HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Civil Service Board - 03/27/2015 MINUTES
572"d CIVIL SERVICE BOARD HEARING
1201 LEOPARD ST.,CITY HALL
STAFF CONFERENCE ROOM
March 27,2015
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: CITY STAFF PRESENT:
Susanne Bonilla,Chairperson Sylvia Guzman,Employee Relations Manager
Guy Nickleson,Member Aimee Alcorn,Asst.City Attorney
Paul Grivich,Member Ashley Barnett,HR Analyst
Chairperson Bonilla called the 572"d Civil Service Board hearing to order at 9:23 a.m.Chairperson Bonilla
read agenda Item#1,and#2.
ITEM#1 Review and approve the minutes of the 571"Civil Service Board hearing held on
January 16,2015.
ITEM#2 Review and consider the appeal filed by Patricia Flores,Loan Processor,on her
suspension.
Chairperson Bonilla reads agenda item#I,and Guy Nickleson makes a motion to approve the minutes.
Paul Grivich seconds the motion.Ms.Bonilla moves to Item#2,and reads.
Chairperson Bonilla swears in the witnesses and the City chooses to invoke the rule.
Aimee Alcorn makes opening statement about the suspension of Patricia Flores. She explains that Ms.
Flores had been counseled in the past regarding her customer service practices, received a letter of
counseling regarding the problems, and that the suspension was the next logical step in the progressive
discipline process.
Chairperson Bonilla asks Ms.Flores if she would like to make an opening statement.
Ms.Flores states that it is correct and that is why she is here,to appeal the three day suspension.
City calls Eddie Ortega.
Aimee asks him to state his name and city record,position.Q:Are you currently employed?A:Yes,
Director of Housing and Community Development department for the City of Corpus Christi.Q:Do you
know Patricia Flores?A:Yes l do.Q:How do you know her?A:Patricia Flores is a Loan Processor
within the Housing and Community Development department.Q:Are you the custodian of records for the
Housing and Community Development Department?A:Yes,I am. Aimee asks Eddie to look at Exhibits
1-6.Q:Are you familiar with those records?A:Yes,I am.Q:Are these records kept in Ms.Flores'
department file?A:Yes,they are.Q:Are these records kept by the regular course of business by your
department?A:Yes,they are.Q:Were they created by employees in the Housing and Community
Development department at the time of Ms.Flores incidents?A:Yes they were.Aimee requests Eddie to
turn to Exhibit 7.Q:On January 30,2015,did you receive an email from Susan Thorpe regarding a
complaint that went to the Mayor's office?A:Yes,I did.Q:Is this a true and correct copy of that email?
A:Yes it is.The City offers Exhibit 7 to the Board.Chairperson Bonilla asks Ms.Flores if she objects the
exhibit provided.Ms.Flores states she wasn't aware of the email and never received it.Aimee states the
email was provided to her in the documents she requested.Chairperson Bonilla states it is accepted.
Aimee continues to question the witness.Q:Mr.Ortega did you or someone in the department follow up
on that email?A:I followed up on that email through my housing division manager.Aimee requests
Eddie to turn to Exhibit 3.Q:Did you sign this contemplated disciplinary action letter dated February 12,
2015?A:Yes,I signed it on February 10,2015.Q:Did you then sign the suspension letter dated February
19,2015?A:Yes I did.Q:Why did you take this action?A:We had complaints brought to my attention
by Kelly Fry,Program Manager,on some issues with work not being completed and complaints by
potential homeowners or citizens and their interactions with Ms.Flores.Q:Why did you choose
suspension as opposed to some other disciplinary action?A:I believe that she had been spoken to before
and there were some issues I felt as a Director that were escalating so we needed to basically do as much
as we could to resolve this issue and bring it to her attention,other than counseling.
The City passes the witness.
Chairperson Bonilla asks is Ms.Flores has any questions for the witness.Ms.Flores passes the witness.
City calls their second witness,Felicia Lopez.
