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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 05/19/2020 - RESOLUTION 2020-048 REAPPOINTING TERESA ABLAO AS AAgenda Item 17 Item # 17 Page 1 AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY May 19, 2020 City Council STAFF Judge Kathleen M. Lane, Chief Judge Jenny Lopez Filkins, Legal SUBJECT Resolution 2020-048 Reappointing Teresa Ablao as an Assistant Municipal Judge of the Fort Collins Municipal Court and Authorizing the Execution of an Employment Agreement. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Consideration of this item is necessary at this time because the current appointment of Assistant Judge Ablao expires June 30, 2020, prior to the retirement of Chief Judge Lane. The purpose of this item is to reappoint Teresa Ablao as the Assistant Municipal Judge for the Fort Collins Municipal Court. The City Charter provides for the appointment of Assistant Municipal Judges to serve in the absence of the Chief Judge. Teresa Ablao has served in this capacity since mid-2012. Chief Judge Kathleen M. Lane recommends that Ms. Ablao be reappointed as one of the Assistant Municipal Judges. Judge Ablao’s experience and familiarity with the Court will be a great resource for the new Chief Judge. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends adoption of the Resolution. BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION This Resolution authorizes the Mayor to execute an employment agreement with Teresa Ablao, an attorney who is both reputable and qualified to be an Assistant Municipal Judge for Fort Collins Municipal Court. The current employment agreement with Teresa Ablao relating to her service as an Assistant Municipal Judge for Fort Collins expires on June 30, 2020. This Resolution reappoints Judge Ablao for an additional two-year term, beginning July 1, 2020, and authorizes the execution of a new employment agreement for that service. CITY FINANCIAL IMPACTS The proposed rate of pay of $100 per hour is an increase from the current rate of $75 per hour that Judge Ablao has been earning since starting in this position in mid-2012. The current rate is considerably below the rate Judge Ablao earns when serving in a similar capacity for other jurisdictions. Also, our Temporary Judge for civil cases is paid $100 per hour and the work is comparable. Given those factors, Chief Judge Lane recommends that Judge Ablao’s pay rate be increased to $100 per hour. The Assistant Municipal Judge serves on an occasional basis and the expense is covered in the current Municipal Court budget. -1- RESOLUTION 2020-048 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS REAPPOINTING TERESA ABLAO AS AN ASSISTANT MUNICIPAL JUDGE OF THE FORT COLLINS MUNICIPAL COURT AND AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF AN EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT WHEREAS, Article VII of the City Charter provides that the City Council shall appoint the judge or judges of the Municipal Court; and WHEREAS, in 2012 the City Council appointed Teresa Ablao to serve in the absence of the Municipal Judge, initially as a Temporary Judge with a title change to Assistant Municipal Judge in September 2017; and WHEREAS, the City Council has reappointed Teresa Ablao to that position every 2 years since then, most recently in 2018 for a term ending June 30, 2020; and WHEREAS, the City Council recognizes that Teresa Ablao is a reputable and qualified attorney; and WHEREAS, the City Council wishes to reappoint Teresa Ablao to serve in such capacity on the recommendation of and at the discretion of the Chief Judge. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That the City Council hereby makes and adopts the determinations and findings contained in the recitals set forth above. Section 2. That Teresa Ablao is hereby reappointed Assistant Municipal Judge, for a term beginning July 1, 2020, and ending June 30, 2022, to serve as an Assistant Municipal Judge for the City as deemed necessary by the Chief Judge. Section 3. That the compensation to be paid by the City to Judge Ablao for serving in this capacity shall be at the rate of One Hundred Dollars ($100) per hour. Section 4. That the Mayor is hereby authorized to enter into an employment agreement in a form consistent with Exhibit “A” attached hereto and incorporated herein by this reference, for the period of July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2022, between the City and Teresa Ablao to effectuate the purposes of this Resolution. -2- Passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Council of the City of Fort Collins this 19th day of May, A.D. 2020. _________________________________ Mayor ATTEST: _____________________________ City Clerk EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT This agreement is made and entered into this 1st day of July, 2020, by and between the City of Fort Collins, hereinafter referred to as the “City” and Teresa Ablao, hereinafter referred to as the “Employee”, pursuant to the terms and conditions: WHEREAS, the City wishes to employ the services of the Employee as Assistant Municipal Judge and the Employee wishes to provide her services to the City in that capacity; and WHEREAS, pursuant to Resolution 