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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem #06 - Discussion ItemDI5(:uSSION PAPER ITIRMATIvE ACTION PLAN, CITY DP MIAMI Robert D. Krause Director of Human Resources and tkeeutive Secretary, Civil Service Board S% TUS OF CONSENT DECREE The Consent Decree in u.S.A. v. City of Miami is the most important single document affecting Affirmative Action, in the Miami City government. The Decree was entered on March 29, 1977. We have been meeting since early April with representatives of the Justice Department and the City's Law Department to develop necessary procedures for implementing the Consent Decree. Special problems included: 1. Identifying members of the affected class by name and job title and reaching agreer..eilt on this with the Justice Department. ent 2. Resolving the conflict sur;ounding Six promotions to Police Sergeant that were made at a ost the same til„e .as ;fie Con- sent Decree was signed. The City Cci,;:i issiOri has been involved dir- ectly in this issue and held a pub1...c meeting on ice. 3. Developing joint understaT.�..-:fig of tl-ic Co.. -Is 'nt Dec:k:e with the Justice Department. This has ;,.:t:n time^COla::iU. Lilij beeau.7 the Decree itself is very long, very Cie=taile6, in some cases a little ambiguous, and in many respects contrary to the City's Cha;4er i.+:'•d Personnel Rules. We have now worked out three s.e?arate documents recording agreements reached with the Justice Department. The first was f signed in April and established the procedure for determing which employees, by name, are members of the affected class. The secofid two agreements were signed last week. One of the documents resolves the problem of promotions for ,3lc,ck police officers. This is the problem that was discus:;ed by the subject of a letter from the City Commission in May and was the Justice Department. The other agreement helps to explain the provisions of the Comet Decree and reconciles some of the confusing portions of e Decree. We have translated all of these documents into Spanish and will send both English and Spanish versions to all departments and employee organizations as soon as they are printed. We will also be sending to all members of the affected class a memo explaining their rights un0c the Decree. In addition, we have computed :tiring goals and We will send the goals for minorities and women in each deportment. to all departments either this week or next. promotion goals AFFIR ATIVE ACTION PLAN The Human Resources Department :.as been working on we were consolidated with the Aifi..ative Action Oi ficc the Civil Service Office hi]:; also A now staff member in We have been meeting wit.. the .t,:ii;:mo- a;.d with zevc:ra 1 newly-c : tc.tb:. i:...c:d to assist on this project. tive Action Advisory Board cr� _.. � mittees of the Advisory board to develop a framework for LAC Affir ;native Action Plan. 1::13 Since in Aay. j"its ,7 ii:iL (fCd We have agreed with the Advisory Board that the Consent 3+dree will form the basis for about 70-80% of the Affirmative ? tion Plan. Staff assignments have. been :fade to develop the plan. We have 8 people working on different sections of the plan. Thus far we have completed the first draft of a policy ;statement; assignments of responsibility; an employment census by race and sex; specific hiring and promotion goals by depart- ment; a procedure for handling complaints of discrimination (this will provide for hearings by the Affirmative Action Advisory Board or its hearing committee) ; procedures for progress repor .i.,o; ; a summary of Federal and State requirements on equal employment opportunity; and basic statistics essentially using January 1, 1977 as a starting point for "base line data." We are still working on sec; ion:5 covering compliance w : ch the Consent Decree; job analysis, job re.3cructuring and job enrLchment; recruitment, including outreach efforts; training and deve1e-;�rnent; and selection and test validation required by the Consem_ Decree. We expect to have a draft ready by August for review by the City Manager and the Advisory Board. We have also been working with the Advisory Board on a ._evicscd ordinance to up -date the Board's responsibility. its ordinance was discussed at the Advisory Board r,cetiny yesterd„y and :;:oulci be ready for submission to the City Cc,l aission as noon as the Law Department has a chance to review it. DATA ON, MINORITY EMPLOYMENT 1. Our figures on minority employment i . the City fot Dec*, ember 31, 1976 show a total of 46.5%; that breaks down to 29.2% Black, 16.5% Latin and 9/10% other. 