Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Legal Assistant Reclassification topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council counsel proposes new "legal assistant to Council" role; committee to consider ordinance next week
Summary
Council counsel Mike Migliore proposed reclassifying an internal paralegal position as "legal assistant to Council," recommending pay scale 27, internal posting for council staff and an ordinance to be introduced next week for formal consideration.
Council counsel Mike Migliore told the Personnel Committee on June 17 that he plans to seek formal authorization to reclassify and fill a position to support the Council-to-Council office, proposing the title "legal assistant to Council" rather than "paralegal" and recommending a pay scale of 27.
Migliore said he spent 18 months assessing office needs and concluded the recent increase in requests for ordinances, resolutions and legal memoranda is likely to be permanent and requires dedicated support. He described three principal functions for the position: organized paralegal-like skills (not necessarily a certified paralegal), legislative drafting and policy work, and subject-matter knowledge to handle complex bills previously requiring multi-year efforts in drafting and coordination with the General Assembly.
Migliore compared existing county pay scales, noting the county attorney's paralegal is at pay scale 25 and a director of policy at pay scale 30; he proposed scale 27 for the new role. He said that if the committee agrees, the reclassification will be brought to council next Tuesday as an ordinance for discussion and possible vote.
Migliore recommended posting the opening internally first to allow current Council office staff to apply, a practice he said the council has used in the past. Several council members voiced support for internal posting and for Migliore's authority to supervise the position. Council members also discussed human-resources review and job-classification process: Councilman Toole asked whether HR would do a job analysis; Migliore said the proposed classification draws from existing paralegal descriptions and the county's HR processes and that positions at or below pay scale 28 do not require an external compensation review.
There was no formal vote at the June 17 committee meeting; Migliore said the ordinance to post and classify the position would be prepared for council consideration next week.
Why it matters: The new role is intended to provide dedicated legal and drafting support for 13 elected council members and to speed legislative support work; council members stressed the position's unique nature due to serving multiple elected officials.
