Town of Aquinnah

Personnel Committee
4-2-19 Meeting Minutes

Members Present: Acting Chair Alex Taylor and June Manning
Not Present: Kathy Newman
Also present: Town Employee Representative and Sargent Paul Manning, Town Administrator Jeffrey Madison, Assessor Assistant Angela Cywinski, Board of Health Chair Jim Glavin, Planning Board Chair Peter Temple, Board of Health Assistant Phoenix Becker, Board of Health member Sarah Saltonstall, Selectmen Chair Gary Haley
The meeting began at 4:13pm.

- In the absence of Kathy Newman, Chair, June nominated Alex as the acting chair for the meeting. June moved to table review of minutes until the next meeting. Motion was seconded by Alex. The Committee voted 2-0, the motion passed.

- The Committee met with the Board of Health to review their request to increase the BOH Assistant hours from 18hrs/week to 19hrs/week (additional hour has been included in the proposed FY’20 BOH budget). The BOH Assistant job description was passed out as well as copies of email correspondence and Finance Committee minutes in regard to the matter. Jeffrey noted that the Fin Comm did not have an issue with the hour increase so long as the position remains under 20hrs. The additional hour will increase the BOH budget by approx. $1358. Gary noted that the Fin Comm was trying to reduce budgets to decrease the override. BOH Chair Jim Glavin stated that Phoenix has been doing a great job and she does put in more hours than 19hrs/week because the job demands it. June moved to approve the additional hour for Phoenix Becker effective as of July 1, 2019. Alex seconded the motion. The Committee voted 2-0, the motion passed. Personnel Committee made the recommendation to increase the BOH Assistant hours to 19hrs/week.

- The Committee briefly discussed the current duties of the Board Administrator Assistant. Jeffrey handed out copies of the proposed job description changes for the Planning Board Assistant including a step up on the compensation pay grade. The Committee was unsure if the Board Admin Asst. was being changed into the Planning Board Assistant. The Committee requested to know how many hours the Board Admin Asst. gives to Planning Board duties. Angela noted that the Planning Board has already included the increase in the FY’20 budget and it was approved by Fin Comm but that it had not come before the Personnel Comm.
Peter Temple, Planning Board Chair, entered the meeting and discussed the following in regard to the proposed job: many town planning boards have an administrator; at the time of creating the Board Admin Asst. position, a Planning Board Asst. job description was also developed and the town merged the two positions making it an all-purpose board assist.; in preparing for Peter’s departure as Chair, the revised job description will include increased responsibilities which Peter had covered as Chair, Sibel had felt that the changes were a step up in grade from step E to step D. The Committee reviewed the proposed job description for the Planning Board Assist. Peter reviewed the proposed Zoning Administrator duties with the Committee (Zoning Administrator position will be proposed under Zoning Bylaw Changes at the Town Meeting). The Committee did not feel that the Zoning Admin. Would fall under the Personnel Comm. purview but appreciated the discussion because it illustrates the current workload of the Planning Board.
Angela voiced concern on the increase of the Board Admin Assist hours and duties and questioned why this position was not being considered for outsourcing. She noted that she felt there was an internal favoritism towards the current Board Admin Asst for the new position. Peter was not sure if the job would need to be advertised or not and stated that he only refers to the current person in the Board Admin Asst position because that is what he is used to.
The Committee discussed the following in regard to the Planning Board Asst. job: advertisement of the position; concern that the new position does not encompass the duties of the Board Admin Asst.; how this will play out if the current Board Admin Asst. applies for this other position; if there is any overlap between the two positions; current hours of the Board Admin Asst.; and hours of the new position. The Committee requested that the Planning Board make a recommendation on the number of hours for the Planning Board Asst. position and requested more clarity. In addition, they requested to meet with Sophia, Board Admin Asst. and Sibel, who met with Peter to discuss this new position. The Committee felt that keeping the new position under 20hrs/week would be beneficial for the town. Angela felt that if the same person holds two positions they will qualify for benefits. The Committee briefly discussed the Senior Tax relief municipal work program (has not been passed in Aquinnah). Peter hopes that the new position will be official for July 1st, 2019. The Committee agreed to gather information via email correspondence and plan for a meeting when Kathy returns.

- Under other business, Angela requested to discuss Personnel matters with the Committee regarding her job. Angela stated the following: Personnel Committee has not discussed the matter of the town removing the Assessor Assistant position out of the compensation plan nor has the proposed Assessor outsourcing been reviewed by the Personnel Committee. Angela stated that Jeffrey has written an RFP to outsource her job (RFP due by May 7th). Angela expressed concern with this targeting and felt that there is no official person for her to talk to. She requested that Kathy Newman not be part of the discussion because her husband has voiced the opinion that Angela be terminated. She felt that there is no reason for termination, per the Personnel bylaws, because she has not been before the Personnel Committee for disciplinary actions. The Committee stated that the Selectmen are allowed to look into outsourcing but if they begin to start talking about terminating an employee there is a procedure they need to follow (this procedure may or may not include the Personnel Committee). There was brief discussion on the grievance process. Angela stated that the employees have not received updated Personnel Bylaws form the last Town Meeting and requested that the updated bylaw be passed out. There was discussion on the Board of Assessors view on the matter. The Committee agreed to investigate the termination process and notify the Selectmen and Administrator about this discussion. Angela informed the Committee that the BOA will be meeting in an executive session on April 9th at 4:30 and invited Alex, June and Paul to be present for that meeting. Angela will not be present for this meeting.

- With no other business to address, the meeting adjourned at 5:19pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Sophia Welch
Board Administrative Assistant