Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - CC - 07/24/2023Regular [Meeting of the Mil#an. City Council July 24, 2023 Page 1 of 52 CALL TO ORDER Mayor Jamison: Amen. Thank you; Father Reggie. I'd like to call the regular meeting of the Milton City Council -for Monday, July 24th, 2023;. to order. The City strongly recommends that you review tonight's agenda carefully and if you wish to speak. on any item on the agenda then please bring your comment cards to the Clerk as 'soon as possible. By the Milton rules allow a speaker to turn in their comment card up until the Clerk calls the agenda. item. Once the agenda item is called, no more: comment cards can be ,accepted. Will the City Clerk please call the roll and make general announcernents?' ROLL CALL City Clerk: Good evening Mayor and Council, I'll be happy to call roll for the .July 24th, N23; regular city council meeting. I would like to remind those in attendance. to please silence all cell phones at this time. Those: attending the meeting who would like to. make a public comment, you are required to complete a. public. comment card. Your comment card must be presented to the City Clerk prior to the agenda item being called. Any comments received after the item has been called will not be accepted. All speakers will identify themselves with name,. address, and organization before beginning your comment. If you are representing an organization, an affidavit is required stating you have this authority to speak on behalf of that organization. Please review tonight's agenda and if you would like to make a comment, please bring your comment cards. to me now. Demonstration of any sort. within.the. chamber. is prohibited. Please refrain from any applause, cheering, booing, outburst, or any dialogue with any person speaking Anyone in violation will be asked to lease. As I call roll this evening; please confirm .your attendance. Mayor Peyton Jamison? Mayor Jamison: Here. City Clerk: Councilmember Andrea VerhofV CM Verhoff. Here. City Clerk: Councilmember Paul Moore? Regular Meeting .of the Milton City Council July 24, 2023 Page of 52 APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA Mayor Jamison: Okay. Next is approval of the meeting agenda. Council, I would like to add a new business item to tonight's agenda and that.item is consideration discussion and direction of the City of Milton precincts and .polling. locations for the 2023. municipal election to include, possible modification of same and possible rescission. of prior action establishing precincts and polling locations.. Do I have a motion on that amended. agenda? Attorney Jarrard: Mayor? And I know you're taking a motion but I just avant to explain that to the extent. that the council wants to discuss that item and to. the extent that the council gets direction. on that item, there are considerable time constraints with respect to timing of legal adds., etc. And so, that is why there is a time exigency .to us adding this as it was on a nod, it was not on the published agenda, but there is a time exigency associated. with it, Mr. Mayor. Mayor Jamison: Okay, thank you City's Attorney.. IS. council okay with that agenda item? CM Moore; Mr. Mayor, I make. a motion that we accept the agenda with the adjustments that you have requested. CM Mohrig: Second. Mayor Jamison: Okay, I have a motion from Councilmember Moore and a second from Councilmember Mohrig to approve the amended meeting agenda tonight. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Councilmembers: Aye. Motion and Vote, Councilmember Moore moved to approve the Meeting Agenda with the following amendment, o :Add New Business item for Consideration. Discussion, and Direction Regarding. City of Milton Precincts and Palling Locations. for the 2023 Municipal Election, to Include Possible Modification of Same,: and Possible Rescission of Prior Action Establishing Precincts and Polling Locations. Councilmember Mohrig seconded the motion. The motion passed (7-0). Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council July 24, 2023 Page 5 of 52 this process. It was an overwhelming response to the community for those to get involved and work in our elections. This .also includes volunteering their unpaid time to form and execute the planning and process of these pre-election.committees. The overwhelming majority of the individuals already have vast experience in working local elections, including day of and advanced voting, myself included. The community is ready, the community is excited about this opportunity and we are ready to make us all proud. I look forward to each of you for your continued support. Thank you. Mayor Jamison: Thank you. Will you please call the next speaker? City Clerk: I invite Miss Lisa Cauley to the podium please. Ms. Cauley: Good evening, my name is Lisa Cauley. I live at 14680 Freemanville Road. in Milton. I :came to speak regarding the municipal elections. There is an undercurrent of false information and allegations circulating regarding our elections and specific _. individuals in our city and elected city officials. This undercurrent of individuals are making accusations of election interference among other false statements. The only election interference is the undercurrent of individuals projecting a false narrative in the community, appearing to pressure and influence Milton to abandon their resolve to run their elections and instead return to Fulton County. I want to remind you of the hard work and research done by. the appointed election. feasibility committee. I wantto remind you of the overwhelming response by Milton citizens who showed up repeatedly for over a year at council meetings, encouraging the council to vote, to run bur elections. I want to remind you of the tremendous unanimous vote by all of you to take over our elections due to the overwhelming findings on.how the city would save the taxpayer what we now know is over $200,000.00. Only a few individuals in over. a. year spoke against Milton running our elections. and those. individuals needed clarification or. to be .more informed. Regarding. our city, any consideration; abandoning our resolve, would be financially irresponsible and turningyour back on the citizens in this city who wholeheartedly support this endeavor and success. Thank you. Mayor Jamison: Thank you. Will you please. call the next speaker? Regular Meeting of the Milton City. Council July .24, 2023. Page of 52 Rosemary's Baby. And it's very clear that if all you have to do is look at the ORRs and I've put them out there. All seven open records requests and the responses. All I'm doing is I'm taking them, taking screenshots and posting them. They're available for anybody to see and all seven of you need to read. the. responses to those. ORRs because it's. shameful. It is absolutely shameful to see what has gone on over the last six months. And one. other thing I'm going to mention, District 3` should have a. polling location and that was. the. recommendation of the committee. You have a partisan in here who.comes in here and says, you need to implement the recommendations of the. Election Feasibility Coftimittee;. chapter, and verse. Well, if we're going to do that, then District 3 needs to have a polling location because. it got changed. That was their recommendation and it's specifically Mark.Amick