Aimee asks the witness to state her full name.Q:Where do you work?A:For the City of Corpus Christi.
Q:In what capacity?A:I'm the Housing Administration Supervisor for the Housing and Community
Development department.Q:Did you supervise Patricia Flores?A:Yes,I did.Aimee requests Ms.Lopez
to turn to Exhibit 6.Q:Did you sign the letter of counseling dated October 9,2014?A:Yes,I did.Q:
Why was the letter issued?A:For failure to complete work assigned,not being professional with
customers and employees,and not following directives.Q: What behaviors and actions was Ms.Flores
cautioned to correct?A:Documenting all of our clients cases,responding to client phone calls,returning
phone calls,attendance,speaking to clients in a professional manner and taking directives.Q:did you
continue to supervise Ms.Flores after these issues?A:Yes,I did.Q: Did her performance improve?A:
No,it didn't.Q:Could you give examples in which she was insubordinate?A:I would often email to ask
for an update on specific cases,a lot of times it was ignored and I didn't get an answer at all.There were
times 1 would ask for something and she would give it to the Program Manager instead of me.Clients and
co-workers were telling me that she wasn't being kind to them.Everything I asked her to improve on I
was still getting the same behavior.Like nothing changed at all.Q:Sometime after that did you stop
supervising Ms.Flores?A:No,I didn't.
City has no further questions.
Chairperson Bonilla asks Ms.Flores if she has questions for the witness.Ms.Flores states she does and
proceeds.
Q:Do you recall an incident back in September where you and I had a confrontation where you actually
raised your voice and screamed at me and was telling me things when you were asking me in reference to
a case and I was trying to justify and you were like I just want to know now.1 wasn't the only one that
heard it but so did everyone else in the department.I was so upset with that,I even told you that I was and
I didn't appreciate your tone of voice at that time.A:No,you didn't say that.Ms.Flores goes on to state
when the event happened.
Chairperson Bonilla tells Ms.Flores not to comment on the answer,just ask questions.
Ms.Flores has no further questions.
City calls next witness,Kelly Fry.
Aimee asks the witness to state her full name.Q:What is your current job?A:Program Manager in
Housing and Community Development.Q:Was there a time you supervised Ms.Flores?A:Yes.Q:
When was that?A:Specifically,when Felicia Lopez was on maternity leave,from October through
February.Q:Did you do a performance review for Ms.Flores that was dated February 12,2015?A:Yes.
Aimee requests witness turn to Exhibit 5.Q:What was her overall performance rating in that review?A:
A 1.Q:What does 1 mean?A:A one means below standard,does not maintain satisfactory performance,
needs a performance improvement plan.Q:Do you recall following up on a complaint that was received
by the Mayor and Mr.Ortega on January 30,2015?A:Yes.Q:What did you learn when you followed up
on that complaint?A:That the client had received unsatisfactory interactions with Patricia Flores.Q:
How did you determine Ms.Flores was the loan processor in the issue?A:Notes,our internal database,
and also correspondence with the client.Q:Did you send Ms.Flores an email on February 9,2015?A:
Yes,I did.Q:Why did you send her that email?A:One of our property advisors had gone onsite to assist
this client and he came back and told me that the individual was not happy with what had occurred with
Ms.Flores.Later that afternoon,that individual called me to complain.Q:You spoke to the individual?
A:Yes,I did.Q:How did you determine that Ms.Flores was the loan processor in this complaint?A:The
notes in our system and Ms.Flores was assigned.Q:What were the specific complaints from the
customer?A:That she had tried to get ahold of Patsy and was unable to several times and when she did
get ahold of her Ms.Flores cut her off and was very rude.Q:Did you speak Ms.Flores about this
incident?A:I emailed her but I don't remember if we got a chance to talk about it.Q:What action did
you take as a result of this?A:I went to Human Resources.Q:Did you recommend any action to the
department director?A:I don't remember.Q:Do you know whose decision it was to look into a
suspension for Ms.Flores?A:It was mine.Q:Why did you recommend suspension as opposed to
something else?A:Because we had already done a letter of counseling and she had already been spoken
to about previous interactions and complaints.Q:To your knowledge,did Ms.Flores violate any
department rules?A:Yes.Q:What rules did she violate?A:Not answering phone,not being customer
service oriented,just to name a few.Q:Was she insubordinate to you?A:Yes.Q:In what way?A:Not
doing what was required in her job.Answering the phone,taking calls from clients,just to name a few.