2020-048, the City Council has approved of the appointment of Teresa Ablao as Assistant Municipal Judge and has authorized the Mayor to enter into an Employment Agreement; and WHEREAS, the City and the Employee desire to provide for certain procedures, benefits, and requirements regarding the employment of the Employee by the City. NOW, THEREFORE, for and in consideration of the mutual covenants and promises herein contained, the City and the Employee do hereby agree to the following: 1. Scope of Services. The City agrees to employ the Employee as Assistant Municipal Judge an the Employee agrees to perform all functions and duties as specified in the job description attached hereto as Exhibit “A” and incorporated herein by reference, and to perform such other duties as might be assigned. 2. Compensation. Employee shall be compensated at the regular rate of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) per hour, less deductions and withholdings required by law, or authorized by Personnel Policies and Procedures, or authorized by the Employee. The Court Administrator, in coordination with the Employee, shall maintain and submit to the City a time sheet showing all hours worked prior to any payment therefor. All payments shall be made within thirty (30) days of receipt of said time sheet. This position shall be considered exempt for the purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act and appliable state laws; accordingly, the Employee shall not be eligible for overtime pay. 3. Terms of Employment (a) The terms of this Agreement shall be from July 1, 2020, to and including June 30, 2022. Nothing contained in this Agreement shall preclude renegotiation of this Agreement prior to the expiration of its term. (b) It is understood and agreed to by the Employee that upon termination of t his Agreement, either under this paragraph or under the provisions of Paragraph 4 hereof, the Employee shall not be entitled to any amount of additional compensation, as severance pay or otherwise, other than as provided in Paragraphs 2 and 6 of this Agreement. EXHIBIT A Teresa Ablao Employment Agreement July 1, 2020 Page 2 of 6 4. Early Termination. (a) Either party may terminate this Agreement at any time with or without cause prior to the expiration of the term hereof by providing written notice of termination to the other party at least fifteen (15) calendar days prior to the date of early termination. The City may, at its discretion, provide the Employee with fifteen (15) calendar days’ compensation at her regular rate in lieu of such notice. Such notice shall be deemed effective upon personal delivery or as of the date of deposit into the United States mail, postage prepaid, addressed as follows: To the Employee: Teresa Ablao Last known address on file with the Human Resources Department To the City: City of Fort Collins, Colorado Chief Judge P.O. Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 (b) The City has appropriated funds in the current fiscal year to meet the obligations of this Agreement through the current fiscal year. This Agreement shall terminate at the end of the City’s current fiscal year if the City does not, prior to the end of the current fiscal year, appropriate funds for the subsequent fiscal year with which to meet its obligation under this Agreement in the subsequent fiscal year. The parties acknowledge that the City has made no promise to continue to appropriate funds beyond the current fiscal year. 5. Insurance Coverage; Vacation, Holiday and Sick Leave The Employee shall not be entitled to the medical insurance plans, dental insurance plans, vision plan, life and accidental death and dismemberment insurance plans, long term disability plan, an Employee Assistance Program, retirement or deferred compensation plans, or any other group insurance plan or other benefits that may be offered to some City Employees. The Employee shall not be entitled to paid vacation time, paid holiday time, paid sick leave, paid short-term disability leave, or any other sort of paid leave as may be available to some other City employees. 6. Applicability of Personnel and Respectful Workplace Policies (a) The Employee hereby acknowledges receipt of the City’s Personnel Policies and Procedures and the Respectful Workplace Policy adopted by the City Council and agrees that she shall comply with and be bound by all provisions that apply to contractual or appointed employees. The Employee acknowledges that the City may in its sole discretion amend, modify, supplement, rescind or otherwise change any and all policies and procedures in the Personnel Policies and Procedures and the Respectful Workplace Policy at any time. Teresa Ablao Employment Agreement July 1, 2020 Page 3 of 6 (b) Although the City’s Personnel Policies and Procedures and Respectful Workplace Policy contain examples of types of disciplinary action including dismissal and examples of misconduct, it is understood and agreed by the Employee that the City is not required to take any disciplinary action whatsoever or follow any sort of disciplinary procedures prior to terminating this Agreement pursuant to paragraphs 3 and 4 above. In the event the City, in its sole discretion, decides to undertake disciplinary action, the City may discontinue such action at any time and at no time waives its right to terminate this Agreement pursuant to paragraphs 3 and 4 above. (c) In the event that any applicable personnel policies set forth in the City’s Personnel Policies and Procedures or the Respectful Workplace Policy are inconsistent or conflict with the terms of this Agreement, then terms of this Agreement shall be controlling. 