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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04232018 City Council Laydown - EarnhartCity of Seward April 9, 2018 Council Meeting Kiel: Okay, then all the other things right now are on the consent agenda and there's a clerk's report on public records request and ongoing City projects and goals. Councilmember Casagranda, comments? Casagranda: Yeah, I'd like to comment on the request for public records request. Um, in regards to Mr. Messner who spoke up at the beginning of the meeting and said that he was still waiting for the word that I can't say list. Group: Excelsior. Casagranda: Excelsior list. And it says that it will be available seven days before the vote. Can we as Council go ahead and give direction to administration to release that list at this time? Sure. Casagranda: Great. Are we consensused? Kiel: I thought it was the advice of the attorney to go at seven days before the vote, so, if we want to go against the advice of the attorney, that would be something the Council would have to do. Councilmember Towsley? Towsley: Um, I wonder if, because,we've set a date when all the employees that are on the list Must be City employees and that's the date the list is set, and then the vote's gonna happen. afterwards, if we should consider the date, which is coming up this Friday, correct? ... ?: Hmm-mm. Towsley: ... as that date and give him the Excelsior list right away. That's what my thinking is on it because that's what we did with the resolution. Casagranda: Or tomorrow. But yeah, the list is going to be out there either way Towsley: We had extensive discussion at the last meeting about operating in good faith and I feel like that would be us operating in good faith. Kiel: My point of view though is that if people don't know that they're unionizing and there's going to be a union vote, that they've been living under a rock, but, you know, if that's what the Council wants to do is to give out the list to, you know ... but, it's four people, so ... Councilmember Towsley? Towsley: I'd actually like to give it tomorrow morning. Hunt: Are you directing administration to tell the attorney or are you going to speak to your contract employees' attorney and instruct him? 507486\1006\00711443 /sa 43 V,m Wt "IW Kiel: If he's the one that has the list. Hunt: Yes. Casagranda: I would like to go ahead and maybe for us to tell him and then he can email all of us, because he always does, if he thinks, you know, differently, but I think it's the advice of the Council to go ahead if he has the list to ... Keil: So when was the ... Excuse me, pardon me, when was the date that the attorney said to release it? When is that actually scheduled? That's what I want to know. Erchinger: Madam Mayor, my recollection is that it was seven days before the vote. The clerk knows the date of the vote, but I don't have that in front of me.. Ballou: May 81n. And the list is due to me by Friday at 5:00 p.m. This week, April 13tn Erchinger: Under what deadline? Ballow: That was agreed at the last Council meeting that the election calendar ... that the list would be furnished to me so that I can prepare for the ballots, the absentee and by mail ballots. I have to actually create the ballots. Erchinger: I don't recall that, but in any case, we have not been asked to produce a list, so I'm happy to produce a list. Yes, I understand there are people who are interested in the list. My department who knows who's hired at a particular point in time has not. been asked to identify the individuals who are currently working in those positions. We do have some people who transition in and out, and I think that was the attorney's concern is you're going to be contacting people who won't be working for us to vote because they're currently on the list but they might not be on the list within seven days. So whatever the wishes of Council are, can we get it tomorrow morning? I don't know, but we can get it as quickly as we can. The attorney's office has a list that was produced back when Council first asked for a list of the positions. We gave him the associated employees, so that will .have to be updated by staff and given to him, so we're not trying to obstruct anything. It's just we were going by his recommendation, so I wasn't aware that we'd been asked to give anything to the clerk's office. Kiel: Councilmember McClure? McClure: Can I just ask if, so if this list were given and then somebody quit their job and somebody else came into the job, the people that get to vote, when is that list defined as the people ... is it the people actually working the day of the vote? I mean, so does this list matter then, when we give it? That's my question I guess. Ballou: Yeah, we discussed at the work session and at the last ... McClure: I know, I just want to hear it again. Ballou: ... Council meeting and then with the city attorney. The list needs to be at a point in time where it cuts off and we agreed that Friday, April 13tn by 5:00 p.m. would be that 2 507486\1006\00711443 P1 3S time. Anyone who's in one of those approved positions would be on the list at that point in time and those people would be the eligible voters. McClure: Just following up then, it seems like Friday's a reasonable day to have the list. I don't quite understand otherwise, so ... Kiel: Councilmember Towsley? Towsley: I'm willing ... Friday sounds good to me. That's the date when we decided that those are the employees that will be voting, then ... Casagranda: So, we're giving direction to the city clerk to be able to release that list to the public when requested? Ballow: At the last meeting, you directed me to provide that ... when I receive that list, to provide it to you, so at the same time I can fulfill the record request. Towsley: Oh, that works. Ballou: They can fill out a FOIA. Casagranda: They have one. He's got one