06/22/1992 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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. e II. COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS FOllOW-UP DISCUSSION Linda Norris, Acting Assistant City Manager, reviewed the questions about compensation and benefits policies for the council's discussion. The first question discussed was, "Should the City continue its current policy of setting compensation according to market data of comparable organizations in the relevant recruitment area?" Mr. Boles suggested that after Eugene Decisions is completed, the council should incorporate the dollar value associated with the community's high qual- ity of life into its definition of market rate for employee compensation. City Manager Mike Gleason stated that the City's compensation rate already lags 15-20 percent behind those of Portland and Seattle, the most relevant urban comparators. Eugene's is one of the lowest-priced wage markets in the region. Further, most recruitment is carried out locally rather than in com- munities with lower quality-of-life indices. He stated that the City's pay rates are also lower than the existing local private-sector market rates. Mr. MacDonald agreed with Mr. Gleason. Mr. Nicholson stated that the current City methodology is not the most appro- priate to determine the market rate, because it has not convinced the public that the City's compensation rates are reasonable. He said that the City's e objective should not be to pay the lowest wages possible, but rather to lead the public discussion of whether the utmost is being done to curb payroll expenses through maximizing performance and efficiency in service provision. To gain greater credibility, he suggested: 1) appointment of an outside agen- cy to audit the City's compensation practices; 2) establishment of a citizen review committee; and 3) periodic reviews by the City Council. Mr. Robinette agreed that the problem is primarily one of how to achieve cred- ibility in the eyes of constituents. Ms. Ehrman objected that none of the recommendations in previous studies of the City's employment practices were followed. Mr. Robinette disagreed. Mr. MacDonald supported appointing an auditor and a citizen review committee. Mr. Miller objected to spending more City funds, adding that concerned groups have already reviewed the available data. Mr. Green arrived. Mr. Robinette stated that the role of the council is to inform the City Manag- er of the desired outcomes of City employment and delegate to him responsibil- ity for determining compensation. Mr. Boles agreed, and suggested that the first question and the second question ("What criteria should the City use in selecting public and private sector agencies to survey?") be answered by main- '" e MINUTES--City Council Work Session June 22, 1992 Page 2 5:30 p.m.