DEPARTMENT: Human Resources
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Lori Steward
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City-wide
SUBJECT: City Council Staff Compensation Review
SUMMARY:
An Ordinance amending Section 5 of Ordinance number 2019-09-12-0691 to implement the results of the Council Staff Policy Discussion approved in the FY 2020 Budget.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
On August 9, 2019, a Council Consideration Request was submitted regarding City Council staff compensation. As part of the FY 2020 budget process, City Council appropriated $870,284 for a City Council staff policy discussion with any recommendations to be effective February 1, 2020. During a Governance Committee meeting on October 16, 2019, Mayor Nirenberg appointed an Ad Hoc Committee on City Council Staff Compensation, including Councilmember Rocha Garcia as Chair and consisting of Council members: Courage, Sandoval and Trevino. The Ad Hoc Committee met regularly with Human Resources and the City Attorney’s Office to monitor progress and provide feedback.
Human Resources (HR) facilitated a classification and compensation review through the gathering of detailed information on the duties and responsibilities of City Council staff through questionnaires and individual meetings. Draft job descriptions were developed and reviewed by the Ad Hoc Committee on November 15, 2019. The Ad Hoc Committee members provided feedback to HR and also reviewed the draft job descriptions with each member of City Council for additional input.
The Ad Hoc Committee approved the use of a third-party consultant to view the draft job descriptions and information gathered to make pay range recommendations for this review. The City contracted with Werling & Associates, Inc. to perform this work. Materials were provided to the consultant on November 22, 2019. Dr. Werling presented his recommendations to the Ad Hoc Committee on December 20, 2019. The Ad Hoc Committee requested additional review by the consultant, and also requested that HR develop an alternative recommendation using internal knowledge of City operations. The Ad Hoc Committee met on January 10, 2020 and reviewed an updated report from Dr. Werling. In addition, the committee reviewed and discussed an alternate pay range recommendation with modified job descriptions prepared by City staff. Both options were reviewed and discussed by the full Council during B Session on January 15, 2020.
Based on Council discussion, staff recommends adoption of the staff alternative pay range recommendation and modified job descriptions. Section 5(A) of Ordinance number 2019-09-12-0691 would be amended to:
• Adopt the job descriptions from the staff recommendation including essential job functions; education and experience; and knowledge, skills and abilities.
• Adopt the following pay ranges recommended by staff:
These pay ranges will be adjusted annually with any City Council approved cost of living adjustments
• Establish a new minimum entry wage for full-time Council Aides of $15 per hour.
• Increase the annual pay limit for any one full-time Council Aide from $100,000 to $116,737.38. This annual pay limit would be adjusted each year based on the maximum of the range for the Chief of Staff position.
• Increase to total budget allocation for Council Aide services in the Mayor and each Council office by $79,116.
The Ad Hoc Committee is scheduled to meet on January 27, 2020. The agenda for this meeting includes the City Council office FTE allocation and the approach for analyzing and developing options for benefits for City Council staff.
ISSUE:
Mayor and Council requested a review to ensure Council staff pay was equitable between districts and across the City organization while continuing to retain staffing flexibility to best serve the needs of constituents. An equitable pay structure will facilitate the hiring process and promote staff retention.
ALTERNATIVES:
If Staff alternative job descriptions and pay ranges are not adopted, the recommendations of the Consultant could be adopted resulting in a more modest pay structure. The alternative to not adopting either the Staff recommendation or the Consultant recommendation would be to maintain the existing City Council Aide pay structure adopted in the FY 2020 Budget Ordinance.
FISCAL IMPACT:
This ordinance increases the total allocation for Council Aide services in the Mayor and each Council District office by $79,116. Funding for this ordinance is included in the General Fund FY 2020 Adopted Budget.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends adoption of the staff alternative City Council Aide pay structure amending Section 5(A) of Ordinance number 2019-09-12-0691 to reflect the pay range and job description recommendations as outlined in this memorandum.