An Elizabethton police officer who was told he would receive a pay raise and have his rank increased to corporal still does not know if that raise will happen and if back pay will be awarded.
A discrepancy with his grievance brought to light the fact that the city’s employee merit system, which governs personnel decisions and pay, has never passed approval of City Council as required by state law.
On Tuesday, Jan. 5, the Elizabethton Personnel Advisory Board met to discuss a discrepancy regarding Officer Matt Taylor’s application for a raise. Having his rank increased to corporal would not grant him authority over other officers, but it is a symbol of seniority and is accompanied by a pay raise.
Taylor has been with the department for five years, following Emergency Medical Technician Certification the year before he joined. He uses that certification as the SWAT Medic for the Specialized Response Team with the EPD.
A discrepancy became apparent after Police Chief Greg Workman and City Manager Jerome Kitchens approved the raise based on the EPD job description, which states that a combination of education and experience may be used to satisfy prerequisites to achieve the rank of corporal. This description differs from the city employee merit system in that the city description requires six years with the department.
According to Police Chief Greg Workman, officers seeking the rank of corporal have all had six years with the department in the past, so they never knew the policies were conflicting.
The matter went before the Personnel Advisory Board to determine how to proceed. Taylor was told he would receive back pay from April of 2015, when he hit his five-year mark, till November, when he applied for the raise. In January, the board unanimously approved three motions which advised that Taylor receive the raise and back pay, that Kitchens did not follow policies and procedures, and that the EPD job descriptions be brought into uniformity as soon as possible.
At a special called meeting Wednesday, the board voted unanimously to rescind these three motions. The reasoning for this came from a discovery resulting from research done by the City Manager, his staff, and Elizabethton’s Assistant Attorney Charleton DeVault, which revealed that the city’s current merit system (job classifications, pay scales and related city personnel documents) had not received City Council approval in the form of a signed ordinance and were therefore invalid.
“The board has to act within the authority that’s granted in the ordinance,” said DeVault. “It does not sit as a board of equity, which can do and order done what should have been done or what’s fair… It has to do what’s set out in the ordinance, and in this case, we didn’t have an ordinance setting out the rank of corporal.”
Furthermore, he explained that the lack of a Council-approved ordinance regarding the employee merit system meant the board had no authority to recommend a pay raise.
“It’s a series of cascading mistakes; everybody acted in good faith,” said DeVault.
Board Chair Ruth Bowers said the decision to rescind the previous motions did not necessarily concern what they wanted to do, but what they were obligated to do in light of the research presented.
Kitchens was not the city manager and the members of the board were not serving when this discrepancy was originally overlooked.
“When I became the city manager, the only thing I knew was that we had a personnel manual that was outdated in 2005, and I had a working comprehensive plan. I assumed since the manual had been adopted —and we had documentation of that — that the comprehensive plan had also been adopted, and only until this grievance came up, which is from what we can tell, the first time this has ever been brought up, did we realize the problems we had,” said Kitchens.
Kitchens sincerely apologized, which board Chair Ruth Bowers acknowledged, and both admitted failure in duty to report to the City Council.
After rescinding the motions approved in January, the board unanimously passed a motion, which Bowers called the “real meat of the meeting.”
The motion requested that the city manager bring all merit system documents for all city departments and personnel before the Personnel Advisory Board at a workshop to be held as soon as reasonably possible, so that the board can review all employee classifications, compensations and related personnel documents as required by law.
Despite the grief incurred by Officer Taylor, Chair Bowers said it has brought an important issue to light. Not only must the Council approve the employee merit system, but the board is required to review it on an annual basis.
“He actually did us a favor, though he’s been a sacrificial lamb,” said Bowers. “I have nothing but admiration and respect for Officer Taylor; he has been very professional and was the most prepared person to come before this board.”
Bowers said she has served on the board for 12 years and worked with it for five years before that. “Until Mr. DeVault brought this to my attention, I was going along with [the existing merit system] just like everybody else,” she said.
Regardless, members of the board were clearly disturbed by the inconvenience this has caused Officer Taylor.
“I think we’ve all had a lot of sleepless nights over this and a lot of concern over this, and not only does it reflect on us as citizens, it reflects on us as the city — that we can do what we need to do and get our paperwork and our actions in order,” said board member Vicky Manuel.
Board member Kelly Geagley asked if the board has the authority in this one case to make a recommendation regarding Officer Taylor, but DeVault said they could not make an exception, that they must abide by the merit system.
Until the reviewed employee merit system passes through the Personnel Advisory Board and is approved by City Council, no decisions can be made regarding Officer Taylor’s raise, said DeVault. A workshop is scheduled for March 17 at 6 p.m. at City Hall for the board to review documents which the city manager will present.
“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” said Bowers.
Board members Glen Shaw and Sharon Shepherd were not present. DeVault said Officer Taylor was invited, but he was not present at the meeting.
Taylor will reach six-year status and qualify for corporal as it is currently written in the city’s merit system in April 2016, but that could change.