Hayward Municipal Code Art. VIII Officers and Employees

The officers of the City of Hayward shall consist of the Council, a City Manager, a City Attorney, a City Clerk, a Director of Finance, a Director of Public Works, a City Engineer, a Planning Director, a Chief of Police, a Chief of the Fire Department and such other subordinate officers, assistants, deputies and employees as the Council may deem necessary to provide by ordinance or resolution.

The City Manager, City Attorney and City Clerk shall be appointed by and may be removed by the affirmative votes of no less than four members of the Council.

The Director of Finance, Director of Public Works, City Engineer, Planning Director, Chief of Police and Chief of the Fire Department and all other officers and department heads of the City shall be appointed by the City Manager and shall serve at the pleasure of the City Manager.

The Council may provide by ordinance or resolution, not inconsistent with this Charter, for the powers and duties of all officers and employees of the City.

The Council may transfer or consolidate functions of the City Government to or with appropriate functions of the state or county government, or make use of such functions of the state or county government, and in such case, the provisions of this Charter providing for the function of the City government so transferred or consolidated, shall be deemed suspended during the continuance of such transfer or consolidation, to the extent that such suspension is made necessary or convenient and is set forth in the ordinance or resolution establishing such transfer or consolidation. Any such transfer or consolidation may be repealed in like manner.

The compensation of all City officers and employees, except as otherwise provided in this Charter, shall be by salary to be fixed by ordinance or resolution. No officer or employee shall be allowed any fees, perquisites, emoluments, rewards or compensation aside from the salary or compensation as fixed by the Council, but all fees received by the officer or employee in connection with the officer or employee's official duties shall be paid by the officer or employee into the City Treasury.

(Amended on November 3, 2020 )

Every officer of the City, before entering upon the duties of office, shall take the oath of office as provided for in the Constitution of this State, and shall file the same with the City Clerk.

(Amended on November 3, 2020 )

The Council shall fix by ordinance the amounts and terms of the official bonds of all officials or employees who are required by ordinance to give such bonds. All bonds shall be executed by responsible corporate surety, shall be approved as to form by the City Attorney and shall be filed with the City Clerk. Premiums on official bonds shall be paid by the City.

There shall be no personal liability upon, or any right to recover against, a superior officer, or the superior officer's bond, for any wrongful act or omission of the superior officer's subordinate, unless such superior officer was a party to, or conspired in such wrongful act or omission.

(Amended on November 3, 2020 )

No officer or employee of the City shall become financially interested except by testate or intestate succession, either directly or indirectly, in any contract, sale, purchase, lease or transfer of real or personal property to which the City is a party; provided, however, any employees may negotiate by contract the same of any real property subject to eminent domain proceedings of the City. Any member of a board or commission serving without compensation may contract with the City or sell or contract to sell personal property to the City to be used by a department, board or commission of the City other than the board or commission which the member serves.

No officer or employee of the City shall be deemed to be financially interested by the ownership of less than three percent of the outstanding capital stock of a corporation. Any contract, sale or transaction in which there shall be such an interest, as specified in this section, shall become void at the election of the City when so declared by resolution of the Council.

Any violation of the provisions hereof shall be deemed a misdemeanor and shall be cause for removal from office.

(AMENDED: STATS. 1964 CH 41; Amended on November 3, 2020 )

The Council shall not appoint to a salaried position under the City government any person who is a relative by blood or marriage within the second degree of any one or more of the members of such Council, and neither shall any department head or other officer having appointive power appoint any relative within such degree to any such position.

To be eligible for appointment as City Attorney, the person appointed shall be an attorney-at-law duly licensed as such under the laws of the State of California and shall have practiced law for at least five years prior to assuming the duties of City Attorney.

The City Attorney shall have power and be required to:

1. Represent and advise the Council and all City officers on all matters of law pertaining to their offices.

2. Represent and appear for the City in any and all actions and proceedings in which the City is concerned or is a party, and represent and appear for any City officer or employee or former City officer or employee in any and all actions and proceedings in which any such City officer or employee is concerned or is a party, for any action arising out of the officer or employee's employment or by reason of the officer or employee's official capacity.

