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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-24-08 Public Services Committee MinutesDublin City Council PUBLIC SERVICES COMMITTEE Monday, November 24, 2008 Council Chambers — 5:00 p.m. Minutes of Meeting Committee Members Mr. Reiner, Chair, Mr.Keenan, Mr. Gerber Staff members Mr. Harding, Lt. VonEckartsberg, Mr. Somerville, Ms. Puskarcik, Mr. Harding, Ms. Nardecchia, Ms. Crandall Also present David Ball, Schottenstein, Zox & Dunn Mr. Reiner called the meeting to order at 5:10 p.m. He stated that the goal tonight is to review the report regarding the pilot program for the Sexual Offender Background Check program. The pilot program was used by staff during the Spooktacular event on October 16. He thanked staff for compiling the information in a short time frame and for developing a policy that would meet the expectations of the community. Ms. Puskarcik presented a staff overview. For Spooktacular, 388 names were forwarded to Police for sexual offender background check. Of those, no sexual offenders were identified. The staff memo provides a list of follow -up questions related to the different groups participating in the event. The results indicated that there were some groups for which they have a better "grasp" than others. No one was offended by the program. There were some questions from the media, such as: If it were a non - gated event, how could the City prevent anyone from attending it? It is also easy to access a gated event. Even though background checks are conducted on individuals working an event, the majority of the attendees do not go through a similar process. Ms. Puskarcik stated that staff has three recommendations: one involving employees, a second regarding volunteers and a third regarding everyone else associated with staging the event. Recommendation #1 re. Employees Mr. Harding stated that Ms. Puskarcik has suggested that the City conduct annual sexual offender background checks on all employees That would be more efficient than conducting them on an event basis. One issue involved with that would be the Fair Credit Reporting Act which governs consumer reports, and this would be regarded as a consumer report. Mr. Ball, Schottenstein, Zox & Dunn, has researched the topic for the City. His recommendation is that if the City does decide to conduct the annual background checks, that those be conducted through the Police division. If those are done by the City itself, and not by a third party, the City won't need to comply with the Fair Crediting Reporting Act. If Human Resources (HR) conducted the background check, they would need to use the Open Online database, which is a third party that collects the data from law enforcement agencies and court systems. In compliance with the Act, HR would be required to obtain the consent of all the employees being checked. When the Fair Credit Reporting Act was enacted, Human Resources immediately pursued compliance. They have obtained all the appropriate Public Services Committee November 24, 2008 Page 2 acknowledgement release forms from new employees, which gives the City the right throughout their tenure with the City to conduct these types of checks on them. However, for employees who were hired previous to that Act, the City would need to obtain consent forms. Mr. Gerber noted that whenever an individual's credit report is checked, it lowers their credit score. That would not make much sense for the City to do. Mr. Ball, Schottenstein, Zox & Dunn responded that there is a process that would avoid that occurrence. The City could check the Department of Justice National Sex Offender Registry. The Department of Justice is not viewed as a consumer reporting agency. It is viewed as a public information source that is open and accessible. No permission is required to access the government- sponsored website. Mr. Keenan inquired if that was the procedure followed by the City for the Spooktacular. Mr. Somerville responded that it is. Staff checked the National Sex Offender database. It is available to the public. It requires name, date of birth, cities and states lived in during the past 10 years. No Social Security number is needed. Mr. Reiner inquired if there was any problem with the Police conducting the checks. Mr. Somerville responded that there was not. Each check took approximately one minute. The system is designed to give near matches. The City was limited in the information they had, so it was necessary for the staff to conduct a visual, factual check. That step took an additional 5 — 10 minutes to complete. Mr. Keenan inquired the cost. Mr. Somerville responded that there was no additional cost, only staff time. Third shift dispatchers conducted the checks. Mr. Keenan inquired if the City could be placed in a liability situation. Mr. Ball responded that the City would be in a better position if they systematically and comprehensively conduct a carefully planned checking process rather than no process. There could be allegations of unfairness, but this would be a very defensible approach. Mr. Somerville responded that he does not understand why the Police division would need to perform the annual background checks on employees. Mr. Ball responded that he recommended that to Mr. Harding. If the City were to outsource the