Mr. John Zucal, new New Philadelphia Councilman for Ward Two, hit the floor running Monday, February 8, 2010, when he presided at his first committee meeting as Chairman of the Special/Contact Committee. The purpose of the meeting was consideration of a resolution, assigned to his committee by Council President Joel Day, concerning a job description for newly appointed Clerk of Council Patti McKay.
The resolution contains four sections: A) General Assignment Responsibilities; B) Necessary Skills; C) Organizational Structure; and D) Specific Duties and Responsibilities. The document attempts to define the duties of the Clerk of Council. However, it is redundant to, and conflicts with, existing New Philadelphia Codified Ordinances, the Ohio Revised Code, and the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 as Amended. It places duties on the Clerk of Council which are in violation of the principle of separation of powers in government.
The tradition of government organization in the United States, regardless of size, is three separate divisions of government, Administrative, Legislative, and Judicial. Crossing territorial boundaries of these divisions is unacceptable as it leads to the suppression of one by another. When one takes precedence over the others, our republican form of government becomes a totalitarian system which inevitably leads to uncontrollable excesses by those in power.
The organizational structure, suggested by this job description, requires that the Clerk of Council report to the Mayor and President of Council as well as City Council, thus making the Clerk of Council submissive to the administrative branch of government. By law, the Administrative branch, the Mayor and President of Council, have no power over City Council.
The President of Council is not a member of the City Council. He has no vote, unless there is a voting tie, is not able to introduce legislation, cannot speak on any matter being discussed on the floor. His sole responsibility is to preside over the proceedings, assign requests for legislation to the proper committees, and keep order. He has no connection, privileges, or responsibility in the legislative body.
A discussion developed between Mr. Zucal and Ms. Sandy Cox over the requirement that the Clerk of Council report directly to the President of Council and the Mayor as well as to the City Council. Mrs. Cox stated that the Clerk of Council was hired by the City Council and should report only to the City Council, not the Mayor or Council President. Zucal replied that they were talking about two different things, saying that by whom you were hired and who you “report to are two different things.” He also asked why “she could not report to the Council President and Council Members?….How could you have a structure where she reports to all members of Council?” Cox replied that the Clerk is hired by Council and should deal with Council and Council alone. Zucal asked whether or not the President of Council, Joel Day, was a member of Council, to which Cox replied, “No. He is a member of the Administration.”
President Day commented that the Clerk is the administrative assistant of City Council, charged with handling all administrative tasks connected with, and pertaining to, the Council. Zucal remarked that he has seen the President assign the Clerk tasks and wanted to know what those tasks were.
Day replied that he provided her with information that he considered pertinent to conducting council meetings. Zucal then said, “I believe that if we are looking for an organizational structure….we have to consider that the President of Council, who acts along with the seven of us (members of Council), all you have to do is, sitting at these meetings, see that there is a relationship, organizational, between the President of Council and the clerk.”
Cox replied that she agreed that there should be cooperation with the Mayor’s office, but the Clerk was an employee of Council and should only report to Council. Mayor Taylor inquired who on Council the Clerk should go to if she had a problem. Cox replied that any member of council would be an appropriate contact. Zucal stated that there should be a single member of Council to whom the Clerk should go to and that is why a new organizational structure was needed. He also stated that he would change the language that stated the Clerk would report directly to the President of Council and the Mayor. The meeting adjourned with no decisions being made.
I talked with President Day after the Committee meeting, asking his opinion of the meeting discussion. He said that he had assigned the Job Description project to Zucal. When asked who requested the job description, he said that he did. “I felt that there should be a job description for the Clerk. There never has been and why not do one now?” When asked if he felt that the Revised Code and City Ordinances didn’t cover what the Clerk’s position is, Day replied, “I feel that it’s got to be like we have job descriptions for us, the duties of the City. 39-97. Have you read that Ordinance?….We wrote job descriptions back then which are still in effect.” When asked if this was an indication that Council was going to mandate job descriptions for all the other jobs in the City as well, Day answered that he didn’t know and it was “up to Council.”
I looked up Ordinance 39-97 and found some really interesting material. The ordinance concerns itself with “Guidelines for staffing certain departments…under the jurisdiction of the Mayor and Auditor.” It covers all sorts of things, pay, vacation, number of folks in each city department, holidays, you name it. But it is limited to employees under the jurisdiction of the Mayor. City Council is not mentioned. Nor are job descriptions for any City position mentioned, let alone defined.
Ordinance 39-97 did lead me to The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, As Amended (29 U.S. C. 201, et seq.), which defines employee as “any individual employed by an employer. In the case of an individual employed by a public agency, such term means any individual employed by a state, political subdivision of a state, or an interstate governmental agency other than such an individual who is an employee in the legislative body of that State, political subdivision, or agency and is not employed by the legislative library of such State, political subdivision, or agency”.
In short, 39-97 does not apply to the Clerk of Council, while The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 specifically exempts the Clerk of Council from any Administration control.
One has to wonder why an ordinance defining a job description for the Clerk of Council was placed in the Special/Contact Committee in the first place, especially by the President Of Council who has no authority in, nor responsibility for, City Council? Why was the task of guiding the job description resolution for Clerk of Council given to the newest and most inexperienced member of the City Council? Why was this not assigned to a member with the experience of working with Clerk of Council? Why is a new job description necessary when the Clerk of Council had been effective and efficient for years following City Ordinances and the Ohio Revised Code?