3. Prosecute on behalf of the people criminal cases arising from violations of the provisions of this Charter and the ordinances of the City if the district attorney declines to do so and prosecute such cases arising from violations of state law when the district attorney consents thereto.

4. Attend all meetings of the Council and provide advice to the City Council when requested to do so.

5. Give advice or an opinion in writing whenever requested to do so in writing by the Council or any of the officers, boards or commissions of the City.

6. Approve the form of all contracts made by and all bonds given to the City, by endorsing an approval thereon in writing.

7. Prepare any and all proposed ordinances or resolutions for the City and amendments thereto.

8. Appoint, discipline and remove, subject to the personnel provisions of this Charter, all officers and employees of the City Attorney's office.

9. Perform such other duties consistent with this Charter as may be required by the Council.

10. Surrender all books, papers, files and documents pertaining to the City's affairs upon leaving office as City Attorney.

(AMENDED: STATS. 1992 CH. 30; Amended on November 3, 2020 )

(a) It is hereby declared to be the policy of the City to endeavor to establish and maintain, without labor strife and dissension, wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment for the uniformed members of the Fire Department which are fair and competitive with comparable private and public employment. To such purpose, the City hereby recognizes the efficacy of and adopts the principles of binding arbitration as an equitable and necessary alternative means to arrive at a fair resolution of terms of wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment for such employees when the parties have been unable to resolve these questions through negotiations.

(b) The City, through its duly authorized representatives, shall bargain in good faith with the recognized employee organization for the unit composed of all the uniformed employees of the Fire Department as to all matters relating to the wages, hours and terms and conditions of employment of such employees. Unless and until agreement is reached through the bargaining process, or a determination is made through the arbitration procedure hereinafter provided, no existing benefit or employment condition applicable to the said uniformed forces shall be changed or eliminated.

(c) Pursuant to the public policy hereinabove declared, the City or the recognized employee organization for the uniformed members of the Fire Department may, as the result of an impasse in bargaining, refer any unresolved issues to binding arbitration under the provisions of this section.

(d) When an impasse has been reached, any unresolved dispute or controversy pertaining to wages, hours, or other terms and conditions of employment, or any unresolved dispute or controversy pertaining to the interpretation or application of any negotiated agreement covering uniformed members of the Fire Department shall be submitted to an impartial arbitrator.

(e) An impasse may be declared by either the City or the recognized employee organization in the event good faith bargaining or other mutually agreed upon settlement methods concerning the dispute or controversy fail to result in an agreement between the parties. Representatives designated by the City and representatives of the recognized employee organization shall select an arbitrator. In the event that said parties cannot agree upon the selection of an arbitrator within five days from the date of any impasse, then the California State Conciliation Service shall be requested to nominate five (5) persons, all of whom shall be qualified and experienced as labor arbitrators. If the representatives of the recognized employee organization and the City cannot agree on one of the five to act as arbitrator, they shall strike names from the list of said nominees alternately until the name of one nominee remains who shall thereupon become the arbitrator. Every effort shall be made to secure an award from the impartial arbitrator within thirty (30) calendar days after submission of all issues to him.

(f) The arbitration proceedings herein provided shall be governed by Section 1280, et seq., of the California Code of Civil Procedure. The arbitrator's award shall be submitted in writing and shall be final and binding on all parties. The City and the affected employee organization shall take whatever action is necessary to carry out and effectuate the award. The expenses of arbitration, including the fee for the arbitrator's services, 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.

(g) In any arbitration under subsection (c) of this section, the arbitrator is directed to take into consideration the City's purpose and policy to create and maintain wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment which are fair and competitive with comparable private and public employment and which are responsive to changing conditions and changing costs and standards of living. The arbitrator shall also consider the interest and welfare of the public and the availability and sources of funds to defray the cost of any changes in wages, hours and conditions of employment. The arbitrator shall also consider such other factors, not confined to the foregoing, which are normally or traditionally taken into consideration in the determination of employment conditions through voluntary collective bargaining, mediation, fact finding, and arbitration between the parties, in the public service or in private employment.

(h) Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent the parties from submitting controversies or disputes to mediation, fact finding or other reasonable method to finally resolve the dispute should the City and the recognized employee organization in the controversy or dispute so agree.

(AMENDED: STATS. 1975 CHARTER CHAPTER 28)