said, the Milton Public Safety. Complex is where there should be a polling location. So, your own consultant, the consultant. that. was forced. upon the. City Manager by two council members, has. called out this whole process. City Clerk: Time has expired. Mayor Jamison: Thank you. Mr. Becker: That's all I've got to say. Thank you. Mayor Jamison: Will. you please call the next speaker? City Clerk: Mayor, I invite 1Vlelissa Fiorillo to the podium please. Nils. Fiorillo: Good evening. My name's Melissa Fiorillo, I'm a Milton resident. I've been a Milton resident for... I've been in this area for 21 years. Llive 585 Bienville.Court: and I feel: like I.know all of you because I've been up here to speak before. I've attended many of the feasibility study meetings even though I wasn't on the committee. My husband and I are both retired and we're very concerned about taxes, the economy, it's not going to get better, it's going. to. continue to get worse. And when I heard that Milton was going to .run their own. elections and that we were going to be saving this astronomical. amount of money, I was super excited. I think there are a ..lot of other people in the community by the response that you. had, there's. over — over. 100 people that.. volunteered to work and L. as an experienced Assistant Poll Regular Meeting of the. Milton City Council :July 24, 2023 Page 9 of 52 Next is approval of an. Assignment of Contract from Heath & Lineback Engineers, Inc. to BCC Engineering, LLC for the Crabapple Road. Streetscape .Prof ect, agenda item number 23 -181. F is approval of a Professional Services Agreement between the City of Milton and A -I Amusement Masters Productions, Inc., agenda item number 23-I82. Our final consent. item, G is approval of Subdivision Plats & Revisions. The first development is the Estate of George Anderson Cook, located at 2025 Bethany Way, land lot 891, District 2, Section 2. It is a minor plat to subdivide the parcel into two lots. Lot A-1 will contain 3.637 acres and lot A-2 will contain 1.000 .acres. It's a total of 4.6.3.7 acres with a density of 0.43 lots per acre. The next: development is The Well. It's large lots at 15555 Hopewell Road, land lot 462, District 2, Section 2. A minor plat to. subdivide the parcel into three.. large tracts ranging in size from 3.88 acres to 4.72: acres, a total of 3.297 acres with a density of 0.23 lots per acre. Did I say that right? 13.291. Okay, let's start. this. over, And action. 13.297 acres with a density of 0.23 lots per acre.. The final development is: Barron Minor. Plat at 16465 Freemanville. Road, land lot. 242, District 2, Section 2. It's a minor plat to subdivide the parcel into two tracts. Tract one will.contain LA3. acres and. tract two will contain 1.5.03 acres with a total of 3.006 acres and a density of 0.67 lots per acre. lt's agenda item number 23-1.83. Mayor Jamison? Mayor Jamison: Thank you. Do we have a.motion to approve the consent agenda? CM Jacobus: Mr. Mayor, 1. make a motion we approve the consent. agenda as read. CM. Moore: Second. Mayor Jamison; Okay. I have a. motion from Co►incilmember Jacobus and second from Councilmember Moore to approve. the consent agenda as read. All in favor, please say aye. Councilmembers: Aye. Motion and Vote: Councilmemb'er Jacobus moved to approve the Consent Agenda as read. Councilmember Moore seconded the motion. The motion Passed (7-0). Regular Meeting of the.Milton City Council July 24;. 2023 Page I I of 52 Management System, agenda item. number 23-187. Our Deputy City Manager, Ms. Stacey Inglis. Ms. Inglis: Good evening,. Mayor and Council. Over the past few months, the. Performance Management Committee. has been working diligently to develop.a new performance management system and. I'm here before you to present the work and seek guidance and approval of the recommendations to include the. funding structure. The agenda for this presentation is on the slide before you. 1 will introduce the. committee members, review the objectives and desired outcomes that were established during the April 10th council meeting, present our research findings, go over the requirements for an effective performance management system,. discuss the key decision factors. and the committee's recommendations, present an overview of the proposed management system components, and. the proposed funding structure of the merit incentive and market adjustments. In order to observe a diverse. representation from our various departments, we carefully selected committee members who possess specific qualities and characteristics. During the formation of the committee, department. heads were asked to recommend individuals who are strategic thinkers with an open mind, capable of seeing the bigger picture, not only focus on. personal gain or. impact. We saw individuals with an :I get to attitude instead of an I have to attitude.. Displaying organizational skills and a. willingness to complete tasks. and promptly. It was important that committee: members were in good standing performance -wise within their respective. departments.. Capable: of effectively representing the committee's proposals as ambassadors.. Additionally, strong communication skills and excellent interpersonal skills were sought, along with the ability to express objective opinions respectfully and each committee member that we have embodies these criteria and our collaborative. efforts have been. exceptional. And this has been my favorite committee; I just have to say. I did have one committee member here tonight, Thomas, and we worked really well together and I:m. really excited about what we're recommending. far you tonight and seeking your input. The objective; if you recall, that was established during the April 10th council meeting when this project was first presented to you was to create: a performance .management system based on:current Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council July 24, 2023. Page. 13 of 52 are motivated to perform at their best, believe in the fairness. of this: system, and see a clear connection between. their efforts and the outcomes. To achieve this, certain requirements must be met — establishing a culture that values and supports a pay -for - performance approach is essential,. This includes promoting the idea that high performance is recognized and. rewarded. Supervisors play a pivotal role in implementing and maintaining a pay -for -performance system. They should provide clear expectations, regular feedback, and fair evaluations. Effective supervisors create an environment of trust, open communication, and support for employees. Next is designing a robust performance evaluation system is crucial. It should incorporate clear and measurable criteria, well-definedperformance goals, and objective assessment process. Regular evaluations enable employees. to understand their performance levels and identify areas for improvement. Next; sufficient financial resources must be allocated. to support the pay -for -performance system. This ensures that the organization can -_ provide meaningful rewards and incentives for employees who meet or exceed performance expectations. Implementing mechanisms to ensure fairness. is important. This can involve multiple levels of review; calibration sessions` io minirnize bias, and regular audits to ensure consistency and