Personnel Sub-Committee Special Meeting March 9, 2015

TOWN OF SIMSBURY – BOARD OF SELECTMEN – PERSONNEL SUB-COMMITTEE
SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES – MARCH 9, 2015 "SUBJECT TO APPROVAL" 

CALL TO ORDER

The Special Meeting of the Board of Selectmen Personnel Sub-Committee was called to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Main Meeting Room of the Simsbury Town Offices. Present were: Chairman Christopher Kelly, Committee members Cheryl Cook and Sean Askham. Others in attendance included Selectmen Michael Paine and Nancy Haase, Thomas Cooke, Director of Administrative Services and other interested parties.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Everyone stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.

PUBLIC HEARING

• To Receive Comment on Proposed Compensation for the position of First Selectman

Mr. Kelly said the purpose of this meeting is to solicit public input on the First Selectman’s salary changes to inform the 2015-15 budget process.

Mr. Kelly gave a historical overview, which included the assignment, approach, recommendations, actions and samples salaries that were given to the Personnel Sub-Committee for their review. He also went through the personnel function study and Mr. Erdmann’s assignment and approach.

Mr. Kelly said the recommendations that came from the study included:

• Revised position description for Director of Administrative Services and salary range of $95,000 - $130,000. The action taken was approval of the position description with some changes and approval of the salary range.

• Revised Deputy Director of Administrative Services job description with salary range $65,000 - $100,000 was proposed. This was approved.

• The creation of an Employee Benefits Coordinator position with a job description and salary range of $55,000 - $75,000. This was approved.

• Funding for adjusted salaries could be obtained by reducing First Selectman’s Salary from $113,850 to $75,000 starting in next term. The Board of Selectmen originally approved this to be effective starting with the 2015-16 fiscal budget. Subsequently, this was changed to be effective starting with the next term.

Mr. Kelly gave some sample salary comparisons with similar size Towns as well.

PUBLIC AUDIENCE

Joan Coe, 26 Whitcomb Drive, said Mr. Erdmann didn’t even look at whether there should be a Town Manager form of government. Therefore, she feels his scope of the study was limited.

She feels the Charter doesn’t give a true job description of a First Selectman position. Therefore, she feels a Charter Revision Commission should look at and focus on the position of the First Selectman. After having an exact job definition for First Selectman, then you can focus on the salary. She feels Mr. Erdmann needs to know exactly what the First Selectman duties are before he can make an exact recommendation.

Elizabeth Warner, Wescott Road, said she was very upset in December. She said she appreciates the scope of the study. However, she is concerned that we might possibly be limiting the pool of candidates for First Selectman. She feels this needs to be looked at further.

Thomas Frank, 19 Danbury Drive, said he thought the reduction in the salary was because the First Selectman was going to perform less duties. He has served as a Chief Executive Officer himself, and was very aware of what his duties were, but still had a lot to do for his position.

Mr. Frank said it will be difficult to decide what the salary should be until we decide exactly what the First Selectman needs to do. One of the biggest issues in Simsbury is the Grand List and real estate taxes. He said either an elected officer or Town Manager should be able to do business development. We need to decide what they need to do before deciding what they should be paid.

CLOSE PUBLIC HEARING

Ms. Cook made a motion to close the Public Hearing at 6:15 after no further public comment. Mr. Askham seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed.

Mr. Kelly thanked everyone for coming and for their comments.

Mr. Kelly said the issue is to either keep the salary of $113,850 up to the swearing in of the next First Selectman and then change the salary to $75,000 or to keep it at $113,850 until further review of the Charter Revision.

Mr. Askham was disappointed in the number of people who attended this meeting. He and Ms. Cook agreed with what the Board had already acted upon.

Mr. Kelly did have some concerns about the $75,000 being too low of a salary for a First Selectman. He said the Charter Revision Commission process is time consuming. He was concerned about getting people to run for that position with that salary. He feels it is pretty inexpensive to add back in the difference in the salaries.

After a lot of discussion, Mr. Askham and Ms. Cook would like to further discuss this issue with the rest of the Board of Selectmen.

Mr. Kelly made a motion to increase the salary of the First Selectman to $113,850 for the next year. No second was made. Therefore, the motion died.

POSSIBLE ACTION

ADJOURN

Mr. Askham made a motion to adjourn at 6:40 p.m. Ms. Cook seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathi Radocchio
Clerk