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Committee backs adding Human Resources department; splits on council confirmation of director hirings and firings
Summary
Cleveland Heights' committee agreed to add a stand-alone human resources department to the city's administrative code but found no committee consensus on requiring council sign-off to remove or hire certain department heads; law department to draft language options.
The Special Committee of the Whole discussed Article 5 (administrative officers and departments) at length and agreed to add a Department of Human Resources to the list of city departments. Committee members said the city’s size and personnel challenges make a dedicated HR function necessary.
Why it matters: Council members argued a separate HR department would provide an internal mechanism for personnel complaints and protections for employees; some said it is essential to remove perceived conflicts where department heads may be asked to act in ways that create retaliation risk.
Councilwoman Russell said the city needs more consistent reporting and employee protections and argued for regular oral and written reports from administration: “maybe a yearly report, maybe a written report to council with the budget to, specify everything that happened all year,” she said. Several members also urged clearer charter language describing the city administrator’s reporting schedule; the committee discussed tying an annual written report to the budget schedule, with periodic (quarterly) financial updates for council.
On appointment and removal authority for department heads, the committee did not reach a majority to require council confirmation of removals. Several members favored requiring council confirmation for positions they singled out as sensitive — law, finance and HR — while other members said forcing council approval of removals would hamstring a mayor’s ability to manage an administration. The group agreed there is a difference between ordinary personnel changes and terminations tied to alleged interference with investigatory duties.
The committee directed the law department to draft (a) language adding a Department of Human Resources to Article 5, (b) options for whether council should confirm hires or removals for specific director-level positions (with examples of each approach used by other Ohio cities), and (c) sample timing and reporting language for the city administrator (e.g., September 1 written report tied to the budget and periodic financial reports). The law director will return with model charter text and ordinance options.
Ending: The committee agreed to add HR to the administrative departments list and sent unresolved questions about confirmation/removal authority and reporting schedules to the law department for research and proposed draft language.
