September 30, 2020
Monday evening during the Common Council meeting, Mayor Mark Senter continued the discussion of hiring a full-time HR Director for the city versus outsourcing the job to a contractor.
The mayor was asked if he had a proposal and he responded, “No. What I would like to do is have a motion and vote yea or nay and then come up with a job description.”
In discussions with the various department heads, Mayor Senter said the majority of them were in favor of an in-house, full-time position.
Councilman Greg Compton said, “I have thought about it and I truly see the value of having an in-house person full-time.”
Councilman Don Ecker said he was also in favor of the in-house position over an outsourced contracted person saying, “My position has been and continues to be the in-house position.”
Councilman Jeff Houin said everyone appeared to agrees that the city is in need of help with HR duties. He said there were mainly two questions. “Do we do it with outsourcing to a third party or do we create an in-house, full-time position? His second questions was does the council wait and do whatever they decide the early next year or do they move more quickly to create that position as-soon-as-possible?
The position of creating an in-house, full-time position would be under the city’s legal department and Clerk Treasurer Jeanine Xaver said there wasn’t any appropriations for the position in this year’s budget. She said there are funds in next year’s budget for HR.
Councilman Duane Culp motioned to move forward with the process of an additional appropriation for this year to fund a full-time in-house HR person. The motion was seconded by Shiloh Milner.
The new position can’t be hired until the additional appropriation is approved by the council and the DLGF. The City will also need to create a job description
The motion was unanimously approved by all seven members of the Plymouth City Council.