Paterson council to create personnel committee
By Jayed Rahman
Published: December 10, 2018
The City Council is creating a personnel committee after a report revealed the new personnel director received an abortive six-percent longevity pay increase.
Council president Maritza Davila told her colleagues last Tuesday she plans to create a personnel committee.
Committee will review hiring, firing, and pay increases, according to council members, to avoid a similar situation from arising in the future.
Davila needs the administration’s cooperation to have a functional personnel committee.
Mayor Andre Sayegh pushed back against the proposal. He pointed out the City Council does not make hiring and firing decisions.
Sayegh said it’s an administrative function. His administration is unlikely to submit hiring, firing, and pay increase documents to the council for its review.
Davila’s proposal came a day after a news reports highlighted the city’s new personnel director Michele Ralph-Rawls sought a six-percent longevity pay increase. She signed off on the documents for her own pay increase. It was also signed off by business administrator Vaughn McKoy.
The city discontinued longevity increases for new employees years ago. The business administrator said the pay increase never went through.
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