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Redmond to add non‑management behavioral health professional classification to 2025 pay plans
Summary
City human resources asked council to add a Behavioral Health Professional classification to the 2025 non‑represented pay plans so departments can hire mental‑health professionals for the city’s alternative crisis care work; council agreed to place the updated pay plans on the May 20 consent agenda with an effective date of May 21.
The City of Redmond requested that a new Behavioral Health Professional classification be added to the city’s 2025 non‑represented pay plans so departments can hire non‑management mental‑health staff for alternative crisis care.
Human Resources Director Catherine Laird told the Committee of the Whole on May 13 that the request would add the classification to the N (non‑represented regular) and NS (non‑represented supplemental/temporary) pay plans and that there is no budget impact or new full‑time equivalents attached to the change. She asked the committee to place the updated pay plans on the May 20 council consent agenda; the committee raised no objections to placing the item on consent.
Why it matters: the classification is intended to provide technical, non‑managerial behavioral health support for the city’s alternative crisis care program. Laird said the city already has a Community Health Manager classification that manages staff; this new classification would be non‑supervisory and provide direct technical support. Adding the classification restores a role the city had previously authorized but did not fill.
Details and scope: Laird said there is no immediate budget impact from adding the classification and that the change does not create additional FTEs. She said the classification will be available to multiple departments and “could go police, fire, or planning,” depending on program placement. A police department representative told the committee the pay band will allow the department to fill a corresponding mental‑health professional (MHP) position that has been vacant for some time and that the city already has an identified candidate, but the recruitment cannot start until the pay band is in place.
Council members probed confidentiality and union status. Laird said the classification has been placed in non‑represented status because of the confidential nature of the work; she said the city would need to examine the confidentiality details to determine whether the role could ever be represented. Council members asked for organizational charts showing where the position would sit and for an update on the alternative crisis response program; staff said they would provide an org‑chart focused on the chief’s needs and that a fuller program update will be presented to council later.
Next steps: staff said the effective date for the pay‑plan change would be May 21 if council places the updated pay plans on consent and the council approves them on May 20. The committee raised no objections to placing the item on the May 20 consent agenda.
The request was informational and procedural at the committee: it directed staff to place the updated pay plans on the May 20 consent agenda and to provide org‑chart and program updates as the alternative crisis response work is finalized.
