Present: Commissioners Amarotico, Eggers, Gardiner, Lewis, Rosenthal; Interim Director Steve Gies; City Attorney Paul Nolte

Absent: None

Chair Lewis called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. at the Parks and Recreation Department Office, 340 S. Pioneer Street.

Joy Bannon, Recreation Specialist for the Department of Parks and Recreation, presented the Commission with an additional packet of information immediately preceding the meeting, and the Commissioners spent time reviewing it.

Commissioners considered various ways to proceed with the meeting, as an employment grievance has never before been presented to the Parks Commission. Paul Nolte, City Attorney, clarified that there were no required legal procedures for the Commissioners to follow in conducting the meeting, and that the decision of the Commission would be the final word on the employment grievance before them.

Dwight Bannon, 1023 Clay Street, spoke in support of his wife’s employment grievance and the negative consequences their family experienced as a result of her difficult employment situation.

Doug Gard, 1029 Clay Street, spoke on behalf of his clients, Joy and Dwight Bannon, and outlined the grievances before the Commission.

Upon lengthy discussion, the Commissioners agreed to recognize three main employment grievances of Joy Bannon: 1) Lack of recognition of job history as a "Recreation Assistant" for the Department (from October 2000 through November 2002); 2) Improper current job title ("Recreation Specialist") based on actual duties required of position; and 3) Pay discrepancy based on quantity of work performed and requirements of the role of "Recreation Specialist."

Remedies for the grievances included: 1) Accurate documentation of Joy’s work history with the Department of Parks and Recreation; 2) A review of Joy’s job title, salary, and duties (with new Director of Parks and Recreation) during annual budget review; and 3) A salary increase, based on her two years working as "Recreation Assistant." Current salary for the position to be pushed up to the one-year level on the pay scale, effective September 2, 2003. Also, recognition of 80 hours of overtime worked in the summer of 2003, and compensation in the form of two weeks paid vacation during the non-busy times of the recreation season and/or during a week best suited to the needs of the Department.

No formal action was taken at the conclusion of the meeting. Instead, Mr. Gard agreed to send an official letter of agreement, outlining the above terms, by September 5, 2003. The Commissioners agreed to formally respond to the letter by September 12, 2003.