Watsonville Municipal Code Art. X Personnel System

SECTION 1000 MERIT SYSTEM.

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. Following the adoption of an ordinance establishing the personnel merit system, 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.

SECTION 1001 COMPETITIVE AND GENERAL SERVICE.

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) The City Manager, the City Clerk, the City Attorney, and head of each department;

(2) 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;

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

(4) Persons employed on a part-time basis and all volunteers.

(b) The Competitive Service shall consist of all positions in the City administrative service which are not in the General Service. [§ 1001 Amended by voter petition initiative on 11/5/24. Measure W]

SECTION 1002 PERSONNEL RULES AND REGULATIONS.

The Council shall implement the personnel system by adopting rules and regulations governing its administration.

SECTION 1003 STATUS OF EXISTING EMPLOYEES. DELETED IN ITS ENTIRETY PER MEASURE W (ELECTION HELD NOVEMBER 5, 2024)

SECTION 1004 SUSPENSION, DEMOTION AND DISMISSAL.

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

An employee who is suspended, demoted or removed shall be given in writing the reasons for suspension, demotion or removal. The employee 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 in the City’s Personnel Rules and Regulations.

The findings and recommendations of the Personnel Commission with respect to hearings shall be transmitted to the appointing authority for final decision. [§ 1004 Amended by voter petition initiative on 11/5/24. Measure W]

SECTION 1005 PROHIBITIONS.

No officer or employee of the City shall engage or participate in political activities of any kind during any such person’s working hours and while assigned to work.

SECTION 1006 PENSION AND RETIREMENT SYSTEM.

The City, its Council and its several officers and employees are hereby vested with the power to do and perform any act, and to exercise any authority granted, permitted or required under the provisions of the Public Employees’ Retirement Law, as it now exists or hereafter may be amended, to enable the City to continue as a contracting City under the California Public Employees Retirement System, and, in addition, to participate in any pension system now or hereafter existing under the laws of the United States of America to which municipal officers and employees are eligible.

Participation in any such plan or retirement benefits shall not be extended to any officer or employee theretofore retired except by approval of the Council; provided, however, that no person heretofore retired shall be deprived of existing pension rights.

No retirement or pension plan, heretofore or hereafter established, may be discontinued or terminated except under authority granted by an ordinance adopted by a majority vote of the electors of the City voting on such proposition at an election at which such proposal is presented, unless such action has been approved by a majority vote of the members affected. [§ 1006 Amended by voter petition initiative on 11/5/24. Measure W]

SECTION 1007 COMPULSORY ARBITRATION FOR FIRE DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEE DISPUTES.

It is hereby declared to be the policy of the City of Watsonville that strikes by firefighters are not in the public interest and should be prohibited, and that a method should be adopted for peacefully and equitably resolving disputes that might otherwise lead to such strikes.

If any firefighter employed by the City of Watsonville willfully engages in a strike against the City, said employee shall be dismissed from employment and may not be reinstated or returned to City employment except as a new employee. No officer, board, council or commission shall have the power to grant amnesty to any firefighter charged with engaging in a strike against the City.

The City, through its duly authorized representatives, shall negotiate in good faith with the recognized fire department employee organization on all matters relating to the wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of 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 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 bargaining unit shall be eliminated or changed, except as to individual employee discipline.

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 the fire 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 California State Mediation & 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 (1) of seven (7) to act as the third arbitrator, they shall alternatively 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 section shall be conducted in conformance with, subject, 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 limit 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 expenses of any arbitration convened pursuant to this section, 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 expense. [§ 1007 Amended by voter petition initiative on 11/5/24. Measure W]