Two members of the Crossville Personnel Board members resigned following the January 11 meeting to hear the grievance filed by city parks and recreation director Tammie French against then interim city manager Steve Hill. Those leaving the board are members John
Eldridge and Brooks Boston, both elected by the Crossville city employees.
Members of the Crossville Personnel Board, city staff and observers
listen as the board hears the Tammie French Grievance
at their last meeting on January 11, 2017.
The Personnel board includes 5 members including 2 elected by city employees, 2 appointed by the city council and one
appointed by the city manager. The process of replacing the two
resigning members who were elected by the city employees is now
underway.
The city ordinance on the personnel
board says that “No member of the Personnel Board shall be employed
by or be an official of the city, nor shall be a member of any local,
state or national committee of a political party or an official or
member of a committee in any partisan political group or
organization, nor shall hold or be a candidate for any elective
office. No member of the Personnel Board shall be an immediate family
member (wife, husband, son, son-in-law, daughter, daughter-in-law,
mother, mother-in-law, father, father-in-law, brother,
brother-in-law, sister, sister-in-law, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew,
step-parent, stepchild, grandmother, or grandfather) of any employee
or elected official of the City of Crossville.”
The Ordinance also sates the duties and
responsibilities of the Personnel Board as follows:
“(a) Represent the public
interest in the improvement of personnel administration;
(b) Advise the City Council
and the City Manager on problems concerning personnel administration;
and
(c) Hear appeals of any
employee covered by this chapter relative to personnel actions taken
by the city in which the employee feels grieved, as long as the
employee has exhausted the grievance procedures provided in the rules
and regulations. The Personnel Board may revoke, modify or sustain
the personnel action being appealed. The Personnel Board shall have
the right of subpoena, the power to examine witnesses under oath, the
power to compel the appearance of a witness and the power to require
the production of evidence by subpoena. During the review, both the
appealing employee and city or other person whose actions are being
reviewed shall have right to be heard publicly, be represented by any
person the appellant desires and to present evidentiary facts. At the
hearings of the appeals or grievances, technical rules of evidence
shall not apply. All appeals shall be concluded as expeditiously as
possible and in accordance with the requirement and procedures set
forth in the personnel rules and regulations adopted pursuant to this
chapter. The cases shall be final. However, nothing in this section
purports to preclude judicial review.”
The city employees are notified and
have 5 days to nominate possible candidates. That took place last
week and the city manager then determines the qualifications of the
candidates and prepares the ballots that are distributed to the city
employees. The ballots are tabulated by the manager with two city
employees selected at random to observe the ballot counting and the
results are certified.