objectivity in the violation process. Such checks and balances build trust and confidence in the system. Providing training programs to supervisors and employees is essential. The training should focus on enhancing their understanding of the pay -for -performance system, performance expectations and evaluation criteria, training. house .employees to. build up the necessary skills and knowledge to. perform at their best, and regular evaluation and review of the pay for -performance. system is. critical to identify any areas for improvement. Gathering feedback from employees and supervisors, analyzing performance data, and malting necessary adjustments to ensure the system remains effective and aligned with organizational goals. The committee's research. efforts encompass more than just reading through documents. We.. actively engaged :our peers in neighboring cities to gather insights into their performance management systems and merit pay structures. Our aim was to identify and compile best practices that could be implemented herein Milton. It became quickly evident `that no two systems are :alike. and each Regular Meeting: of the Milton City Council July 24, 2023 Page 15 of 52 where the similarities end. The calculation of the increases that. they receive typically rely on the financial performance of the company to things like profit margins, total shareholder return, earnings before interest, taxes;.. depreciation, amortization, or other relevant measures are used for their merit increases. Some organizations, managers are provided with cash ;incentives and opportunities for stock ownership aligning their rewards with the overall success. of the company and individual performance. The lower level employees: on the other hand may receive individual or group bonuses for good. performance. These practices demonstrate how these companies link rewards to both. organizational achievements. and individual contributions. Next, to create a performance management system... just a moment — that aligns with our %city's needs, several crucial decision factors must be considered. In the following slides, I'll. provide an. overview of each of these. key decision. factors and present the committee's recommendations. And. after each recommendation, I'll kindly request you provide any thoughts or guidance on. anything to make sure our vision aligns with yours. So, the first key .decision factor is what competencies should be evaluated? When establishing core competencies with team members evaluations, or should prioritize characteristics that revolve around knowledge, skills; abilities, and other relevant :attributes crucial for driving positive. organizational outcomes and a reasonable number of competency should be recognized and is typically between 5-15 key competencies. These competencies should be aligned. with strategic objectives and. critical success factors while also counting for varying levels of responsibility. Some competencies are. universally applicable across all roles but additional consideration can be given to. tailoring specific competencies to the technical aspects of different jobs. such as industry -specific knowledge,. skills, and technical expertise. The committee proposes the implementation of a comprehensive set of four behavioral competencies that are applicable to all positions across our organization and are directly linked to the city's core values as outlined in our strategic plan. By establishing a uniform set of core competencies for all team members, we can. ensure greater consistency and performance evaluations. Regular Meeting of tine Milton City Council July 24; 2023 Page.17 of 52 So, to show you an example of the performance matrix, the committee developed this performance matrix so it defines, again, each core value .as you see on the performance evaluation form and it further defines what the performance level — each performance level looks like for that particular core value. 8o, it goes from. exceptional performer all the way down to... and action. All the way dawn to expectations not met. And this has. been developed for each and every core value that you see on the performance level and that is also been provided to you as a copy.. I'll stop here and ask if you have any feedback or thoughts on what the committee is recommending here. Mayor Jamison: Questions for Stacey`? Ms. Inglis: Okay. The next key decision factor is who should be evaluated. and who should do the evaluating. When designing the. performance management system; it is. essential to carefully consider the. inclusion of participarits, This involves deciding whether the evaluation should be limited to fall time employees or if part time employees should also be assessed. Additionally, it is important. to determine whether all levels of responsibility, including department heads, will be evaluated and furthermore, it is crucial. to establish the point. at which new employees will be incorporated into the performance management system. The committee's recommendation is to 'include all regular full time and part time team members in. the performance. management system while excluding seasonal employees: The evaluation process will encompass all levels of responsibility ranging from non -supervisors to department heads, also 350 evaluations encompassing peer, subordinate, and supervisor reviews are recommended for department heads to begin next of school year as a proponent of our development tool. As .for new employees, those with a minimum ofsixmonths of service will be included in the. performance evaluation program with their merit pay pro -rated based on the number of completed months of service: I'll pause here to answer questions or hear your thoughts on the committee's recommendation on this particular decision factor. Mayor Jamison: Any questions for Stacey?: Ms. Inglis: All right. Next is. what are the risks that should be recognized and how can Milton mitigate their impact? So, acknowledging the Regular Meeting of the.Milton City Council July 24, 2023 Page 15 of 52 collective responsibility for the fairness of the evaluation process. and promotes a unified understanding of performance expectations. Poor implementation. When it comes to implementing performance management programs, the stakes are high and any inadequacies in the process can have far reaching consequences for the entire organization. To ensure successful outcomes and avoid potential pitfalls, a well: thought. out. approach:.is essential.. Here's how careful planning and execution can lead to positive results. 1.) The strategic .communication .plan is a clear and strategic communication plan is fimdamental to the successful implementation of any performance management program. It. involves. transparently conveying the purpose, expectations., and objectives of the system to all employees by communicating the benefits and goals, employees will be more motivated to participate actively and align their efforts with. the city's mission. The communication plan should also address. any potential concerns or misconceptions employees. might have about the new system. Openly addressing :questions and providing clarification. will help build trust and ensure a smooth transition. 