Wauseon City Council members held a half hour Executive Session during the November 2, 2020 Council meeting, requesting that only council members be in the session, to “consider the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion or compensation of a public employee.”
All council members voted to approve the motion for the session to include only them. Director of Law, Tom McWatters requested to be included along with Mayor Kathy Huner, Director of Public Service Keith Torbet and HRO Sarah Wheeler, but Council President Chamberlin said he wanted only the council members to remain for the session, adding that he did not intend for there to be any action taken after the Executive Session.
When Council exited out of the session, Mayor Huner, Human Resources Officer Sarah Wheeler, McWatters and Clerk of Council Andrea Gerken re-entered the meeting. From the minutes, “Wheeler explained that the instructions for the employee evaluations have not been utilized correctly in the past. She said she met with all supervisors and department heads to explain the proper way to complete employee evaluations. ”
“She explained that inflated evaluation scores could be a liability issue in the future. Councilor Harold Stickley and Patrick Griggs questioned if the adjustment in the scoring could potentially be harmful to employees if an issue arises in the future. Keith Torbet said he redid his evaluations and attached a letter explaining why the scores were lower than in previous years.
Tom McWatters said the city has worked hard to put a uniform evaluation process together and it should be utilized consistently for all employees. He said having one evaluation that is not in line with all of the others can hurt the integrity of the process. There was general discussion on the supervision of the Clerk of Council position, the correct and fair way of conducting employee evaluations and the compensation plan policies.”
In regular business at the meeting, Council voted to approve the minutes from the previous meeting, the payment of bills, the First Reading, declaring an emergency, of Ordinance 2020-9 An ordinance amending Section 191 of the Codified Ordinances and Second Reading of Resolution 2020-19 Authorizing the Mayor to pursue a proposal for Creation of an EMS and Fire District for funding purposes, and declaring an emergency (ED). (President Chamberlin abstained for the Resolution and ED)
They also voted to “accept the Finance Committee recommendation to update the tax code to allow for a non sufficient check fee; to clarify the income tax credit is only for municipalities in the State of Ohio; to update the definitions of a pension and a retirement benefit plan; and to change the allocation to put all income tax revenue into the General Fund.”
In new business, Mayor Huner thanked the Fire and Police Departments for helping with Trick or Treat and encouraged everyone to vote on November 3 if not already done. Chamberlin asked for a motion to be excused from the November 16 meeting, which was made and approved, with him abstaining.
The meeting adjourned at 6:35.