111 2. Our data also shows that minorities have traditionally been underrepresented in top level jobs. Data for last December 31 for employees earning over $20,000 per year totalled only 3.1 • per cent Black, 4.3 per cent Latin, and a combined total of 7.4 MEM per cent minorities at these levels. Yet it is also clear that this picture is changing. A tabulation of 18 key appointments the City since August 1, 1976, shows one-third of the ■a;'�;,oi;:t- i,i(:r►t`'.S were Anglo males and two-thirds were minorities.minorities.. These ►,t.'se were appointments made at rates rrori $16,000 to $42,000 per year. We expect these figures to show con .i ued progress over the next five years, even in the face of fisi:i,1 austerity, as a resit oi:. the Consent Decree and the Affirmative Action Plan. We also have some trend: for or the last 10 < air :' , ►low ,. y .Lng patterns of hiring for eml,loyC:l.•.- who are still or. the 1966 - new hires were 25.2%. minority (22.5% Black. and only 2.7 % Latin). . ,.L - new hires :a6 incrc..:,ed to 40.9 % r,i.;►ori; posed of 27.8% Black and :1 only 13.1`.; 1976 - new hires had ir.c:-e...,ed to 69.7% (composed of 35.3% Black, Latin and 5/16%. other minorities) - Y-e ist?:i1;' fair to noc.c, 1/, hiring was • c C.is. ,• . ever, that much o�f the employees, who were not hire& under regular proce- dures for the City's classified service. t s clear that Miami has made progress in the last decade t bh mueh more remains to be done: One example of what can be done is the hew Department of i;un;ah Resources. Starting with no employees at all last fall, we have now achieved a staffing pat:corn of 26.5 per cent Black, cent Latin, and 2.9 per cent other, for a total oL 73.5 per cent minority. Other departments can achieve similar results over a longer period as attrition occurs in the present work force. 44.1 per NECESST.RY CHANGES It is important to institutionalize the process of affirma- tive action to make it really effective. The Consent Decree will supersede some of our present proce- permanent change in the basic fabric of dunes, but will not make the employment program. The City Commission has clearly recognized the irnportace of i,,; ptitutional change. The Commission has adopted ordinanCcreat` f firmative Action Advisory ;=,oard and the Dopartr,e., �: of inn, the A i;uman Resources. But they are not sufficient to se:"V,: the ;seeds of this City. Modernization of the entire cv i.1 service system in also necessary. This is by no means a ; ,:vi idoa. 1. president ROOSevelt'3 Coi.,itt:ca on i dminl:;itvative ="Eanac,i!- gent recommended steps to ruoderni e the i"•'edcral civil service progressive co cL,lt:]. 1937. These are both rac-;a:orn, c ,,icier. � `;'r u;,��.�a 2. The first Hoover Corrmi.ssien appointed by Pr '` recommended further steps to modernize the Federal civil sc=Zvice ir. 1949. Wr- 34 In 1962 the Municipal Manpower Commission concluded that Most diVil service boards were too isolated from the needs of Mod, - ern dities and recommended a number of. changes. 4. In 1970, the National Civil Service League - which inven= 1361 - proposed a new model le.w for t:eci the civil service idea in public personnel management that recommended many steps to modern- ire the system. 5. Just this year the National Civil Service League has pub- lished a new booklet, "How to Modernize Your Public Personnel/Civil Service System." What is all this discussion about? Most modern author ties have concluded that the systems of the last century, when civil service was first developed, are`too slow, too unresponsive to the public interest, too ineffective to meet the needs of modern urban areas. And what has beer. happening? 'no National Civil Servi_ou League i',u:i made surveys showing that hundrods of cities across tht, country Ore modernizing their civil sc.:rvi.CL systems If responsiveness is not reason enough, the Federal c;overn- er,;:. ;gas been including a roe rar,(,e of personnel roc re�.,onts in all of its grant programs �n rams and i n ge:it ai legislation li%e the inter- governmental Personnel Act. I would be the last person to advocate that N±6m1 .:i% i7_..,.3h civic. :service. I have spent my adult lifo. in civil service acm::_,, i.sta'a- -� tion. But I have seen the need for change. I am j"iC r 50;.i; ;. * ',' con- vinced that Miami cannot have an e;.. eCC1VC' affirmative LC'c i on preq- ram - indeed the City cannot have an effective personnel program unless it modernizes the civil service system. -6- ty do t say that? Let me cite a few examples, A The Personnel Rules of the City contain detailed regUUIai. bons covering a variety of subject:; that conflict directly with Federal regulations or modern affirmative action concepts. 