2.) Clearly defined expectations and objectives,. defining clear and measurable expectations and objectives for the performance management system is crucial. Employees need to understand what criteria will be: used to evaluate their performance and how it aligns with the organization's overall goals. Clear expectations lead to a more focused and purposeful workforce driving productivity and accountability.. 3.) A well -written policy is the backbone: of any performance management program. It should be comprehensive, concise, and easily accessible to all employees. The policy should outline the performance evaluation process, the rating scale, the frequency of reviews, and the consequences of performance outcomes. A carefully crafted policy helps ensure consistency and fairness across the organization.. And then having a.well=structured implementation schedule is also essential to avoid confusion and disruptions of the rollout of the performance management system. A clearly outlined timeline helps all stakeholders understand. when: and how the new system. will. be introduced making it easier for them to adapt to the changes. Regularly communicating progress and milestones during the implementation process keeps employees. informed and Regular Meeting: of the. Milton City Council July 24, 2023 Page 21 of 52 on how effectively these. concerns. and hesitations are addressed. By taking proactive measures to anticipate and manage resistance, the city can achieve a smoother transition and foster a more positive .acceptance of the change. You want to prepare the .employees for the change.. The more informed the employees are about the. upcoming changes, the less likely they will resist them. So., it's crucial to communicate early and transparently about the. reasons behind the change, the benefits it will bring, and the potential 'impacts it will have. Providing clear and honest information helps remediate uncertainties and misconceptions and will help build trust and. confidence in the organization's.decisions.. .Frequent communications is a key element in managing resistance: It will keep employees updated and engaged and informed throughout the process, :communicating the timeline, milestones, and. expectations helps employees. better prepare for the change and minimizes the element of surprise.. Leadership support. Haying the support of leadership is crucial for a successful implementation. When employees see that senior management is fully behind the change and actively involved in the process, as well as mayor and council; they are more likely to embrace it. And the last risk T want to identify is lack of funding. Insufficient funding for the merit pay program can .lead to the unfortunate practice of forced ratings. Forced ratings occur when managers are compelled to assign a fixed percentage of employees to Specific performance categories such as top performance, average performers, and low performers. This artificial distribution can be derriotivating for employees and erode trust in the fairness of the evaluation process. Therefore,. it is vital to allocate adequate funds to. support the program. To avoid potential pitfalls and ensure the programs sustainability, it is wise to prioritize the funding and base calculations on conservative estimates. Relying on realistic projections of the budget required ensures there's enough resources to incentivize high. performance and. accommodate deserving employees without compromising program's integrity. .By recognizing and proactively addressing these risks, we can navigate the implementation of the performance management Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council July 24, 2023 Page 23 of 52 Ms. Inglis: Any other questions before I move on? The next. key decision. factor is what should the structure of the merit increase look like? There.. exist several. approaches to the structuring the merit increase with the two most common being one-time payments or bonuses. Just to use. that term here, :a lot of people can relate to it. Bonuses in. cify . government isn't highly favored or highly viewed. And then performance -based pay. Each approach has its own sets of advantages and disadvantages. and I'll discuss those now. One-time payments or bonuses, as I mentioned, represents a variable amount of pay that is dependent solely on performance and. is not guaranteed. The advantage of this. approach is that acknowledges the fluctuating nature of employee performance; allowing for the distribution of a larger pool of bonus money each year, rather than. allocating funds from previous: years for performance -based pay 'increases. So,. if an employee performs really .well one year and not so well the next year;, you're not. carrying that increase within the base pay each year. It also enhances the visibility of rewards reinforcing the link between the. employee efforts and outcomes; however the disadvantage is that a. signif cant portion of pay is at. risk, making the employee's salary less predictable and potentially leading to stress or retention issues: Additionally, in the public sector, bonuses are often insufficient to truly recognize high performing individuals. in contrast, performance -based pay increases are incorporated. into an employee's base pay and generally only adjusted upwards. The advantages of this approach is that employees may perceive persistent increases to be. more desirable than. the potential fluctuations associated with individual bonuses. Moreover, base pay increases are more appealing;than bonuses as they enhance the value of. various benefits such as retirement savings or retirement investments. and earnings. However, the disadvantages include limitations on adjusting pay to reflect an employee's current performance leveb.long-term.cost implications, and the possibility of the . incident being too small to be meaningful due to funding constraints. As an alternative to these two merit increase structures, organizations may adopt:a combination of bonuses and base pay increases such as a cost -of -living adjustment. This strategy allows the organization to enjoy the benefits of both approaches While mitigating. their downsides. The advantages include assuring. that Regular Meeting of.the.Milton City Council July 24, 2023 Page 25 of 52 from 1-5, 5 being .an exceptional performer, 1 being they're not meeting expectations at all. To me,, someone achieving a 1. should get no market adjustment at all. Somebody receiving a 2, which means they only meet.part of their expectations, to me should only get like half of that. To me, that market adjustment is for those individuals who meet expectations and deserve that full. percentage: Ms. Inglis: We'll definitely look into that. Again, we. need to speak with our astute attorney to ensure that if there's any market adjustment pay withheld, since the. theory or the. structure that we're .proposing is a market adjustment and an incentive for merit based on performance and the market adjustment. isn't based on performance; it is just. to keep the employee's salary up to market. But if anything is withheld, . we need to check with legal to see . if we can.do that without any ramifications. CM Moore: If you. look at. that kind of performance .measure, the world that l lived in .historically — well, my entire career in the corporate world, market. changes were not the only drivers to whether or not the people in the corporation were.going to receive