sitting waiting. It's in our packet. Kiel: Anything else? On those? Towsley: Just to be really clear, Administration and the City attorney are going to have a list of all the employees that are able to vote in the union election that is set on the 131h of April, this Friday, and it's going to come to the clerk on that day and she can release it? Kiel: Hmm-mm. Towsley: Okay. Erchinger: Madam Mayor, just a point of clarification, we will take direction from the attorney as to what is releasable. I'm not sure what the FOIA says. I don't think I've seen a copy of it. I don't know if it's asking for addresses and phone numbers and whatever, but I remember the attorney discussing that issue and I don't remember the outcome because it wasn't in my wheelhouse, but it will be soon because the list will come to payroll to ask who's employed and so we'll give out whatever information he requests for us to give out and we won't give out information if it's not releasable. Kiel: Alright. Councilmember Casagranda? Casagranda: I could goon Google really quick, but I don't know that my internet will work. Isn't there a definition of an Excelsior list? Does that ... I would assume that that probably is requesting addresses and phone numbers and all of that, so ... Kiel: That's personnel information, so I would have a problem with giving out people's phone numbers and addresses. 3 507486\1006\00711443 l F0 � 5 J Towsley: There is a standard that exists in many of the other places in the world and an Excelsior list is something that is used by people that are trying to do the work that I think, the same kind of people that put in for this Excelsior list. I don't know if we want to suspend the rules and ask the person that asked for the list, but the NLBR [sic] rule ... or the rules for the National Labor Relations Board, NLRB, which don't apply here because we're not part of PERA, however, in other'places, we don't have to reinvent the wheel, they do release this information as a standard. Erchinger: Madam Mayor, I just want to point out that the attorney mentioned specifically what our City Code excludes from release as private information and so that's why I said whatever the attorney says is valid for us to release, we will release. If ... the National Labor Relations Board does not determine what's releasable under the Seward City Code, so we're happy to release whatever is releasable and the attorney can give us that direction. I'm not trying to argue, I'm just saying for the sake of clarity, I'm going to release to the clerk's office whatever we're asked by the attorney to release. Casagranda: So, Vice Mayor Keil, if I may? I would like to get a consensus from the Council that, for the direction of our City attorney, that we would like to work in good faith and we would like to release what it is that potential union employees in other communities would have access to and advise for the City attorney to release this list for this particular reason to this particular person. I don't know if we can swear in the person to, you know ... if there's other ways around that maybe they are an employee so they are entitled to personnel information and, you know, knowing who they are, they are a cop, and they know all about confidentiality, so those are the kinds of things that I think that we need point our attorney into ... taking into consideration and make sure that through every step of this process that it appears we are working in good faith and not trying to control or manipulate the vote of the union. Kiel: Councilmember McClure? McClure: Well, I don't think we should go against Code. Kiel: No. McClure: But I also think we're small enough a town that if the names were released those people could be tracked down reasonably without divulging anything other than their names. I would hope. So, you know, I don't want to go against Code, unless ... Kiel: I'm in agreement. I don't think we should go against our City Code. Erchinger: Madam Mayor? Keil: Assuming the Code says we cannot release addresses, then we will work with the union representative here to make sure that the City employees that are eligible to be in the union are given at the City, rather than through a mailbox ... we'll make sure that they have the opportunity to give people whatever information it is that they need to give them. Whether or not it involves mailboxes I don't know. ?: Email. 4 507486\1006\00711443 Keil: We won't violate the Code, but we can figure out how ... yeah, I mean, emails. They have everybody's email. address in the City. It's first initial,. last name at cityofseward.net. That's one way, but I'm just saying we'll go with the advice of the attorney but we'll try to make it as simple as possible for them. Kiel: I think that's fair. Casagranda: It's my wish to look as if we're working in as good of faith as we possibly can and that's the direction that I would like to give the attorney and I want to make sure that ... it looks great. No liability and keeping things on the straight and narrow. Kiel: Alright, so let's move on to Council comments. Kiel: Okay, so next we're on to citizens' comments. Mr. Messner? Please state your name for the record. Messner: Patrick Messner, city employee. Um, on the Excelsior list, I appreciate you guys taking that up. The only issues you may come into if you don't release the information that's under NLRB and PERA, is it's considered an unfair work practice. The union's supposed to have that information so they can contact ... there's one thing knowing there's a union vote and there's another thing to be able to present information to people so they understand what's going on so they can make an informed decision. I would like to thank the Administration and the Council for ... this has never been about money for us, but looking -at away that will help our lower paid employees.... 5 507486\1006\00711443