Six months after the Conroe City Council sent its human resources staff back to the drawing board regarding an updated personnel policy, several council members said they were disappointed proposed changes were still not available.
City Auditor Sherrie Mattson presented a quarterly audit to the council during its workshop meeting Wednesday.
“I know in January you all asked for a redline version and as far as I know you haven’t received anything,” Mattson said adding a redline version would show the current policy with proposed changes noted in red.
During a January 12 meeting, Councilwoman Marsha Porter and former Councilman Duke Coon criticized the updated personnel policies presented by the Human Resources Department they claim to violate the First and Fourth Amendment rights of employees and align too much with the city of Houston.
“Just to be real truthful, you could probably put personnel policies together in a day and a half,” Porter said. “It’s not rocket science so I’m a little bit upset that personnel policies have not been put forth.”
Councilman Harry Hardman, who took office Wednesday, said he was shocked an updated policy was still outstanding calling it “egregiously late.”
“That’s the fundamental document we have to run this entity from,” he said. “The fact that it has not been addressed is unbelievable to me. I come from a corporate background so maybe my expectations are high, but, this is blocking and tackling.”
City Administrator Paul Virgadamo clarified the city does have a personnel policy in place.
“Don’t misunderstand that,” he said. “These were adjustments to the policy.”
Virgadamo noted Houser was currently out on medical leave.
Mattson said while the human resource staff felt the policy adequate, she felt it was insufficient for employees and supervisors. One issue was the lack of a checklist for employees who are resigning but want to leave the city on good terms. She added the city currently has no training for new supervisors.
“In my opinion, it’s a serious situation,” she said.
Virgadamo said the updated policy is close to being complete noting department heads have had a chance to review it. He noted the staff would get the updated version to the council within the next month.