a merit increase at all. You may have a market increase that would be a couple of percentage based on. what the. economy is doing, but the company itself did not have a banner year and as such, there was no funding for it, regardless of What.the market index. is telling.. So; this does not take that into consideration. I just offer that. for your. view .is that even a. terrible. marketplace where,..in this case, we're not a. corporation performing with a product, but it does. not. take into consideration the fact that. there. are years that the company may not. be able to afford a raise because the performance. didn't. meet such goals that: would generate the. cash flow to fund a compensation. package that year. So, nobody gets raises. Nils. Inglis: And that's why this would be included in the budget every year and brought to you every year for consideration in the budgeting process. So, if it. is to the point where the city just simply can't afford for whatever reason, then we can certainly pull 'back on this. This is - this isn't set in stone. This is. something that we can adjust if we needed to but it's all based.on funding. Mayor Jamison: Yeah, I believe — I wasn't here back in the recession era,. 2008- 2009, maybe Councilmember Mohrig was,. but. people did not get Regular Meeting ofthe.Milton City Council. July .24, 2023 Page 27 of 52 you have a .copy of that self -evaluation in the packet for you. This information will contribute to the manager's assessment of the employee's. performance.. Once the employee's evaluation form is completed, the calibration sessions that I mentioned will be conducted and that involves peers to discuss and align ratings. Any sessions aimed to mitigate. any biases among raters and. ensure consistency across the organization. Lastly, the manager will meet with the team member to deliver the performance feedback. How do you feel about the proposed components of the performance management system? CM Mohrig: When. you do the check -in initially, is that where we would basically be setting for each employee discrete and specific performance requirements? Ms. Inglis: Yes. CM Mohrig; Is it clear what it is they're expecting to be measured against? Ms. Inglis: That's on the developmental aspect. That is more for goals and helping them to achieve a higher performance. It's basically saying there are .goals thatare reachable but not so easy to attain. So, it is designed specifically as a developmental tool. It will feed into the evaluation, performance evaluation, because there is a. core competency that talks. about goal achievement, but we wanted to make sure that we develop employees on. one. side and then :evaluate their performance on the other. The employees will have a. copy of :the evaluation and all the core competencies and expectations of performance levels, they'll•have that ahead of time. We, plan on rolling this out, implementation is going to have like a dry run, what we call. So, the employee will have a performance evaluation done. at the .end of this fiscal. year, but it won't feed into. the merit incident they will eventually receive. We don't propose that happening until. midyear. So, the real performance evaluation will happen at midyear for the first year and then we'll look. anal see how we're going to do future years to see if we're going to keep that same schedule for hove we do the performance evaluations and do: the merit: incentives. But that is the proposed rollout. We wanted to at least. ensure the employees knew what. to expect and adjust to. their performance levels to ensure that. they receive the highest performance rating they could.possibly get. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council July 24, 2023 Page 29 of 52 Ms. Inglis: This is our obsession,. own it.deliver it. CM Moore: Own it deliver it, etc. Ms. Inglis: Yes: CM Moore: or will the individual also have specific personalized performance goals that will contribute to their ability to 'earn a merit increase? Ms. Jnglis: Just the core values; the core competencies that We've, idea ified in that performance `evaluation is what they'll. be evaluated on: We decided that we wanted to make sure it's fair across the board, across all departrnents; so we chose: those core competencies that are applicable to all jobs and not. specific to their specific role. CM Jacobus: But. I think to your point, Paul, I think you're actually covering that when you look at these individually. CM Moore: Yeah. CM Jacobus: You can build in a manager can build into an employee those - to me, when I .look through this, the: key is training a manager to really understand how to work this to what you're talking about, I think, CM Moore: Yeah. You may have somebody striving towards. this goal, this team - the larger competency goal, but missing on a personal development. goal that is always going to prohibit their from getting to that goal if that manager is not in tune with that employee to be able to recognize that that shortcoming that we didn't need to identifythe the individualized training and. support and. development that the individual needs. If that's clear. Ms. Inglis; It. is, I see - CM Moore: And you:contemplated that,: then we're. good. Ms. Inglis: I see what you're saying, yes. CM Moore: Okay. Ms. Inglis: I... and I agree: And as Councilme.mber Jacobus mentioned, that will - the check in will lead into that performance evaluation on that specific goal of the core competency. Regular. Meeting of the Milton City. Council July24, 2023 page.31 of 52.. number of employees within: each performance.: category. So, you'll .see this same table on the next few slides as well. The performance ratings are categorized into different levels and are determined by the overall. average score an employee can achieve on their evaluation. Under the percentage expected column,. you'll find the distribution percentages for each performance level and these percentages are simply based on an industry standard identified by payscale.corn while developing in a pay -for -performance program. So, although this. standard may not completely reflect the performance lever of our specific employees, it just serves as.a. starting point for our analysis. To ensure sufficient funding, we recommend. incorporating an additional contingency fund to ensure that there's enough to cover anything. that may not: fall within this distribution... The number column, that calculates the number of employees failing within each performance level based on a percentage distribution, so you multiply it say like 1 Ad times 1.11, you get around 1.1 that are within. that particular performance level. Next., the merit pay column contains the recommended merit incentive corresponding. to each performance lever.. This is the amount rewarded to the employee in. recognition to their respective performance levels. Lastly, the total column calculates the. total number of employees falling in each performance level and provides the associated merit pay for each category. The proposed merit incentive system includes rewards for different performance levels, namely fully achieving expectations, exceeding expectations, andexceptional performers. This structure draws inspiration. from successful implementations in other cities With. similar merit pay frameworks.. While the primary goal of our