Committee Report - C of APM - 4-20-16 — File 201329

Confirmation of Appointments and Personnel Matters Committee Page 1 of 3 Printed 4/26/2016 April 20, 2016 REPORT OF THE CONFIRMATION OF APPOINTMENTS AND PERSONNEL MATTERS COMMITTEE Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Maryann M. Heuston Chair Present Robert J. McWatters Vice Chair Present Dennis M. Sullivan Alderman At Large Present Mary Jo Rossetti Alderman at Large Present Lance L. Davis Ward Six Alderman Absent Matthew McLaughlin Ward One Alderman Present Tony Lafuente Ward Four Alderman Present Mark Niedergang Ward Five Alderman Present Katjana Ballantyne Ward Seven Alderman Present John M. Connolly Alderman At Large Absent William A. White Jr. Alderman At Large Present Others present: Robert Collins - Law, Patrick Sullivan - SPD, Candace Cooper - Personnel, Tim Snyder - Mayor’s Office, Rositha Durhami - Clerk of Committees The meeting took place in the Committee Room and was called to order at 7:00 PM by Alderman Lafuente and adjourned at 8:09 PM. Document List: • Ald. Niedergang Letter (with 200613) • Resume - M Khoury (with 201030) Approval of the March 23, 2016 Minutes RESULT: ACCEPTED 200613: Conveying, with President White, a request to jointly analyze the Board's and Administration's administrative needs.

Confirmation of Appointments and Personnel Matters Committee Page 2 of 3 Printed 4/26/2016 Alderman White said that he had a discussion with the mayor about this matter, adding that aldermen have had difficulties getting support. Chairman Heuston suggested drafting a job description, since this person would be an employee of the city and Alderman Ballantyne suggested that perhaps the person should have in-depth knowledge, in land development as an example, and works 20 hours per week to assist with the zoning and other research tasks. Alderman Niedergang stated that his position as an aldermen has turned into a full time job. In Cambridge the mayor has 6 aides and the council members each have their own aide. Alderman Niedergang said that he pays, out of his campaign funds, for someone to perform research for him. Securing interns was discussed, but there was a concern that they might leave after a time. Alderman Niedergang said that it would be great to have someone with certain knowledge to do tasks and maybe help with constituent services. He has also looked at the Clerk of Committees job description and believes that it would make more sense for the City Clerk and the BOA to hire and manage the Clerks of Committees. Alderman Niedergang said he thought the vision was for the clerk to provide research. He read the job description of the Clerk of Committee to the members and said it makes sense for the City Clerk to function in a supervisory function of this potential new position. Alderman White said that, although that is a good point, it would have to be addressed in Legislative Matters. Aldermen Ballantyne and McWatters expressed their preference of handling constituent services themselves and would not have an assistant to that for them. Alderman Lafuente also prefers to handle constituent services himself but feels that being able to say that an aide will call them back would be helpful. Alderman Sullivan said that it would be great to have someone to assist with the calls. Alderman McWatters talked about his years as a Clerk of Committees and believes some help with research is needed. Alderman White talked about staffing for day to day support. Chairman Heuston said there are other things besides research to be addressed and that all offers are on the table. Chairman Heuston said she thought there was once a zoning administrative person in the budget and was told by former Mayor Brune that it once was a full time position. Chairman Heuston spoke about a person to perform light research who is proficient with spreadsheets and other office suite applications. Alderman Mclaughlin asked if each alderman would have his/her own aide or if it would be one for all to share. He said he is open to anything, but really needs someone to do research. Presently, he calls 311 and the mayor's office with questions Alderman Rossetti asked for the current job description and the salary range to be able to decide about changing the job descriptions. She said that she thought the clerks would do more for her and she asked what the difference was between the management clerk and the other clerks. Alderman Lafuente suggested that a new position might be requested in addition to the other clerks. Alderman White suggested inviting the City Clerk to the next meeting and Chairman Heuston said that she has asked the City Clerk in the past if any additional support was needed. Chairman Heuston asked Ms. Cooper to forward the Clerk of Committees job descriptions and the date they were last revised to the full Board before the next meeting.

Confirmation of Appointments and Personnel Matters Committee Page 3 of 3 Printed 4/26/2016 Alderman McLaughlin suggested it would make sense to have all clerks report to the City Clerk. Alderman Lafuente suggested having 2 full time assistants with the City Clerk and the President of the BOA deciding where the assistants would work. Alderman McWatters suggested starting with 2 full time and 1 part time assistant for the BOA. Alderman Niedergang feels that 2 assistants would be a reasonable place to start. Alderman White said the task of the clerk has changed now with MinuteTraq. He said full time clerks work in the evening and maybe there should be someone to liaison with Peter Forcellese for the agenda. Alderman Ballantyne realizes the current job description is not being filled and asked if that means that 1 clerk is turned into 1 full time employee to do the work. She also inquired about the working hours, suggesting perhaps having someone work from 3:00 -9:00 PM to do research, place phone calls and cover the meetings at night. Alderman Rossetti said she would like to see more examples of how other communities are staffed in this area and Chairman Heuston asked Ms. Cooper to get information from Everett, Revere, Malden, Lowell and Lawrence on how they are staffed. Mr. Snyder said that there have been preliminary discussion with the Mayor and he is interested in hearing the needs of the BOA. Chairman Heuston requested that a budget line place holder be included in the FY-17 budget for this new position. She also asked what the base salaries of the potential positions would be. The committee requested the following: • That the City Clerk attend the next C of APM meeting • Copies of all the clerks’ job descriptions including the City Clerk’s • When the job descriptions were last updated and their salaries • Additional job descriptions from 5 similar cities/towns Chairman Heuston also spoke about the Chief of Staff’s salary increase last year. RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE 201030: Requesting the promotion of Michael Khoury to Lieutenant in the Fire Department. Mr. Khoury is presently holds the position of acting Lieutenant in the Fire Department. Alderman Rossetti suggested that he possibly volunteer an afternoon to introduce himself to the high school students to inform them that he is a graduate of Somerville High School. RESULT: APPROVED