04/29/1992 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e e e Mr. Gleason noted that the City does not have civil service positions, that he has personally been involved in employee lay-offs, and that security is based only on performance. Responding to a question from Ms. Bascom, Mr. Gleason said that the City's work force had increased only slightly during his tenure, while at the same time there has been an increase in programs outside the General Fund (ambulance service, sewage treatment plant, regional storm water system, airport, consolidated 9-1-1). He noted that the accomplishment reflected great productivity. In response to Ms. Ehrman, Mr. Gleason said that he avoids lay-offs by moving employees elsewhere because it is a productivity decision. The "bumping" process that would otherwise be activated is costly in terms of morale and money. Continuing her report, Ms. Norris said that many positions eligible for overtime in the private sector are not eligible for overtime in the City. She said wages for many positions are driven largely by union settlements, with supervisors earning from five to ten percent more. Mr. Norris said that the City makes an effort to ensure that positions doing similar work receive similar pay. The category of professional and technical employees, typically found in both public and private sectors, is surveyed periodically and a few positions are surveyed regionally (14 cities in 7 western states). The last category is positions found primarily in the pUblic sector. This group is within public market locally but about ten percent below the market regionally. Ms. Norris said the City has received feedback about doing more comparisons with the local private sector, something it is very willing do do. She described a survey that is currently being done involving Albany General Hospital, Hewlet-Packard, John laBatts Food (lane County), Mantech Environmental, Oregon Freeze Dried, Pope & Talbot, PW Pipe, Soltec Silicon, Spectra Physics, and Teledyne Wah Chang. She reiterated that many more organizations were asked to participate. Responding to comments from council, Mr. Gleason said he has responded to hard economic conditions with layoffs and wage freezes, even though the volume of work remains the same and, in most cases, increases. As an example, he noted the reduction in service hours in the library resulted in the same number of patrons coming in during the reduced hours, forcing the hiring of more people during those hours to serve them. In response to Mr. Nicholson, Mr. Gleason said the problem of distance in setting wages is a serious question, noting that his salary is set by the council. MINUTES--Eugene City Council 11:30 a.m. April 29, 1992 Page 5