Proposition 7

Highlights: Clarifies and expands unclassified positions; delegates authority per the Council-Manager form of government; Provides general clean-up of old provisions no longer applicable

Amended Text
Amending the Charter of the City of El Paso Section 5.2 (1), Powers and Duties; Section 6.9-5, Delegation; Section 6.2-2, Unclassified Services; Section 6.2-3, Appointment and Removal of Unclassified Personnel; Section 6.9-3, Nepotism Prohibited; and Section 6.13-4, Appeals; and deleting Sections 3.7 C, 6.3, 6.3-1, 6.3-2 and 6.3-3 in their entirety, and certain definitions in Section 6.14-1; to read as follows:

Section 5.2 POWERS AND DUTIES.
The City Manager shall be the chief administrative officer of the City, responsible to the Council for the administration of all City affairs placed in the Manager's charge by or under this Charter. The City Manager shall:
(1) Take all personnel actions regarding employees except as provided by law or in this Charter. The City Manager may authorize the Deputy City Managers and department directors to exercise these powers with respect to their subordinates;

Section 6.9-5 DELEGATION.
The City Manager may delegate to appropriate individuals the execution of the functions, duties and responsibilities set forth in this Article, as he deems appropriate. Appropriate designees may include department directors and other persons able and assigned to execute the specific functions, duties or responsibilities.

Section 6.2-2 UNCLASSIFIED SERVICES.
The unclassified services shall include only the following positions:
A. The City Attorney, Assistant City Attorneys, law clerks and paralegal personnel;
B. The Mayor's executive secretary(s) and Executive Assistant(s);
C. Hearing officer(s) and the Commission Recorder;
D. All elected officials;
E. Members of all City boards, commissions, and committees who serve without compensation; F. Employees hired by contract as allowed under this Article;
G. The City Manager;
H All Department Heads or Directors, Deputy City Managers, and executive staff or salaried professional employees reporting directly to the City Manager;
I. Employees hired on or after the effective date of this amendment who work at the Metropolitan Planning Organization; and
J. Persons given provisional and temporary appointments who are not classified employees at the time of such appointment.

Section 6.2-3 APPOINTMENT AND REMOVAL OF UNCLASSIFIED PERSONNEL.
A. Except as otherwise provided in this Charter, appointments to the unclassified services shall be made by the City Manager solely on the basis of education and experience in the accepted competencies and practices of their field.
B. Except as otherwise provided by law or in this Charter, unclassified personnel may be removed by the City Manager or designee, who may establish written procedures for removal, except for hearing officers and the Commission Recorder, who may be removed only by a majority vote of the commissioners.

Section 6.9-3 NEPOTISM PROHIBITED.
Except in the case in which the City Manager or other person making the appointment appoints the highest scoring individual certified from a proper eligible list, or from a reinstatement list involving the appointment of a former incumbent, no person may be appointed to or reinstated in any classified position or appointed to any unclassified position who, at the time of appointment or reinstatement, is related in the manner described in Article III, Section 3.3B, to any member of the Council, the City Manager or other person making the appointment, the Human Resources Director, or the direct superior of the position being considered.

Section 6.13-4 APPEALS.
Any permanent classified employee may appeal to the Commission any order which is believed to violate the rights granted employees by this Charter. This appeal must be filed with the Commission within thirty days from the date of the alleged violation and may be in any form clearly directing the attention of the Commission to the order complained of and the rights or provisions violated.

Proposition Question
Ballot proposition No. 7

FOR ( )

Shall Sections 5.2 (1), 6.2-2, 6.2-3, 6.9-3, 6.9-5, 6.13-4, and 6.14-1 of the City Charter be amended, and Sections 3.7 C, 6.3, 6.3-1, 6.3-2, and 6.3-3 of the City Charter be deleted in their entirety, relating to the authority for taking personnel actions and the appointment of certain employees: to clarify the authority of the City Manager to take personnel actions and allow such authority to be appropriately delegated to staff including department directors; to provide that the Deputy City Managers, Department Directors, City Manager staff, employees subsequently hired for the Metropolitan Planning Organization, and unclassified persons given provisional and temporary appointments, be included in the unclassified City services; to remove unnecessary references to health unit employees; to delete all provisions pertaining to the appointment and removal of department heads, and provide new standards applicable to all unclassified personnel; to delete the provision directing the specific manner of appointment for the City Clerk; to apply the prohibitions against nepotism to all appointments made by the City Manager; and to delete definitions in Section 6.14-1 for the terms appeal, classified, department, unclassified, work day, appointing authority, appointing officer, appointment, and City Council; that the term Personnel Director be replaced with the term Human Resources Director in all places where it appears in the City Charter; that references to the authority of the Mayor, the members of the Council, a department head, the appointing authority or appointing official be changed to state City Manager and to reference a designee when appropriate, in all places where such references appear in Title VI of the City Charter?

AGAINST ( )