agenda item summary january 15, 2019

Agenda Item 21

Item # 21 Page 1

AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY January 15, 2019

City Council STAFF

Teresa Roche, Chief Human Resources Officer Jenny Lopez Filkins, Legal SUBJECT

Resolution 2019-015 Approving a Respectful Workplace Policy for the Council and Council Appointees. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The purpose of this item is to adopt the Fort Collins City Council Respectful Workplace Policy, which was developed by the Anti-Harassment Ad Hoc Committee. The proposed policy addresses respectful conduct by City Councilmembers, and by those appointed by Council (including direct report employees and board and commission members) while acting in that role in relation to members of the public and City staff. The Policy addresses the Council’s position related to harassment, discrimination and retaliation, the process to be followed when a complaint is made and identifies several alternatives for a complaining party to report an alleged violation of the policy. It identifies possible outcomes or options available in the event harassment is substantiated. STAFF RECOMMENDATION

Staff recommends adoption of the Resolution. BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION

The Anti-Harassment Ad-Hoc Committee members were Mayor Wade Troxell and Councilmembers Bob Overbeck and Kristin Stephens. Six meetings were held to review several policy templates of other governmental bodies and to develop a written policy that set aspirational goals and expectations regarding treating others with respect. The policy will be communicated to the City Councilmembers, their direct report employees and board and commission members, and will reside on the City’s website so that all those protected by it are aware of this policy. It will also be incorporated into onboarding activities to insure all those subject to the policy are informed. In May 2019, a training session will be held for the City Councilmembers and their direct employees and two training sessions will be for all Boards and Commission members. The expectation is there will be 100% participation. The schedule for future training sessions will be determined. CITY FINANCIAL IMPACTS

Up to three training sessions will be conducted by an external facilitator in 2019 to insure all included understand this new policy. Total cost should be less than $5,000.

Agenda Item 21

Item # 21 Page 2

PUBLIC OUTREACH

All committee meetings were open to the public. ATTACHMENTS

1. Ad Hoc Anti-Harassment Policy Committee Meeting Minutes December 15, 2018 (PDF) 2. Teresa Roche Memo to Council December 13, 2018 (PDF)

Ad Hoc Anti-Harassment Policy Committee Meeting

Minutes

December 5, 2018

12:00 p.m.

Members in Attendance: Councilmember Kristin Stephens; Councilmember Bob Overbeck;

Mayor Wade Troxell; Teresa Roche, Chief Human Resource Officer; Carrie Daggett, City

Attorney; Jenny Lopez Filkins, Senior Assistant City Attorney; and Jeanne Sanford, Paralegal.

Public in Attendance: Shana Ryken from Women’s Commission

A meeting of the Ad Hoc Anti-Harassment Policy Committee (“Committee”) was held on

Wednesday, December 5, 2018, in the CIC Room at City Hall.

The meeting began at 12:06 p.m.

The Committee reviewed the Agenda which contained the following items:

1. Approval of Minutes from October 31, 2018 Meeting (Attached)

2. Agenda Review

3. Review and consider adoption of the Respectful Workplace Policy for Council Members

and Appointed Officials.

4. Discuss training goals and frequency.

5. Discuss communications plan to be implemented with the Respectful Workplace Policy.

6. Other Business

7. Review of Upcoming Committee Schedule

The minutes of the October 31, 2018 meeting were approved.

City Attorney Carrie Daggett ran through the agenda. Ms. Daggett explained that due to additional

edits on the draft Policy coming through after the packet went out to Council, a version of the

Policy would be put up on the screen for review with those changes being redlined and highlighted

in yellow.

The Committee agreed to discuss the training goals, frequency thereof and the communication

plan in this meeting.

Teresa Roche stated she set the tone of the Policy as an aspiration not a legal mandate, so

reordering the first paragraph to reflect our aspirations leads the policy. She went through her

edits. No questions or discussion from the Committee.

Senior City Attorney Jenny Lopez Filkins stated she would run through the draft Policy noting that

the version of the Policy in the packets shows the changes the Committee suggested as well as

individuals changes, such as suggestions from Teresa Roche and attorneys in the City Attorney’s

ATTACHMENT 1

Office. Ms. Lopez Filkins noted those changes were highlighted in yellow. The Committee

members expressed no concerns or suggested changes regarding the Application section.

Mayor Troxell stated he very much liked the aspirational aspect and perhaps the Committee could

weave some language about the Baldridge award and that striving for institutional continued

improvement helps to create a respectful workplace environment. The elements of respect,

diversity and inclusivity should be included in the Policy.

Ms. Daggett stated some language would be crafted for insertion in the beginning aspirational

paragraph toward this effect.

