REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL FROM: RINA M. GONZALES, Interim City Attorney City Attorney's Office BY: JENNI DERUOSI, Supervising Deputy City Attorney City Attorney's Office SUBJECT ..Title 1. ***RESOLUTION: Adopt the Sixth Amendment to FY 2023 Salary Resolution No. 2022-152, amending Exhibit 2, Unit 2 - Non-Represented Management and Confidential Classes, to create the new classification of Senior City Attorney Investigator (Subject to Mayor's Veto) ..Body RECOMMENDATION It is recommended Council adopt the Sixth Amendment to the Fiscal Year 2023 Salary Resolution No. 2022-152 to amend Exhibit 2, effective December 1, 2022. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The City Attorney's Office handles an increasing number of complex personnel investigations required by law. Currently the City Attorney's Office employs one full-time Assistant City Attorney (working title: Special Assistant City Attorney) to conduct personnel investigations. However, the number of requests for investigations outpaces the capacity of a single staff member. The Senior City Attorney Investigator classification will allow the City Attorney's Office to meet demand and comply with legal requirements of conducting prompt personnel investigations. BACKGROUND State and federal law requires an employer to conduct a prompt, thorough, and independent administrative investigation wherever there is a complaint of harassment, discrimination, and/or retaliation. This is also required under City of Fresno's Administrative Order 2-16. Legally sufficient investigations require extensive training and mastery of rights of all parties. Such expertise often requires years of experience and/or specialized training. In order to meet the City's legal obligations, the City Attorney's Office created the Special Assistant City Attorney position to bring a qualified legal investigator in house (rather than retaining outside counsel), available to handle complex investigations that incur significant legal risk of future litigation. Requests for investigations are numerous and the incumbent is working at maximum capacity. When a suitable investigator cannot be found internally, the City is required to hire outside consultants to perform these investigations and meet legal requirements. This comes at significant expense to the City. The City Attorney's Office currently has one City Attorney Investigator, who performs both Code Enforcement and personnel investigations as needed. The Senior City Attorney Investigator will be able to perform more complex personnel investigations for all departments and the City Attorney's Office. This proposed job class requires incumbents to have the ability to perform advanced and complex analytical investigations and have technical knowledge, initiative, discretion, and independent judgment. The Senior City Attorney Investigator will be an exempt from overtime, unrepresented, job classification in Unit 2 - Non-Represented Management and Confidential Classes. The City Attorney Investigator classification is also a Unit 2 member. The Senior City Attorney Investigator will be assigned primarily to the Chief Assistant City Attorney over Litigation, who currently oversees the City Attorney's Office's internal personnel investigator to ensure consistency. The pay range for the proposed classification is the E8 Executive Pay Range of $7,537 - $10,364 per month, which is equivalent to the Senior Human Resources/Risk Analyst classification, which is also an unrepresented exempt job classification. The City provided notice to all bargaining units regarding the Senior City Attorney Investigator classification. ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS By the definition provided in the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines Section 15378 this item does not qualify as a "project" and is therefore exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act requirements. LOCAL PREFERENCE Local preference is not implicated because this item does not involve public contracting or bidding with the City of Fresno. FISCAL IMPACT The City Attorney's Office salary savings from other positions will cover the expenses of this position. Attachments: Resolution - Sixth Amendment to FY 2023 Salary Resolution No. 2022-152 Exhibit 2, Unit 2 Salary Tables - Redline Exhibit 2, Unit 2 Salary Tables - Final