifiable performance factors, like attendance, and a more qualitative assessment of the individual’s substantive achievements and abilities.
Susan Heilbron noted that the process would also provide a very good opportunity to assess the adequacy of the official position description to cover the work actually done by the employee. She suggested that a question to this effect be included.
It was also agreed that the employees would be evaluated by the relevant supervisors, (Department Head(s), Board or Commission Chairs, and the Executive Secretary), but that it was not necessary or desirable to meld all evaluations into a single report. Evaluations for each employee will be collated, but not synthesized, by the Executive Secretary.
Members unanimously approved the proposed performance evaluation format as an interim process for this coming year.
Members decided to present this evaluation process to the Board of Selectmen at their meeting on February 17th, and to invite Town supervisors to the next Personnel Board meeting, which will take place at 8am on February 19th. After that, the Board will consider how to introduce the evaluation process to Town employees.
(Max McCreery left the meeting; Susan Heilbron took over the Chair).
Hiring Process for Chilmark Chief of Police
The initial interviews will be conducted by one Selectman and an observer from the Personnel Board.
Tim Carroll raised the question of whether a way could be found to include townspeople in the process, so that it isn’t felt that there was absolutely no opportunity for input into this important selection. The suggestion was made that the public could be invited to submit questions they wished to see put to the candidates. This input would be solicited in advance, through advertisement. There could also be a public meeting in advance, prior to the initial round of interviews, where the public could bring forward interests and concerns.
The Personnel Board asked Tim Carroll to put this issue on the agenda of the next BOS meeting on February 17th. Tim Carroll requested that Personnel Board Secretary Marina Lent compile a brief memo, based on today’s Personnel Board discussion, to be put before the Board of Selectmen.
The Personnel Board unanimously decided to nominate Max McCreery to be the Personnel Board representative to the Police Chief hiring process. Jennie Greene offered to represent the Personnel Board if Max is unable to serve.
Tri-Town Ambulance Position Descriptions
Susan Heilbron reported on her review of the reformulated ambulance position descriptions.
The most significant change in the Clerical Assistant position, aside from the title, is that the position now reports directly to the Ambulance Coordinator, rather than the Tri-Town Ambulance Committee. A number of ambulance-related functions (responding to calls, etc) have been removed from the description. Susan Heilbron confirmed with Tri-Town Ambulance Committee members that the change in title did not signify an intended down-grading of the position from Grade 6. The language referring to the billing company by name was amended to be more general.
In light of changes made to the description, Jennie Greene questioned the requirement for having a valid Massachusetts EMT certification. Stephen Lewenberg noted that it was clearly the wish of the Committee for the person working in this position to be an EMT. A MOTION to approve the position description as presented by the Tri-Town Ambulance Committee with the amendment re: the billing company referenced above was voted in favor by two members, with one member abstaining. The Motion was not carried due to lack of a quorum.
The Board unanimously decided to consider the position descriptions at its March 5th meeting, and to invite a member of the Tri-Town Ambulance Committee to present the revisions undertaken by the Committee.
Role of Personnel Board in hiring processes The Personnel Board noted that, per the bylaw, the Board of Selectmen must authorize the initiation of a hiring process, and has entrusted the Personnel Board with the responsibility of ensuring a legitimate, rule-based process. The following sequence in hiring is thus recommended: a governing body needing to hire a staff member should notify the Personnel Board of its intent to hire. The hiring body can then proceed to notify the Board of Selectmen, inform them that the proposed hire has been reviewed together with the Personnel Board, and get BOS approval to advertise the position.
The Personnel Board briefly discussed the question of exit interviews, and noted that it is important to follow up with departing staff expeditiously after their departure.
Jennie Greene left the meeting, leaving the Board without a quorum.
The meeting adjourned at 10:02am.
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