(Okoboji)– The Okoboji City Council Tuesday evening approved a four percent salary increase for non-union benefited city employees but it didn’t come without some controversy. Council member Julie Andres serves on the city’s Personnel Committee. She expressed her frustration after learning the four percent figure had been reached outside of that committee prior to performance evaluations being held…
“Skipping the step of a fully attended, properly timed personnel review should never happen. Considering an individual’s contribution to this city when thinking about wage adjustments, in my opinion, must happen. Listening to employees personal views regarding compensation, continuing education, and their individual career path must happen. The budget. While it is certainly an important part of the process, is far, far, far away not the only part, or else the Personnel Committee is really just a recruiting committee and I think that’s a disservice to the staff, the residents and frankly, a slap in our faces.”
Andres added she wants the city council to address issues related to the matter at their next meeting…
“One, we need a discussion and a decision as to whether the council wants a fully functioning Personnel Committee that’s charged with using the budget as part of future wage and compensation recommendations and or if those decisions are going to be made elsewhere. And then second, the Personnel Committee should set a cadence of meetings to take place with more frequency as has been requested by our City Clerk and Manager during the evaluation process.”
Fellow council members agreed to take up the issues at their August 11th meeting.
The council also last (Tues.) evening voted to schedule public hearings on several proposed ordinances for that same evening. One pertains to prohibiting parking on the lakeward side of Lakeshore Drive and some other streets adjacent to lakes; another would prohibit the discharging of storm water from sump pumps and other sources onto city streets and right of ways; and yet another would make it illegal to park detached trailers on city streets.
