Earlier this year Council approved the hiring of a new police officer based on the upcoming retirement of Lt. Titus from the police department. The new officer position was filled and now Council approved the promotion of a sergeant to lieutenant and then the promotion of a police officer to sergeant. This process will be based on the civil service testing and a panel interview. Stow has an excellent group of safety forces in our City, and I look forward to seeing officers being able to advance their careers here in the City.
Council discussed the general payroll ordinances of the City which address the wages and other ancillary pay policies that applies to all non-union employees within the City. Council previously approved a payroll study to be performed as the current payroll ordinance was last passed in 2008 and while general employees have received cost of living adjustments, the overall pay scales have not been adjusted since then. While it has taken some time to get the study back, I believe it is long overdue to evaluate the positions in the City. In addition, the current proposed ordinance would create a review process and merit increases for general employees instead of cost-of-living adjustments. The discussion also recommended that this be codified within the code so the pay scale and position grades so the most up to date version can easily be located vs. trying to review multiple pieces of legislation to determine the current version. Council will likely receive the updates discussed at our next meeting in May. I am hopeful that before this gets moved forward, we will also have an offer to an HR Director for the City. This is a position that we have not had in the City for many years, and I believe for the changes proposed under this new ordinance to be effective, we need an employee strictly for Human Resources in the City.
There was also an adjustment made to the bill listing out our past meeting related to an expenditure related to expenses for hotel rooms for residents who had a power outage during the storms last month. Council by a vote of 4-3, (Feldman, Licate, and Riehl voted no), to remove this expense from the bill listing. I voted to remove this expense as I do not believe this expenditure properly falls into expenses that should be paid by the City and sets a precedent that this is something the City should regularly do. I believe there are other avenues to address this type of concern, including several community organizations that work to assist residents in need. I feel creating a process like this for a situation where the City had no responsibility for damage is out of line with our City policies relating to expenditures to assist residents.
Last and certainly not least, the Mayor provided a proclamation recognizing a Ward 2 family on Wexford for their quick actions on April 3rd. On that evening the Hairston family was outside in their yard when their son, Marshall, noticed that a fire had begun in the garage across the street. Marshall quickly notified his parents who called 911 to notify our fire services and rushed to the neighbor’s house to notify them of the fire so the residents could exit. This quick action allowed for a quick response that limited the damage of the fire to the garage of the house and allowed the residents to exit without any injury. The fire department had many of their firefighters in the audience to recognize this brave young man and his outstanding parents. We have an excellent fire prevention program to educate the students in our schools and this shows just how important that education is! I am thankful that we have such great residents in Ward 2 and throughout our City that look out for their neighbors like this, and this family certainly deserved the recognition they received!
Council will meet next on Thursday May 11th with committee meetings starting at 5:30 PM and the Council meeting to follow.