(A) Administered by City Manager. The personnel system established by this chapter shall be administered by the City Manager, who shall:
(1) Exercise leadership in developing a system of effective personnel administration within the several city departments subject to this chapter;
(2) Appoint, remove, suspend and discipline all employees of the city subject to the policies as set forth in this chapter, provisions of the charter and those in state law. The City Manager may, at his or her discretion, authorize the head of a department or office responsible to him or her to appoint and terminate subordinates in the departments and offices;
(3) Fix and establish the number of employees in the various city departments and offices and determine the duties, authority, responsibility and compensation in accordance with the policies as set forth in this chapter and subject to the approval of the City Council and budget limitations;
(4) Foster and develop programs for the improvement of employee effectiveness, including training, safety and health;
(5) Maintain records of all employees subject to this chapter in which there shall be set forth as to each employee the class, title, pay rates and other relevant data;
(6) Make periodic reports to the City Council regarding the administration of this chapter;
(7) Recommend to the City Council a position classification plan, and install and maintain a plan upon approval by the City Council;
(8) Prepare and recommend to the City Council a pay plan for all city employees;
(9) Develop and administer the recruiting and examining programs as may be necessary to obtain an adequate supply of competent applicants to meet the employment needs of the city;
(10) Be responsible for certification of payrolls; and
(11) Perform other duties and exercise other authority in personnel administration as may be prescribed by law and this chapter.
(B) Personnel Board.
(1) A Personnel Board shall be established consisting of five members, two of whom shall be appointed by the City Council, one of whom shall be appointed by the City Manager and two of whom shall be elected by the employees covered by this chapter.
(2) The term of members of the Personnel Board shall be five years; except that, the member appointed by the City Manager shall initially serve a one-year term; the members appointed by the City Council shall serve three-year terms; and, members elected by the employees shall serve the full five- year terms. Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments for the unexpired terms. Members shall be elected or appointed in June of each year and shall take office July 1. A member of the Board may not succeed himself or herself.
(3) No member of the Personnel Board shall be employed by or be an official of the city, nor shall be a member of any local, state or national committee of a political party or an official or member of a committee in any partisan political group or organization, nor shall hold or be a candidate for any elective office. No member of the Personnel Board shall be an immediate family member (wife, husband, son, son-in-law, daughter, daughter-in-law, mother, mother-in-law, father, father-in-law, brother, brother-in-law, sister, sister-in-law, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, step-parent, stepchild, grandmother, or grandfather) of any employee or elected official of the City of Crossville. The members of the Personnel Board shall be removable by the City Council only for cause, after being given a copy of charges and being given an opportunity to be heard publicly on the charges before the City Council.
(4) After the election and appointment of the Personnel Board, its members shall elect their own Chairperson who shall act as spokesperson for the Personnel Board. The Personnel Board shall conduct the meetings as are necessary to properly discharge its responsibilities. Three members shall constitute a quorum for conducting business.
(5) Members of the Personnel Board shall be compensated at the rate of $15 per meeting attended, not to exceed one per month. Funds shall be provided for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the discharge of their responsibilities. The City Manager, or his or her designee, shall serve as the Secretary of the Personnel Board, without a vote.
(6) The Personnel Board shall have the following duties and responsibilities:
(a) Represent the public interest in the improvement of personnel administration;
(b) Advise the City Council and the City Manager on problems concerning personnel administration; and
(c) Hear appeals of any employee covered by this chapter relative to personnel actions taken by the city in which the employee feels grieved, as long as the employee has exhausted the grievance procedures provided in the rules and regulations. The Personnel Board may revoke, modify or sustain the personnel action being appealed. The Personnel Board shall have the right of subpoena, the power to examine witnesses under oath, the power to compel the appearance of a witness and the power to require the production of evidence by subpoena. During the review, both the appealing employee and city or other person whose actions are being reviewed shall have right to be heard publicly, be represented by any person the appellant desires and to present evidentiary facts. At the hearings of the appeals or grievances, technical rules of evidence shall not apply. All appeals shall be concluded as expeditiously as possible and in accordance with the requirement and procedures set forth in the personnel rules and regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter. The cases shall be final. However, nothing in this section purports to preclude judicial review.
(7) The nomination and election of the member of the Personnel Board representing the classified employees shall be conducted in the following manner.
(a) Not less than 30 days prior to the expiration of the elected member's term, or immediately upon resignation or removal, the City Manager shall notify all employees in the classified service that nominations will be received for five working days.
(b) Upon receipt of nominations, the City Manager will determine the qualifications of the nominees in compliance with division (B)(3) above and shall then prepare appropriate ballots for vote by all the classified service.
(c) The City Manager shall tabulate the ballots in the presence of two employees selected at random and certify to the City Council for appointment to the Personnel Board the person receiving the highest number of votes. Should the person so elected choose not to serve, the next person on the ballot receiving the highest number of votes shall be certified for appointment. Should no one so elected choose to serve on the Personnel Board, the above process is repeated until an employee representative to the Personnel Board is selected.
(1989 Code, § 4-203) (Am. Ord. 1432, passed 3-11-2014)