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Council adopts temporary hiring freeze with limited exceptions; requires meet-and-confer with represented employees
Summary
The City Council approved a temporary freeze on new hires, noncontractual salary increases and reclassifications while allowing a small set of immediate hires the staff recommended; the motion requires council review for exceptions and is subject to meet-and-confer with bargaining units.
The Saint Helena City Council voted on March 11 to impose a temporary hiring freeze and suspend noncontractual salary increases, discretionary spending and employee reclassifications, while allowing specific, staff-recommended hires to proceed.
Councilmember Barrick moved the measure and Vice Mayor Michelle Deasy seconded. The motion passed by roll call with votes in favor from Barrick, Councilmember Spatarotto, Vice Mayor Deasy and Mayor Paul Jamieson Doring. The motion includes an explicit requirement that any adjustments affecting represented employees be reviewed through the meet-and-confer process.
What the motion allows: Staff had recommended and the council authorized immediate hiring for several positions the administration described as operationally essential: an accounting technician (finance), part-time firefighters, a police officer and a chief plant operator at the wastewater treatment plant. Staff also proposed temporary under-filling of a management-analyst vacancy by hiring an accounting technician through Dec. 31 to achieve short-term savings; staff recommended delaying recruitment for the city-clerk position and temporarily freezing two other positions (assistant planner and a lead/underground-utilities maintenance worker), with the latter largely budgeted to the water/wastewater funds.
What the motion restricts: The motion places a temporary freeze on all other new hires, suspends noncontractual salary increases while preserving the city—s ability to complete ongoing labor negotiations and approve contractual changes, and suspends reclassifications and discretionary spending (items defined in the motion as nonessential programs, certain capital purchases and nonmandated consulting or professional services). The motion allows the council to grant exceptions on a case-by-case basis for public-safety needs, legal compliance or other urgent matters; exceptions must be justified in writing and reviewed at a public meeting.
Labor/legal note: City staff told the council that freezing positions that affect bargaining units requires meet-and-confer with the unions and that those procedural obligations will be respected.
Ending: Council set a midyear review for Sept. 25 to evaluate whether the temporary measures should be modified; staff will provide quarterly reports on discretionary-spending requests and exception requests.
