07-22-2019 Council Work Session Packet

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CITY OF ORONO MEMORANDUM DATE: July 22, 2019 TO: Mayor Walsh, City Council FROM: Dustin Rief, City Administrator RE: Communications Discussion A council member has asked for clarification on communications with staff and to have a discussion about city code provision 2-101. Below is the code section that outlines communication flow to and from elected officials and the original ordinance is attached. Sec. 2-101. - General supervisory capacity. SHARE LINK TO SECTIONPRINT SECTIONDOWNLOAD (DOCX) OF SECTIONSEMAIL SECTIONCOMPARE VERSIONS No member of the council shall in any manner interfere with or prevent the city administrator from exercising the administrator's own judgment in the administration of the city. Except for the purpose of inquiry, no member of the council shall deal with or exercise control over the administration of the city; and no member shall give orders to any department head or employee of the city, either publicly or privately, except through a majority vote of the council. (1) If a councilmember receives information regarding a matter of concern related to the administration of the city, the councilmember shall forward the information to the administrator at the earliest possible time. The administrator shall then forward the information to the other councilmembers. (2) If an individual councilmember directly contacts a staff member for the purpose of obtaining information, the information shall be provided to all councilmembers and to the administrator, if the staff member contacted is other than the administrator. (3) If the response to a councilmember's inquiry will require significant time and effort, the staff person shall refer the councilmember to the administrator to determine whether the request can be accommodated within the current workload priorities. If the request conflicts with other workload priorities, the administrator may refer the request to the full council to determine whether the request should displace other council priorities. (4) Concerns raised by city employees regarding the administration of the city shall be addressed through the chain of command. The city's administrative policy shall set out the process to be used for addressing a concern through the chain of command. (5) Concerns raised by city employees regarding pay, benefits, and other employment-related matters shall be addressed through the grievance policy set out in the city's administrative policy. (Code 1984, § 2.06(7); Ord. No. 182 2nd series, § 1(2.06(7)), 1-25-1999)