1. Job classification is covered in detail and require: Board approval of new class specifications, amended class speca.fa- C+atior,S and individual positiOn classifications. Federal selection requirements specify that job analysis must be done according to a professionally acceptable procedure. A court in New York State ruled that a civil service exam was invalid and unacceptable because the job analysis was more than two years olo . Almost all 0 class specifications are older than that. Much of the staff tirac needed to do this job is consumed by reports to the Civil Service hoard ► which sometimes defers or delays actions that arc! r`: ,.at tec to the selection process. No one can fault the Board for :,akii',c, il_a responsibilities seriously; the r,a1ri problem, however, is the fact that Federal regulations make ..iis a subject for decision 'by a professional job analyst and not ., lay board. 2. The Rules proViC0 that ,111 e}:am announcements „Aura%' he approved by the Civil Service Boacd. The 1:;0ari1 is it=;;i ti tC..: . concerned that changes in job announcements be fc:w ai.0 ictuc. n, so that applicants will have a:ssui:a nco tlmt till.:: mart. for the next exam. The staff is concerned L:,,t: it '• �;', F ecteral requirements to eliminate a:.: 'ci f is ia1 barriers .c.cr (); merit and base job requirements realistically en a current ;")b analysis. 3. The Rules require that jobs be advertised 15 days ill ad` ande Of ah/ eic&M, The pt.ocess of preparing announcements, acWertising, giving and scoring exams, getting registers approved by the Board and certifying names for interview - all in accordance With the Rules - means that normal recruitment takes 2 - 3 months. i;xper.ts in affirmative action state that delays of this rnac,nitude adversely affect minorities - who are less likely to be ervpi.oyed elsewhere and less likely to be able to wait several months, or even weeks, for a job. Most private employers can provide same- day employment. Many progressive public agencies, operating under civil service, can provide same -day employment when necessary and can typically do the whole process in 2 - 3 weeks rather then the 2 - 3 months it takes in Miami. 4. The City of Miami normally relies on either a written test or a simple evaluation of training and experience to deter- mine who gets hired. Federal regulations and modern personnel prac- tice express a strong preference for a wide range of procedures more suitable to selection. These include performance test, work samples, technical oral exams, group orals, oral interview panels, in -basket exercises, assessment cer.,lo s, and other proccduros. Some of these are authorized in the :rules, but they are no: used because they represent a departure ._'.'or,, past practice. Ot i r-s would require Rule amendments. 5. The Rules provide a procedure for employees tc, appeal their scores on exams. According to Federal regulations, Cnis is a decision for a trained professional to make in accord wi4:z pro- fessional standards, rather than by a lay board. 6, TYie Rules provide that 3 names Cat be referred for ai entt'j-level position and only one name for a promotional posi tion, These procedures are contrary to Federal regulations that require a valid procedure for determining ranking of candidates. They are also out of touch with modern civil service procec",1&re:-s . ?any other examples could be cited, but these illustrate the inherent conflict between professional standards required by Fed', eraL grant agencies and decisions made by lay boards. 'B. The Charter itself also has some problem areas. 1. The main problem is that it creates the Civil Service Board as an administrative agency. This is an old procedure that Was used in the last century. Very few public agencies now use this system. It provides for built-in conflict with Federal grant requirements, leads to delay, and is inconsistent with the process of Affirmative Action. In fairness, however, it should be noted that the Civil Service Rules add more administrative detail than, is provided in the Charter. 