City Council Notes: July 28, 2009
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009If you have not been to a council meeting since the new administration took over, you are in for a surprise. Our desks were turned around to their pre-2005 positions a few weeks ago. You now look at our backs for the duration of the meeting. Don’t worry though. Most meetings do not go past 9:00 p.m.
The council meetings still start at 8:00. The regular format continues with the Pledge of Allegiance, Moment of Silence, and Public Comment Time. So far, the average length of the actual council meeting does not go beyond 45 minutes.
Last night’s meeting highlights included several settlements of old scores against the last administration including workers’ compensation claims and back pay for promotions. More will be settled in the coming months. Many, including a controversial promotion to sergeant, are now a done deal.
Council voted 6-1 (Ald. Skryd was excused) to get rid of the Kronos time-keeping system for city employees. Now, supervisors will “pre-load” standard employee schedules into the payroll system and adjust the system if an employee goes on vacation, takes sick leave, or goes on vacation. We’re told that kicking Kronos out saves the city $7,000/yr.
Kronos had its “bugs” and implementation of the system was not smooth, so I hear. Yet, requiring employees to “swipe” their id cards to attempt an accurate record of time spent on the job seems to me to be a goal worthy of pursuing. The amount of money saved seems a pittance compared to the amount the city could spend on inaccurate wages paid. I voted no to kicking out Kronos.