Revise employee disciplinary hearing rules to prevent conflicts of interest

Labor & City WorkersPersonnel<UNKNOWN>Ordinance

In Plain English

Skelly hearings let city employees challenge disciplinary actions before they take effect. Current rules allow department heads to oversee hearings for their own staff, creating potential bias. The new rules require neutral hearing officers from outside the employee's department. The city also cannot hire outside lawyers unless the employee has their own attorney.

Auto-generated summary. Source: official agenda documents.

Votes

Direct staff to begin the meet and confer process with the appropriate bargaining units with the intention of revising the Skelly process as recommended unless the employee who is the subject of the Skelly meeting requested their department head to serve as hearing officer

Passed

6 to 1

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Why This Vote Matters

The council voted 6-1 to direct staff to negotiate changes to employee disciplinary hearings with city worker unions, with Councilmember Butt dissenting. Under the proposed reforms, when city employees challenge disciplinary actions, they would get a neutral hearing officer from outside their department instead of potentially having their own boss oversee the process. The changes would also prevent the city from hiring outside attorneys unless the employee brings their own lawyer, except when an employee specifically requests their department head conduct the hearing. This marks a rare departure from the council's typical unanimous support for personnel matters, as most members have voted yes on nearly every personnel item in recent meetings.

Auto-generated context. Source: official meeting records.

Other motions

Accept the first part of the main motion but not the second part regarding legal representation

Failed

Community Discussion

This discussion was submitted to the City Clerk as part of the public record.

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