performance management system is to encourage high performance, it's recommended to also recognize employees who. meet expectations for several. xeasons. First, it's. important to acknowledge that. our employees .already operate at. a. considerably high-performance level. By recognizing those who meet expectations, we reinforce the value of consistent and reliable performance. within the city. Furthermore, including: rewards for meeting expectations helps maintain the integrity of the. performance evaluations without providing any reward for this performance level there's a risk of unintentionally skewing the. evaluations towards higher performance tiers. Regular Meeting of the. Millon City Council July 24,.2623 Page 33 of 52 Ms. Inglis: Okay? So, on the next .slide; you'll find a table outlining the proposed merit incentive for our regular part time employees and there are nine of those. On average,. a part time employee works approximately 25 hours per week, which is equivalent to 62 and a half percent of a full-time employee's workload. As a.result, the proposed pay for this category of employees is set at 62.5 percent of the merit incentive recommended for full time employees that you just saw:. So, it's important to note that the actual award. received by a regular part time employee would be adjusted to reflect their specific work schedules. If they work less than 25 hours, if they work 20 hours, they'll be half of what the regular full time employee merit pay would he. CM Moore: Stacey, are these part time positions always part time positions or are these part time positions to accommodate work/life balance or is it the job task, is it a part time job task?. .Ms.. Inglis: It's. job task. These. are positions. that wehave deerned they ate riot needed to be full time positions. at this time.. So, they are considered part time positions. So, we have — CM Moore: There's no job share in this. This is — Ms..Inglis: Correct. So, this is, say like in our — in the finance department, we have Jean, who is a parttime employee. She comes in and she works, I think, 25-30 hours a week. She processes the accounts. payable for us; among other duties, but that's. mainly her. responsibility. So, that's just one position. Because she is here regularly and not seasonally;. we believe that that particular position should be included in the performance. management program. CM Jacobus: Makes sense. Ms. Inglis: Moving on, we have. the recommended merit incident for managers and supervisors. This category encompasses employees who pull direct responsibility for overseeing the work of staff, managing employee development, conducting. performance evaluations for their direct. reports; ensuring accountability for tasks and providing the necessary support. and resources to help their staff achieve their goals. In our fire department,. this designation includes captains and above while in police, it comprises sergeants and above. Regular Mee#ing.ot the Milton City Council. July 24, 2023 Page 35 of 52 Ms. Inglis: The latter: You don't want to have that forced rating aspeet because if you don'trecognize: the performance of each individual employee, it disincentivizes them to be high performing employees.. It. also helps with.,. or I guess it disengages the employee as well. It affects their. trust in the system — CM Jacobus: I get that part of it. I mean, I understand that. 1. guess, to me,. it really becomes critical then that we understand the difference between when a manager sits down.and starts .doing these between a 4, 5, a 3, because it's so easy and anybody who manages people know that if you don't like confrontation, you're going. to give .everybody a five and just kind of move on. And so, I ,can't emphasize enough how important that part of their training, . for anybody that evaluates somebody else, is going to be. That's going to be reallycritical to` make the program a success. Ms. Inglis: Right.. And not. only the training, we will have those calibration sessions as well, so they will have to answer to their peers to ensure that you don't. have that rainbows and unicorns within the same department and then double — you know, so you have to Have fairness across the board. And I believe that the calibration sessions., including that as a component. of the system., will help alleviate some of those bias ratings that we were talking about earlier. And the. department head itself also will have to ensure that there's fairness across their system and it's not. within just the department.. It's going to cross departments as well. So; you want to make sure that; you know; fire, police and.. all the other admin departments are fairly rating the employees.. CM Jacobus: So, are you going to have - will there be .a point in time where We'll sit down, where you will sit down the mangers and they'll -- we have 42. managers. Talking about 11.7 employees. Is there, at some point, where they'll do that as a group so that - Pm just trying to understand haw we're going to make. sure that we... that this works the right way. There's a lot of work being.put into this and I see that. This is the one part to me that's.... gray. Ms. Inglis: I agree and we'll see how the peer - the calibration sessions go and we'll evaluate that.process to ensure that it's fair. CM Jacobus: Explain to. me a little bit more about your calibration sessions so I understand how -they work. Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council July 24,2023 Pag07 of 52 Ms, Inglis:. Okay`? T will talk now about the market adjustment. Here's a summary of our market adjustments over the last seven years and for a number of years, we believe we were staying competitive with our sister cities, our competitors, by offering a uniform market adjustment of 3%n across the board. However, during a compensation study conducted in: 2021 for the FY22 budget, it became evident that we were significantly lagging.. behind the market in%many of our positions. Also,. the challenges posed by the :pandemic and the complexities of the political and social environment police across the nation faced added to the difficulty of attracting ;and retaining public safety personnel.. Not only for us, but also for our sister cities, so consequently; substantial pay adjustments were necessary across all departments last year to address these issues effectively...Do you have any questions on this slide before I move forward? Okay. CM Mohrig: We did — I mean, we took this very seriously last year. We looked at bringing. up the .pay to what we thought was competitive.. Help us. understand, what's the disconnect between what we thought: we had rectified, some of these numbers are pretty big percentage wise, and where we are today. How did that happen in a year if we actually thought we were competitive with what we did last year? Ms. Inglis: So over in, you mean.Between fiscal year 22 and.fiscal year 237 At that time; everybody seemed to he. adjusting their salaries to come up to market because- they were having — we were all having difficulty in attracting. people, especially for public safety positions. When. we did that market study, after everybody started doing their adjustments to their budgets, we realized that we were just way behind, especially in, as you can see, police and some of the levels in fire. So, we were 20% behind, 