Gilroy Municipal Code Art. X Personnel System

The Administrative Service of the City shall be divided into the General Service and the Competitive Service.

(a) The General Service shall comprise the following offices and positions:

(1) All elective offices;

(2) All members of boards and commissions;

(3) The City Administrator and his deputies, if any, the City Clerk, the City Attorney and his deputies, if any, and the head of each department;

(4) Persons employed for a special or temporary purpose; and positions of any class or grade exempted from the competitive service for a maximum period of six (6) months in any calendar year;

(5) Persons employed to render professional, scientific, technical or expert services of an occasional or exceptional character;

(6) Part time positions or employments, school crossing guards, and voluntary personnel.

(b) The Competitive Service shall consist of all positions in the City Administrative Service which are not in the General Service.

All appointments to and promotions within the Administrative Service of the City shall be based upon merit and fitness which shall be ascertained by means of recognized personnel selection techniques. The Council shall establish by ordinance a personnel merit system for the selection, employment, classification, advancement, suspension and discharge of those appointive officers and employees who are included in the Competitive Service by the provisions of this Charter. Appointments and promotions in the Competitive Service of the City shall be made from eligible lists to be established by examination in accordance with personnel rules and regulations adopted in the manner provided in this Charter.

The Council shall implement the personnel system by adopting rules and regulations governing its administration which shall at least include the items set forth in Section 907 (B) of this Charter.

An officer or employee holding a regular position in the Competitive Service may be suspended without pay, demoted or removed from his position for malfeasance, misconduct, incompetence, inefficiency, or for failure to perform the duties of his position or to observe the established rules and regulations in relation thereto, or to cooperate reasonably with his superiors or fellow employees, but subject to the right to a hearing before the Personnel Commission in the manner set forth herein.

Upon his request an officer or employee suspended, demoted or removed shall be given in writing the reasons for his suspension, demotion or removal. He shall be allowed a reasonable time for answering the same and may demand a public hearing upon the charges before the Personnel Commission. Such hearings shall be held in accordance with procedures established therefor.

The findings and recommendations of the Personnel Commission with respect to hearings shall be transmitted to the appointing authority for final decision.

(a) No officer or employee of the City and no candidate for any City office shall, directly or indirectly, solicit any assessment, subscription or contribution, whether voluntary or involuntary, for any municipal political purpose whatever from anyone on an eligible list or holding any position in the Competitive Service.

(b) Sec. 1. Declaration of Policy. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the City of Gilroy that strikes by firefighters and police officers pose an imminent threat to public health and safety and should be prohibited, and that a method should be adopted for peacefully and equitably resolving disputes that might otherwise lead to such strikes.

Sec. 2. Prohibition Against Strikes. No City of Gilroy police officer or firefighter employee, employee union, association or organization shall strike or engage in such concerted economic activity against the City of Gilroy. Disputes unresolved by negotiations should be resolved by the arbitration procedure set forth herein. Any such employee who fails to report for work without good and just cause during said negotiations or who aids, abets or encourages strikes, or other such economic activity against the City of Gilroy during such time shall be subject to disciplinary action, including, but not limited to termination from the City of Gilroy employment, subject to the provisions of this Charter, the City’s Personnel Rules and Regulations and lawful procedures.

Sec. 3. Obligation to Negotiate in Good Faith. The City, through its duly authorized representatives, shall negotiate in good faith with the recognized fire and police department employee organizations on all matters relating to the wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of the City employment including the establishment of procedures for the resolution of grievances submitted by either employee organization over the interpretation or application of any negotiated agreement including a provision for binding arbitration of those grievances. Unless and until agreement is reached through negotiations between the City and the recognized employee organization for the fire or police department or a determination is made through the arbitration procedure hereinafter provided, no existing benefit or condition of employment for the members of the fire department or police department bargaining unit shall be eliminated or changed.

Sec. 4. Impasse Resolution Procedure. All disputes or controversies pertaining to wages, hours, or terms and conditions of employment which remain unresolved after good faith negotiations between the City and either the fire or police department employee organization shall be submitted to a three-member Board of Arbitrators upon the declaration of an impasse by the City or by the recognized employee organization involved in the dispute.

Representatives designated by the City and representatives of the recognized employee organization involved in the dispute, controversy or grievance shall each select one arbitrator to the Board of Arbitrators within three (3) days after either party has notified the other, in writing, that it desires to proceed to arbitration. The third member of the Arbitration Board shall be selected by agreement between the two arbitrators selected by the City and the employee organization, and shall serve as the neutral arbitrator and Chairman of the Board. In the event that the arbitrators selected by the City and the employee organization cannot agree upon the selection of the third arbitrator within ten (10) days from the date that either party has notified the other that it has declared an impasse, then either party may request the State of California Conciliation Service to provide a list of seven (7) persons who are qualified and experienced as labor arbitrators. If the arbitrators selected by the City and the employee organization cannot agree within three (3) days after receipt of such list on one of seven (7) to act as the third arbitrator, they shall alternately strike names from the list of nominees until only one name remains and that person shall then become the third arbitrator and Chairman of the Arbitration Board.

Any arbitration convened pursuant to this article shall be conducted in conformance with, subject to, and governed by Title 9 of Part 3 of the California Code of Civil Procedure.

At the conclusion of the arbitration hearings, the Arbitration Board shall direct each of the parties to submit, within such time as the Board may establish, a last offer of settlement on each of the issues in dispute. The Arbitration Board shall decide each issue by majority vote by selecting whichever last offer of settlement on that issue it finds most nearly conforms with those factors traditionally taken into consideration in the determination of wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of public and private employment including, but not limited to, changes in the average consumer price index for goods and services, the wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment of other employees performing similar services, and the financial condition of the City and its ability to meet the cost of the award.

After reaching a decision, the Arbitration Board shall mail or otherwise deliver a true copy of its decision to the parties. The decision of the Arbitration Board shall not be publicly disclosed and shall not be binding until ten (10) days after it is delivered to the parties. During that ten day period, the parties may meet privately, attempt to resolve their differences, and by mutual agreement amend or modify any of the decisions of the Arbitration Board. At the conclusion of the ten day period, which may be extended by mutual agreement between the parties, the decision of the Arbitration Board together with any amendments or modifications agreed to by the parties shall be publicly disclosed and shall be binding upon the parties. The City and the recognized employee organization shall take whatever action is necessary to carry out and effectuate the award.

The expense of any arbitration convened pursuant to this article, including the fee for the services of the Chairman of the Arbitration Board, shall be borne equally by the parties. All other expenses which the parties may incur individually are to be borne by the party incurring such expenses.

(Charter Amendment November 4, 1997; Section (C) Charter Amendment November 8, 1988.)

(Removed by Charter Amendment November 7, 1995)

In the event an officer or employee of the City holding a position in the Competitive Service is appointed to a position in the General Service, and should subsequently be removed or resign there from, he shall revert to his former position in the Competitive Service without loss of any rights or privileges and upon the same terms and conditions as if he had remained in said position continuously.