10/19/1977 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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, ,. In regard to inappropriate comparisons, he noted the comparison was . wi:th the private sector only, and the human rights commissions felt itr woul d be better to compare wi th other governmental bodi es as well as the private sector. In other remarks, Mr. Chalmers said the new staffing (page 3) is to be applauded. He said the 1981 goals at this point are somewhat short- sighted in terms of where the City should be, and in terms of how the population is growing. The human rights commissions felt there is a need to adjust the 1981 goals, in other words to accelerate those goals and objectives regarding affirmative action. Gary Long, Personnel Director, said the 1975-76 Affirmative Action Report had better information and City staff were trying to develop more. He felt staff should continue the discussion to get more agree- ment regarding ,who .is to develop what information, noting staff felt that commissions should take some responsibility. He said that 60 percent of the selection for employees had affected the protected classes, noting it seems to ~e a fairly open system. Regarding the negative side, he said, there had been little progress in affirmative action and he saw little option for substantial change; noting the difficulty with the labor market and not just with the employer. He al so said staff hopes to update the goal s thi s year. Ms. Smith said the procedure used last year of commissions meeting with staff and two Councilors worked very well, and she hoped that procedure would be used in the updating of the goals this year. ,- Mr. Haws wondered what the City was doing to encourage more female applicants for the .fire and police departments. Mr. Long replied he had approximately 500 applications for 17 openings in the Fire Department now, and two were female applicants. He said it was hard to find interested women, noting the staff had sent letters to various women's groups in the area to make it known the City was interested in women firefighters. Also, staff had sought information from other cities to see how they recruited. With regard to the Police Depart- ment, he said affirmative action for female employees was more positive. Mr. Hamel wondered how staff picked from 500 applicants the 17 employees, noting if the last two were women, would staff go to the bottom of the list just to hire women. Mr. Long said staff tried to balance between qualified applicants and affirmative action goals. He said they would go through the applications and look for targeted groups who were also well qualified for the job. ,Mr. Hamel moved, seconded by Mr. Williams, to accept the 1975-76 Affirmative Action Report and response from Human Rights Council. Motion carried unanimously. .e 10/19/77--6 1'10