Ms. Lopez Filkins went back to discussing the Policy changes, which included:

• The phrase, “covered persons in Related Interactions was added to the Sexual

Harassment and Retaliation sections.

• In the definition of “Retaliation”, the word, “discrimination” was added.

• Under “Conduct”, “discrimination” added there as well.

• Under Examples, “Retaliatory” seems like a better word fit.

• Minor proofreading edits were added.

• “Member of public” in definitions deleted as it was repeated twice.

• Under Confidentiality section, the word “must” was changed to “strongly

encouraged” to suggest consistency in reporting.

The Committee members expressed no concerns or suggested changes to the list above. There was

some discussion about the ramifications of failure to report an incident by an employee.

Ms. Lopez Filkins continued her review of the draft Policy, which included:

• Under Screening Process, City Manager or his/her designee was added as they will

be involved in the process

• Under Timeline for Investigation, 60 days “after screening process is complete”

was added since it may take a little time on the front end.

The Committee members expressed no concerns or suggested changes to these topics.

Councilmember Stephens asked if the respondent would be part of the executive session if the

respondent is a City Councilmember. City Attorney Daggett stated the respondent would have a

conflict of interest in the Council’s discussions and would not be included, although in certain

circumstances there may be an option to include the subject of the discussion.

In the review of the draft policy, under Complaints about Appointed Officials, Ms. Lopez Filkins

went on to summarize:

• The same changes were made to the Complaints about Councilmembers sections

as discussed above.

Councilmember Overbeck left the meeting at 12:40.

The next topic on the agenda was to discuss training and the frequency thereof. The Policy sets

training at every two years.

Jenny Lopez Filkins stated the EEOC has stated it is best practice for training to occur annually.

The Committee discussed the training frequency. Teresa Roche discussed various training options

including using an online tool but said at least one face to face training is critical.

Mayor Troxell stated that group dynamics are good especially if it is part of the on-boarding

training.

City Attorney Carrie Daggett stated a good way to accomplish this would be at the regular Council

retreat and the Committee agreed with this.

Jenny Lopez Filkins noted boards and commissions training area done through the City Attorney’s

Office and are developing ways to make that training more systematic.

The Committee stated they were ready to recommend that the Policy be adopted. By unanimous

consent, the Policy (with all suggested changes) was approved to recommend adoption by the City

Council. The Committee discussed a goal to get the Policy on the Council agenda for January 15,

2019.

City Attorney Daggett said it may be helpful to provide a Committee report to Council along with

the minutes and the Policy itself. The Committee was in favor of this approach.

Regarding the communications plan, Ms. Daggett explained there will be a need to identify

effective ways to post information for the people affected. Information on what to do and where

to go to report an issue would be addressed in this communications plan.

Ms. Daggett explained in the process of bringing this Policy to Council, implementation plans can

be described in the agenda materials.

The Committee discussed no other business.

Meeting adjourned at 1:04 p.m.

ATTACHMENT 2

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RESOLUTION 2019-015

OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS

APPROVING A RESPECTFUL WORKPLACE POLICY

FOR COUNCIL AND COUNCIL APPOINTEES

WHEREAS, workplace harassment allegations have become common in the news and

reinforce the importance of workplace culture; and

WHEREAS, several Colorado governmental bodies have recently adopted anti-

harassment policies that apply to members of those governmental bodies, and, in some cases,

those appointed by the governmental bodies; and

WHEREAS, harassment claims can arise at any level of an organization from the

governing body to those appointed by a governing body; and

WHEREAS, a respectful workplace policy sets the tone for the entire organization,

describes a process for filing and handling discrimination, harassment and retaliation complaints

and identifies possible outcomes in the event a complaint is substantiated; and

WHEREAS, an ad hoc committee appointed by the City Council met six times to review

and discuss various policy options; and

WHEREAS, the ad hoc committee developed a policy that meets the stated objectives;

and

WHEREAS, on December 5, 2018, the ad hoc committee approved a recommendation

that the City Council formally adopt the Fort Collins Council Respectful Workplace Policy.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF

FORT COLLINS as follows:

Section 1. That the City Council hereby makes and adopts the determinations and

findings contained in the recitals set forth above.

Section 2. That the policy statements contained in the attached Fort Collins Council

Respectful Workplace Policy accurately reflect the City’s policies on these issues.

Section 3. That the City Council hereby approves the Fort Collins Council

Respectful Workplace Policy attached hereto as Exhibit “A” and incorporated herein by this

reference.

-2-

Passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Council of the City of Fort Collins this

15th day of January, A.D. 2019.

_________________________________

Mayor

ATTEST:

_____________________________

City Clerk

EXHIBIT A