Is there something here more sinister than what meets the eye?
The resolution contains four sections: A) General Assignment Responsibilities; B) Necessary Skills; C) Organizational Structure; and D) Specific Duties and Responsibilities. The document attempts to define the duties of the Clerk of Council. However, it is redundant to, and conflicts with, existing New Philadelphia Codified Ordinances, the Ohio Revised Code, and the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 as Amended. It places duties on the Clerk of Council which are in violation of the principle of separation of powers in government.
The tradition of government organization in the United States, regardless of size, is three separate divisions of government, Administrative, Legislative, and Judicial. Crossing territorial boundaries of these divisions is unacceptable as it leads to the suppression of one by another. When one takes precedence over the others, our republican form of government becomes a totalitarian system which inevitably leads to uncontrollable excesses by those in power.
The organizational structure, suggested by this job description, requires that the Clerk of Council report to the Mayor and President of Council as well as City Council, thus making the Clerk of Council submissive to the administrative branch of government. By law, the Administrative branch, the Mayor and President of Council, have no power over City Council.
The President of Council is not a member of the City Council. He has no vote, unless there is a voting tie, is not able to introduce legislation, cannot speak on any matter being discussed on the floor. His sole responsibility is to preside over the proceedings, assign requests for legislation to the proper committees, and keep order. He has no connection, privileges, or responsibility in the legislative body.
A discussion developed between Mr. Zucal and Ms. Sandy Cox over the requirement that the Clerk of Council report directly to the President of Council and the Mayor as well as to the City Council. Mrs. Cox stated that the Clerk of Council was hired by the City Council and should report only to the City Council, not the Mayor or Council President. Zucal replied that they were talking about two different things, saying that by whom you were hired and who you “report to are two different things.” He also asked why “she could not report to the Council President and Council Members?….How could you have a structure where she reports to all members of Council?” Cox replied that the Clerk is hired by Council and should deal with Council and Council alone. Zucal asked whether or not the President of Council, Joel Day, was a member of Council, to which Cox replied, “No. He is a member of the Administration.”
President Day commented that the Clerk is the administrative assistant of City Council, charged with handling all administrative tasks connected with, and pertaining to, the Council. Zucal remarked that he has seen the President assign the Clerk tasks and wanted to know what those tasks were.
Day replied that he provided her with information that he considered pertinent to conducting council meetings. Zucal then said, “I believe that if we are looking for an organizational structure….we have to consider that the President of Council, who acts along with the seven of us (members of Council), all you have to do is, sitting at these meetings, see that there is a relationship, organizational, between the President of Council and the clerk.”
Cox replied that she agreed that there should be cooperation with the Mayor’s office, but the Clerk was an employee of Council and should only report to Council. Mayor Taylor inquired who on Council the Clerk should go to if she had a problem. Cox replied that any member of council would be an appropriate contact. Zucal stated that there should be a single member of Council to whom the Clerk should go to and that is why a new organizational structure was needed. He also stated that he would change the language that stated the Clerk would report directly to the President of Council and the Mayor. The meeting adjourned with no decisions being made.
I talked with President Day after the Committee meeting, asking his opinion of the meeting discussion. He said that he had assigned the Job Description project to Zucal. When asked who requested the job description, he said that he did. “I felt that there should be a job description for the Clerk. There never has been and why not do one now?” When asked if he felt that the Revised Code and City Ordinances didn’t cover what the Clerk’s position is, Day replied, “I feel that it’s got to be like we have job descriptions for us, the duties of the City. 39-97. Have you read that Ordinance?….We wrote job descriptions back then which are still in effect.” When asked if this was an indication that Council was going to mandate job descriptions for all the other jobs in the City as well, Day answered that he didn’t know and it was “up to Council.”
I looked up Ordinance 39-97 and found some really interesting material. The ordinance concerns itself with “Guidelines for staffing certain departments…under the jurisdiction of the Mayor and Auditor.” It covers all sorts of things, pay, vacation, number of folks in each city department, holidays, you name it. But it is limited to employees under the jurisdiction of the Mayor. City Council is not mentioned. Nor are job descriptions for any City position mentioned, let alone defined.
Ordinance 39-97 did lead me to The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, As Amended (29 U.S. C. 201, et seq.), which defines employee as “any individual employed by an employer. In the case of an individual employed by a public agency, such term means any individual employed by a state, political subdivision of a state, or an interstate governmental agency other than such an individual who is an employee in the legislative body of that State, political subdivision, or agency and is not employed by the legislative library of such State, political subdivision, or agency”.
In short, 39-97 does not apply to the Clerk of Council, while The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 specifically exempts the Clerk of Council from any Administration control.
One has to wonder why an ordinance defining a job description for the Clerk of Council was placed in the Special/Contact Committee in the first place, especially by the President Of Council who has no authority in, nor responsibility for, City Council? Why was the task of guiding the job description resolution for Clerk of Council given to the newest and most inexperienced member of the City Council? Why was this not assigned to a member with the experience of working with Clerk of Council? Why is a new job description necessary when the Clerk of Council had been effective and efficient for years following City Ordinances and the Ohio Revised Code?
Is there something here more sinister than what meets the eye?
FIRST TIME READER... VERY GOOD
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