April 10, 2000 Minutes
Fargo Public Library Board of Directors
Special Board Minutes Of April 10, 2000
President David Martin called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m.
Present: David Martin, Larry Boulger, Virginia Dambach, Cathie Walstad, Ryn Pitts
The special meeting was called in accordance with the Board’s by-laws and legal notice was given of the meeting. Martin announced the regular monthly meeting on April 20th, 2000.
Order of Agenda
Dambach suggested changing the order of the agenda so item two on the agenda was moved to the first item discussed. Chairman Martin agreed.
Hiring Brenda Kaspari for assessment training:
Dambach said that in the Board’s last action it was agreed to hire Kaspari to conduct staff training. After numerous discussions, it was suggested that before the training could be effective the Board, independent of Davis, would contract to do an assessment of the issues that involve staff, management, and Board of Trustees. Before training can proceed, the Board must formally agree to hire Kaspari. The terms of Kaspari’s services were discussed. Dambach reported a cost of $2,000 that the City of Fargo will pay for out of the Human Resources and Personnel budget. Balancing gender and age, Kaspari will do 12 private interviews with the FPL Director, library coordinators, and other staff comprised of long-term staff and new staff. Kaspari would immediately start to set up appointments for interviews, which would take at least a month to conduct. Staff training would follow. Dambach confirmed that Kaspari would respond to the Board in regards to her recommendations as well as how she plans to integrate her findings into training.
Dambach made a motion that Kaspari be hired to conduct an assessment that will include individual and focus group interviews. Walstad seconded the motion; the motion carried.
Acknowledge receipt of Library Director Performance Review and accept for filing:
There was discussion of whether the performance review must be accepted by the Board or just submitted to Human Resources. Dambach clarified that number three on the April 10th agenda means that the Board is accepting the evaluation for filing, but not agreeing with every opinion expressed in the evaluation. Walstad discussed concern with some of the responses in the evaluation. Pitts commented that the Board could not change the performance evaluation document once it has been completed and if members have objections a new evaluation could be proposed. Amending the document was discussed; it was decided that it was not possible to amend a document that has been signed. Boulger questioned if the document needs Board approval and it was decided that the City of Fargo had asked the Board to vote on the document to conclude the evaluation process. Walstad commented that she appreciated the total evaluation to which everyone has contributed, but would like to see the facts and evidence of all the responses. Boulger said that it is the Board’s job to agree on the validity and correctness of the conclusions and suggested that the evaluation process not be redone, but checked to make sure that the conclusions matched the record. Dambach responded by recommending that the Board appoint a new committee to conduct a second evaluation.
Dambach made the motion to receive and file the performance evaluation that was conducted in the agreed upon time frame by the appointed committee. Pitts seconded the motion; the motion did not pass. Martin agreed to appoint a new evaluation committee and thanked the first evaluation committee for their work.
Sexual harassment response:
Dambach made a motion to close the meeting due to the potential of a lawsuit. Pitts seconded the motion. Martin responded that he believed the Board could only close the meeting if it is faced with pending litigation because of the North Dakota Open Meeting Law; however, he called a ten-minute recess to consult with the City of Fargo attorney to ascertain the legality of closing the meeting to the public. Dambach withdrew the motion after Martin confirmed that North Dakota law prohibited closing the Special Board meeting to the public.
The Board discussed the response to the sexual harassment grievance filed by a FPL employee on March 14th, 2000. The grievance was forwarded to the City Attorney for review and comment. The City of Fargo’s attorney found that the grievance did not constitute sexual harassment, but was a violation of the City employment policy. The City of Fargo recommended that the Board to take disciplinary action based on the grievance. The City suggested issuing a formal reprimand, specifying that Davis give a verbal and written apology to the FPL employee, and that counseling be secured for Davis on treating employees with respect and sensitivity. The reprimand would be put into writing and placed in Davis’ personnel file for 36 months.
Dambach discussed a memo draft to Davis from Board in response to the filed grievance. The memo is in regards to the request by the City Attorney to issue Davis with a formal reprimand. She encouraged the Board to read the memo and commented that this document may be edited. Dambach summarized the proposed draft and the Board’s three possible actions. She commented that the City of Fargo’s Human Resources Department has a detailed policy about sexual harassment, but does not have a grievance and problem resolution procedure concerning sexual harassment filings. She commented that no employee should be subjected to a formal filing without a process that could diffuse and solve the situation at an earlier stage. Dambach told the Board that if the memo was approved that this is the action that will be taken by the Board and if it isn’t passed, someone else would have to write the document. Dambach made the motion to issue the letter of reprimand to the Library Director with the stipulations. Boulger seconded the motion.
There was a discussion of the motion. It was clarified that the City of Fargo had recommended that the Board issue a formal reprimand to Davis. Pitts questioned why the City isn’t issuing the reprimand if it was the City of Fargo’s policy that was violated. Dambach agreed and added that the Board had dealt with Davis' inappropriate use of language and casual remarks in his evaluation. Dambach stated that she thought the Board should deal with the procedure and the policy.
Dambach was concerned that a sexual harassment grievance was filed when the person involved and other staff members never confronted the supposed harasser, which is the first step in defending against harassment. She stated that there isn’t an effective process in place that would allow this to occur with no intervening steps. Boulger stated that he didn’t agree that someone who is the object of an insensitive remark should be required to defend themselves and did not know if the situation is a personnel issue that should be directed to Pat Zavoral’s office. Pitts commented that it was a City policy that was broken so a City reprimand would be appropriate.
The motion, which would issue the letter to the Library Director from the Board of Trustees with its contents and purposes, was defeated.
Dambach made a motion to refer any action of a formal reprimand for insensitive remarks back to the City of Fargo. Pitts seconded the motion; the motion carried.
Dambach made the motion for the Board to draft a grievance procedure for FPL staff to follow in the interim the City of Fargo’s procedures being put in order. Pitts seconded the motion. Martin suggested that the Board wait for Kaspari’s input about what to do on an interim basis.
Dambach moved to table the motion until the regular monthly meeting on April 20th, when there could be further discussion. Boulger seconded the motion; the motion carried.
The meeting adjourned at 2:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Rhonda Roesler