15% behind. and so we were catching there up. to the market. Because we're- competing with. the same pool of employees at the end of the day, so we. wanted to have at least some sort of competition within the market so that we had some ability to.... riot only attract but also retain our employees so we didn't have those employees moving over to the sister cities. Especially in. Roswell: They're bringing on a brand new fire department where they had all part tithe firefighters previously and those were our full time firefighters could've been going over there as part time. Well, now they are coming on board and l believe that the comment was made .that we. want. to be the :industry leader when it: Regular Meeting of. the Milton. City Council July 24, 203 Page is of 82 Over the past 17 years, the ECZ history has tracked the 12 month. percentage change for the quarterly reports published and this particular chart that you see is the one published each March. The red tine. in the graph represents data from the private. industry while the blue line represents. data from state and local governments. In the table presented, the March 2023 numbers stand out showing the highest percentage change compared to other published data for Q1 reports over the years. This observation indicates a notable shift in labor costs and economic trends during. that specific period. Considering that the. March data aligns favorably with our budgeting. cycle, the committee recommends using this report: as a key reference point for the market adjustments. And then as State: Manager just recommend, just mentioned, they also propose: that every other year a compensation be informed to make sure we remain competitive with our running jurisdictions. The total cost of the merit incentive and the market adjustment would. be $889,296.00. To summarize, the proposed performance management system aims to create a fair and effective evaluation process tailored to meet the.unique needs:of our city. It emphasizes the importance of avoiding biases and performance ratings through bias awareness training and calibration sessions. The :system incorporates employee input during its development and encourages open communication to address any concerns: Additionally, the system allocates adequate funds. to support merit incentives for different employee categories, including regular full time and part time employees, managers, supervisors, and department heads. The system also utilizes the implement cost index or ECI as. a metric for future market adjustments ensuring that compensation strategies remain aligned with prevailing economic trends and labor market conditions. Overall, the proposed performance management system aims to foster. employee 'engagement, motivation,. and growth while driving organizational success, What We're asking. for tonight is approval for proposed performance management system and if approved,. the funding will be included in the budget where it.will go through the ordinance approval process. And Fm happy to answer any questions or. hear any other feedback if. you have it. Mayor Jamison: Any questions for Stacey? Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council. .July N,.2021 Page 41 of 52 City Clerk: We. do not, Mayor. Mayor Jamison: Okay. Yeah, I know we've been talking about this for many, many years and I know it won't be perfect this first year but. at least we.'re a step in the right direction. I will open it for a motion. CM Jacobus: Mr. Mayor, l would like to make a motion that we approve agenda. item number 23-187. CM Verhoff Second. Mayor Jamison: Okay, I have. a motion from Councilmember Jacobus, second from Councilmember 'Verhoff to approve agenda item. number 23-187. All in favor, please say aye. Councilmembers: Aye. Motion and Vote: Councilmember Jacobus moved to approve Agenda Item No. 23-187, Counclimember Verhoff seconded the motion. The: motion passed (7=0). Mayor Jamison: Any opposed? That's unanimous. Ms. Inglis: Thank you very much. Mayor Jamison: Thank you, Stacey. Will City Clerk.please sound the next item? City Clerk: Mayor, Item B is consideration :of approval of a resolution of the City of Milton, Georgia establishing the date for municipal elections for the purpose of electing council members for District l Post 2, District .2 Post 2, :and District 3 Post 2. to provide for qualifying dates and fees and to provide far absentee ballot .clerk, deputy absentee ballot .clerk, and deputy election superintendents. Agenda item number 23-188. Dux City Manager; Mr. Steven Krokoff. Mr. Krokoff: Evening. Mayor and Council. ..Actually, the agenda name almost provides the entire summary but quickly, this resolution establishes. the date and hours of the advance voting and I'm going to talk.. about that quickly in a second; for the municipal general election for 2023. The dates and hours for the potential run off, should there be one, the dates and hours and fees for the qualifying period and the appointment of the absentee. ballot clerk. In. a municipal election, the absentee ballot clerkis is appointed by Regular. Meeting of the Milton City Council July 24,:2023 Page 43 of 52 CM Moore: Thank you, CM Mohrig: FM sorry; F missed part of that..Steve; are there still two Saturdays that we're: going to beholding early voting for? Mr. Krokoff: That's correct. That's mandatory. For us it's SB2Q so we will have those two Saturdays. Mayor Jamison; Any other questions? Any public comment? City Clerk: Yes, we have one, Mayor. Mayor Jamison: Okay. City Clerk: I'd like to invite. Mr. Tim Becker to the podium. Okay. Mayor Jamison: Okay, any other public comment? City Cleric: That concludes. Mayor Jamison: All right, I'll close public comment. Any council discussion? Okay, I'll open it for a motion. cm Jacobus Mr.. Mayor, I make a motion that we . approve agenda: item number 23-188. CM Johnson: Second. Mayor Jamison: Okay. I have a motion from Councilman. Jacobus and a second from Councilmember Johnson to approve agenda item number 23- 188. All in favor, please say aye. Councilmembers: Aye. Motion and Vote.: Councilmember Jacobus moved to approve Agenda Item No. 23-188. Councilmember Johnson seconded the motion. The motion passed (7-0). Mayor Jamison: Any opposed? That's.unanimous. Okay: Will the City Clerk please sound the added new business item. City Clerk: Mayor; the added new business item approved under approval. of meeting agenda is consideration, discussion, and direction Regular Meeting of the Milton City Council July 24, 2023 Page 45 of 52 I don't know who led the discussion but then we shifted away from Highway 9 and went to our other public facility which we had just held a midterm election. So, had I been thinking more quickly, I would've said well let's look at Cambridge High School or let's look at Stonecreek to keep it down in this area. That's history, we're at the point where I've heard a lot of communication coming back also. I think we need to have something down in that area, that was our intent initially. So, I'm in favor at this point of going ahead and saying let's go ahead and let's put a third location. My question and it's specifically in the Highway 9 area — my question is if we had three locations, we have city hall, Milton City Park and Preserve Community Center, and then a third. Can we accommodate now because there's