7. Proprietary Rights (a) The Employee will disclose to the City promptly all improvements, discoveries, ideas, inventions, and information pertinent to the operation or functions of the City which the Employee may develop either individually or in conjunction with others, or of which existence the Employee may otherwise learn during the period of employment by the City. (b) The Employee agrees that all products which she may develop during the Employee’s employment, whether individually or in conjunction with others, and all intermediate and partial versions thereof, as well as all materials, flow charts, notes, outlines and the like created in connection therewith (collectively referred toas “Work Product”), and any formulae, processes, logarithms, ideas and other information not generally known to the public, whether or not protected by copyright, and developed or generated by the Employee in the course of the Employee’s employment hereunder, shall be the sole property of the City upon their creation or, in the case of copyrightable works, fixation in a tangible medium of expression. (c) The Employee hereby assigns to the City the sole and exclusive right, title and interest in and to all Work Product, and all copies of such Work Product, without further consideration. The Employee further acknowledges that the City shall retain ownership of and the right to reproduce, market, license, or otherwise distribute any program or material produced by the Employee under the terms of this Agreement. 8. Entire Agreement. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties concerning the rights granted herein and the obligations assumed herein. Any oral representation or oral modification concerning this Agreement shall be of no force or effect. Although the personnel policies set forth in the City’s Personnel Policies and Procedures and Respectful Workplace Policy may be amended, modified, supplemented or rescinded at any time at the sole discretion of the City, the terms of this Agreement can be modified only by a writing signed by the parties hereto. It is further understood and agreed by the Employee that no representation, promise or other agreement not Teresa Ablao Employment Agreement July 1, 2020 Page 4 of 6 expressly contained herein has been made to induce the execution of this Agreement, and that the terms of this Agreement are contractual and not merely recitals. 9. Enforcement of Agreement; Attorneys’ Fees and Costs If any action is brought to enforce or interpret the terms of this Agreement, the prevailing party shall be entitled to reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs in addition to any other relief to which it or she is entitled. 10. Severability. Should any provision, part of term of this Agreement be declared or determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to be illegal, invalid or unenforceable, then the legality, validity and enforceability of the remaining parts, terms and provisions should not be affected thereby and said illegal, invalid or unenforceable part, provision or term shall be deemed not to be part of this Agreement. 11. Binding Effect. This Agreement shall be binding upon the parties hereto and the heirs, successors and assigns of each respectively. The City and the Employee freely and voluntarily enter into this Agreement and have executed this Agreement having first read the same and intending to be bound. [Signatures on following page.] Teresa Ablao Employment Agreement July 1, 2020 Page 5 of 6 CITY OF FORT COLLINS, COLORADO, ATTEST: a municipal corporation By:_______________________________ _____________________________ Wade O. Troxell, Mayor City Clerk _____________________________ (Print name) EMPLOYEE APPROVED AS TO FORM: ____________________________________ _____________________________ Teresa Ablao, Esq. Senior Assistant Senior Attorney _____________________________ (Print name) APPROVED: APPROVED: ____________________________________ ______________________________ Chief Human Resources Officer Chief Judge Kathleen Lane Teresa Ablao Employment Agreement July 1, 2020 Page 6 of 6 EXHIBIT A JOB DESCRIPTION FOR THE ASSISTANT MUNICIPAL JUDGE The Assistant Municipal Judge shall handle arraignment sessions and trial sessions of the Fort Collins Municipal Court on the dates and times agreed upon with the Chief Judge. During arraignment sessions (including video advisements of prisoners held at the Larimer County Jail), the Assistant Municipal Judge shall give the advisements (or ensure that written advisements have been reviewed and signed by defendants), accept pleas of “guilty” and “no contest,” and process paperwork as requested by the Chief Judge or Court Administrator. During trial sessions, the Assistant Municipal Judge shall conduct the trials in accordance with the laws and procedures applicable to the Court.