2. The Charter provides for a Chief Examiner who is a member of the Board itself. This is a unique concept that may not be used in any other civil :service agency. It arises from the concept that selection procedures should be objective -- and that objectivity is the principal c';oal of civil se}'vice. t Fed - oral cess ican requirements now emphasize "v.:� iuity in accord with professional standards of the :;eiectio pro- aCCC'pt( i by tii,"' Amer - Psychological Association and b7 Fedc:ra l Cuide Lines oa employ- ee selection. It is a literal fact that the City o1` Miami cannot comply with Federal regulations and cannot achieve an effective affirmative action plan unless the basic responsibility for sell dction is assigned to a professional staff rather than a lay board and a lay examiner. 3: The Charter only allows employees in the classified .service to compete for promotions. This excludes over 500 C.E.T.i►. employees, who are not in the classified service. The justice Department says that C.E.T.A. employees under the Consent Decree should have the same rights as classified employees. The Consent Decree presumably will take precedence for a period of 5 years. But this direct conflict in language is bound to make the affir- mative action program less effective. 36,000 36,000 35,012 31,000 31,000 27,170 19,985 MMg George P. Knb% Jr. Richard Fosmoef Howard Gary Robert D. Krause James E. Gunderson Frank Medera Gerardo Salman Sujan Singh Chhabra Carlos G. ArauZ Gary Hough Carlos E. Garcia E. W. Murphy, Jr. Clinton G. Pitts Joel T. Cahn Yvonne Santa -Maria Newell Daughtery Ronald L. Daniels Api?OINTMENTS NEW HIRES Atigtst 1/76 thru June 30/77 Salary Ranges $42,000/$16,000 City Attorney �112,000 Manager t+ 1 38,250 Asst. City g Director, Management BMServices Director, Human Resources WM Director, Finance `'M Director, Sanitation WM Director, Building SM Asst. Director, Management �� Services Asst. Director, Human SM ,,l 25,890 Resources Asst. Director, Finance WM 25,890 Asst. Director, Finance Sti ,l 25,800 Asst. Director, Management BM;/ 24,165 Services Asst. City Attorney BM 23,500 Asst. Director, Management WM 23,015 Services Affirmative Action Officer SF'`� 22,000 Asst. to the City Manager BM • 20,280 Administrative Asst. to Director of Management Services 6 - WM 6 - BM 3 - SM 1 - AM - + 16 Prepared by; Affirmative Action Office 1 - SF 1 17 §AM ATtON EMPLOYEES ASSOCIAt1O1 3401 NW 36th Streets Miami, Floridai July 21, 197 MayOro Maurice Ferre City Commissioners City Manager, Joseph Grassie On July 19th, the Civil Service Board took action on a request made by Frank Medera, Director of the Sanitation Department, requesting a maintenance mechanic in the Police Department to be promoted from a like or similar register, to a Sanitation Foreman in the Department of Sanitation. We feel that this is a direct violation of the Consent Decree, which states the line of progression the Sanitation Inspector I, Sanitation Foreman shall be filled from existing permanent employee within the Sanitation DcpLrttrent, Waste Division. We brought this to the attention of the Affirmative Action Advisory Board on the 20th of July, at their last meeting. No action was taken. We would now like to bring it to the attention of the City Commission. Sincerely, U_ /! L `cam f I / William R. Smith Executive Vice —President Sanitation Employees Association 4/1 L CITY OF MIAMI. FLORIDA IN1tR•O1=RICE MEMVRANDUM I C 'J to: Mayor And Members of the t� ` City Commission (i FROM: Joseph R. Grassie City Manager bATE 'July18, 1977 sueJEci : - Schedule of Events for July 21 i 1977 ct'cy •t t 1*trt ENCEs ENCLOSURts. During the Commission Meeting of July 14, 1977, the City Commission designated Thursday, July 21st, as its choice to hold special meetings. To prevent confusion and to clear up any uncertainties concerning meeting times and subject matter, the following schedule is presented: 9:00 A.M. - Continuation of hearing concerning possible revocation of the licenses of various theaters, bookstores, etc. * 11:30 A.M. - WORKSHOP The Commission and the Manager will discuss the matter of Affirmative Action in the City of Miami and what progress has been made toward implementation of the Consent Decree. :00 P.M. - Final presentation and discussion by the Dade County Department of Transportation concerning rapid transit and the location of several stations in the City of Miami. 2:00 P.M. - Regularly scheduled Commission Meeting - Planning & Zoning matters. 2 PM - The City Commission requested that the first reading of an Ordinance,which will bring the question of a 15 million dollar General Obligation Bond Issue for Orange Bowl Im- provements, be scheduled. LUNCH will be provided at this session cc: City Clerk City Attorney DISTRIBUTION D (all department heads)