three, could we accommodate that being at the public safety? Mr. Krokoff I believe so, yeah. My original numbers and projections would account for the number that would likely show up on election day down there. CM Jacobus: Okay. Mayor Jamison: Councilmember Moore? CM Moore: Councilmember Mohrig said many of the things that I was going to say. Having been a member of the committee and going through the thought process and the conclusions that we came to make that recommendation — he's already clearly stated the path to which we would get there. I would only add one caveat to that is one of the reasons we actually did not consider Cambridge or [crosstalk] [01:43:511 CM Mohrig: [Inaudible] ]Crosstalk] CM Moore: — One of the churches was because those had costs associated with them. So, with being consistent with what our charge was which was to drive costs out of the system, I think that that's why we didn't go there at that particular time. We were looking at facilities that were owned by the city. I'm going to change where I was on this as well. I mean, I've heard the outcry from the community. I think it's appropriate that we reconsider this and I'm glad we're doing it this evening. I think that as we look at this, one of the cries was for us to go back to Fulton County which I think would be a horrible mistake and a real injustice to our taxpayers. Regular Meeting of the Milton Ck Council July 24, 2023 Page.47 of 52 CM Cookerly: Okay, is this better? CM Jacobus: Yes. CM Cookerly: Okay.. Councilmember Moore, you said there'd be hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings. Haw do we — how do you qualify that? Where's that data? CM Mohrig: Carol, I can tell you when. we looked at the data, we. looked at what Fulton County was going to charge to other cities per registered voter and that's. the. way it was. calculated. It was per registered voter. If you do that extrapolation, we'd be having probably a 200 — over. the $84,000, it would be a $240,000-25.0,000.00 increase over the. $84,000.00. We've had people come: forward and state you did it for $84,000:00 in 2021. The projected budget is $9.800.0.0. There's. no savings.. That's not apples and apples,. that's apples and oranges... We need to look at what Fulton County has told all the other cities the increase would. be per registered voter. That's the. only thing we have to go on. We didn't. get. an IGA because. we already said we were going to go ahead, but my -- what I calculated and Steve can go back and give us more. accurate, it's above $200,000.00 in savings just this year and that Mould be a bigger number, even if Fulton County never increased their prices going forward because we had initial Mr. Beckert [Inaudible] 10 :47:02] Mayor Jamison: Mr. Becker. Male Speaker 3: Because we had initial costs that were incorporated --- incorporated into. with the purchase of the equipment. That's basically going at what we. were told and then the figures that you all looked at. as far as what the cost would be if we were running it ourselves.. CM Cookerly: Okay but that number hasn't necessarily been verified, is that correct? Mr. Krokof!E Councilmember Cookerly; what we're — the unknown at this point is. what it's .going to cost Fulton County to run the elections. So, I don't. recall what the IGA stated as we were. not party to it. but what they are doing is:they are charging similar to the. last time around a flat fee per registered voter and then this time around, they're.going Regular Meeting ofthe Milton City Council July 24,.2023 Page .49 of 52 .if reality and perception align and in our situation, I think there's a .gap and a growing gap between the two and that doesn't necessarily bode well for the future. When there's a gap; it means there's a multitude of issues and they drain time, energy; reputation, etc. So,. Pm not negative on the long term prospects of doing this. I am extremely cautious and suggest we are all cautious and not overly — not zealots about having. to do this for the sake of maybe proving a point. Just being very measured in using what little time we. have before. it's a drop -dead date in Fulton County to really .think about it. And wonder and ask ourselves questions — is. this. in the best. interest. of Milton right now? I firmly believe it is in the long; term. So, that is my comments on that matter and thank you. for letting me put that in the record. Mayor Jamison: Thank you. I have two direct questions. I'm going to ask you as election. superintendent, not as city manager. Can we run our own elections as of today? Do you feel confident? And two, with. the follow up, if so, what more .do you need to run a successful .election here? Mr. Krokoff Mechanically, we. can definitely run: our own election. we have: a .multitude of a very committed people that have been working: behind the scenes helping us to get to where we are right now. But as you know and some of what I've communicated to you all, trust and legitimacy are a critical piece. They're more important than the frianeial piece at the end of the day. And.it's important. that if we move forward, we can maintain that level of trust and legitimacy with our community. I've seen some things that have came out. Some things that are untrue for sure. Though.. I believe everybody is trying to do the right thing for the right reason. The gap that Councilmember Cookerly talked about between perception and reality is of a: concern to me as the. City :Manager and we would need to bridge that gap pretty quick to be able to gain back the trust and maintain the level of 'legitimacy we need. with our citizens. So, it :mould mean some changes going forward if that is something that council was interested in doing: Mayor Jamison: Well, I'll tell you, I think we're making the right step tonight. This is the first step and if there's any changes that. need to' be made that you address that to us immediately if council's okay with that.. Regular Meeting of the mllton'City Councif July 24, 2093 Page 61: of 52 CM Mohrig: Okay, great. Mayor Jamison: Okay? CM Jacobus: Motion as stated by our legal counsel. CM Mohrig: And I will second.that. Mayor Jamison: Okay, I have a motion from Councilmember Jacobus and e second .from Councilmember Mohrig to de exactly what city attorney Ken.. said. Is that okay? Is that good? Attorney Jarrard: Yes, Mr. Mayor. Mayor Jamison: okay. All right. Any discussion on the motion? All in favor, please say aye: Councilmembers: Aye. Motion and Vote: Councilmember Jacobus moved to send the Election Superintendent forth to begin running requisite legal advertisements for a third precinct with its attendant polling location; for the item to be presented to Council on September 4; 2023 for final action, and. to rescind any por action n of the Council on establishing precincts and polling locations. Councilmember Mohrig seconded. the motion. The motion passed (7-0). ADJOURNMENT Mayor Jamison.: Any opposed? That's unanimous. Okay. Vile will move onto mayor and: council reports. I don't have anything: to report on. Council. have anything? Okay: With that we will open up for a motion to adjourn. CM Mohrig: So moved. CM Johnson: Second. Mayor Jamison: Motion from Councilmember Mohrig, second from Councilmember 7ohnosri. All in favor say aye. Councilmembers: Aye. Mayor Jamison: All right, that's unanimous..