City has no further questions of witness.
Ms.Flores begins to ask the witness questions,but does so in a statement.Chairperson Bonilla tells Ms.
Flores she can be her own witness at the end,but needs to asks questions and direct the questions to the
witness.She states Ms.Flores needs to ask one question at a time.Q:I asked when the meeting was going
to be scheduled but I never got a response.A:Right,because I went to HR.
No further questions.
The City rests.
Ms.Flores takes the witness stand.
Chairperson Bonilla tells Ms.Flores it is her opportunity to address the appeal.She tells her to state her
position and when you are finished the city will ask questions.
My name is Patricia Flores,I worked for the Housing and Community Development department.I am no
longer with them.As far as the three day suspension is concerned it was a little just.Yes,I was counseled
but it was not in reference to being rude or insubordinate it was in different matters.We talked about
other issues at that time.I told her that was fine,I would try to improve my performance.In reference to
the charges as far as not calling customers back some of that is not completely true.There are times that I
have called customers back.Some of them don't have cell phones,some are elderly.Some don't have
answering machines,some work part time,some do volunteer work where there is no way for me to
contact them.I do try,but there is no record other than what I state or what I put down.And them calling
saying I didn't try to reach them is not completely 100%true.I have always tried to return calls,I have
always been professional in every position that I have held.As far as being rude,if I felt I was ever rude
to someone,I have always apologized by saying sorry if you felt that rude but that was not my intention.
As far as working with co-workers,1 have been with them for three years.This is the first disciplinary
action as far as my professionalism or work ethics within the department.And that's basically it.
Aimee addresses Ms.Flores and asks that she look at Exhibit 6.Q:Is this the letter of counseling you
received on October 9,2014?A:Yes.Q:You just stated that you were not counseled about
insubordination or contact with customers,is that what you just said?A:I said we had spoken about many
different things.Aimee reads to Ms.Flores what the letter of counseling states and asks if it is correct.A:
Correct.She refers to the second paragraph and asks Ms.Flores to read it.Q:You did receive two
complaints following the letter of counseling,correct?A:Yes
No further questions.
Ms.Flores states she is no longer with the city but her time with the City has been pleasant.She wishes
the department well,management has changed a lot.She stated it was both parties that have been the
cause for her suspension.Ms.Flores stated as far as insubordination to Ms.Lopez it is not 100%accurate.
Aimee makes closing statement.Essentially,the City has shown that Ms.Flores was given a letter of
counseling on October 9,2014.That letter of counseling discussed issues of insubordination,and failing
to follow directives from supervisors.Following the letter of counseling her performance did not improve.
In addition,Ms.Flores received at least two more complaints by customers.The evidence further shows
that she received an unsatisfactory performance review.The department needs to trust that their
employees are performing up to the standards given by the supervisors to ensure proper customer service.
The suspension was the next logical step in progressive discipline.The City asks that the three day
suspension for Ms.Flores be upheld.
Ms.Flores doesn't make a closing statement.
Closed session is called at 9:50 am.
Back on record at 9:54 am.
Chairperson Bonilla calls meeting back to order,says that they have considered the appeal.Motion was
made to uphold the three day suspension by Paul Grivich.Guy Nickleson seconds the motion. All in
favor,(Bonilla and Nickleson),to uphold the suspension.
572'Civil Service Board Hearing is adjourned at 9:55 am.
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Susanne Bonilla,ChairpersonG ckleso mber
Civil Service Board Civil Service Board
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Paul G vi e er (Yiine B.Chapman,Secretary
Civil S ice Board vil
Service Board