task to third party companies to run the checks, that will place the City within the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Dublin City staff needs to conduct those background checks. Either the Police staff or civil staff can perform the checks. Mr. Harding responded that anyone who has access to that site could perform the checks. Mr. Somerville responded that any member of the public has access. Mr. Harding stated HR has been using the Open Online for background checks for new employees, but they could change that to the other source. Public Services Committee November 24, 2008 Page 3 Ms. Puskarcik stated that it was her understanding from the previous Committee discussion that the Committee wanted the Division of Police to perform the checks due to the credibility factor. Mr. Reiner inquired if that would pose a difficulty for the third shift dispatchers. How many employees would they be running a check on? Mr. Harding responded that it would be approximately 750 employees. Mr. Somerville responded that they could accommodate it. Creating a spreadsheet with employee names and needed information would be time consuming. If HR could prepare that and forward it to Police, they would only need to perform the checks and send it back to HR. Mr. Harding responded that HR could do that. Mr. Reiner inquired if it would be an imposition for Police to do the checks. Mr. Somerville responded that it took some significant creativity to do the "rule outs" for the volunteers. With the City employees, they would have more information to use for the "rule out." Mr. Keenan inquired how much more information they could obtain without falling into the Fair Credit Act area. The City could probably obtain any information needed regarding its employees, but it could be "treading a fine line." Mr. Ball responded that as long as the City is obtaining the information from government sponsored databases that are intended for public use, that should not be a problem. He is not sure what else is available. Mr. Keenan inquired what information is available for public use from the employee database. There have been some recent court cases regarding this issue. Mr. Harding responded that not everything is considered accessible to the public, such as an employee's social security number. Mr. Keenan inquired if addresses of employees are considered public information. Mr. Ball responded that Police officers' addresses are not public information. Mr. Keenan responded that for students, he believes that the courts ruled that schools could release the addresses of all students. Mr. Harding responded that he believes the employee database, including addresses, could be used by anyone to perform the background checks. Mr. Keenan stated that the addresses of Police officers would not be available. Mr. Somerville responded that the Police Division conducts background checks on its employees and a complete background check every two years on any Police employee who accesses criminal justice data. That requirement is changing to every year. Public Services Committee November 24, 2008 Page 4 Recommendation #2 — Volunteers Ms. Puskarcik stated that the process for volunteers would be the same as that used for employees. Ms. Nardecchia stated that staff would require that the annual check be conducted on any volunteer working on any program within the City. Checks are currently conducted on any volunteer who will serve in an unsupervised capacity around vulnerable populations, but staff has not historically conducted them on the one -time, four -hour volunteer. Ms. Crandall stated that the City has over 3,000 active volunteers at any point in time. That is a difficult number for the Police division to review annually. She would suggest that Volunteer Services conduct the background checks when the individuals apply to serve. They could also perform the annual check on all volunteers. Ms. Nardecchia stated that they believe they could handle the background checks administratively. Mr. Keenan suggested that it might be easier for the Police staff to do it if they conducted them by date of birth. That would enable the Police staff to spread the background checks out over 12 months -- employee, volunteer or whatever. Mr. Somerville stated that he would rather have a list at the first of the month and have a month to have the background checks completed. Currently, this task is housed with the Dispatching Unit, and their completion of the task is predicated on their "down" time. There may be some days in which the task cannot be performed. On other days, there may be time to do several checks. He would not want to hold up the volunteers' ability to serve. Ms. Puskarcik stated that the process for volunteers would be identical to that for employees. Recommendation #3 — All other participants Ms. Puskarcik stated that this covers any participant involved in a festival. Some of these individuals may be from outside the United States. The recommendation is that everyone else associated with the event be required to sign a professional services agreement, with language modeled after that used in a similar Fort Worth professional services agreement. In addition to that, the City would also make available sexual offender checks for any participating organizations. Some organizations are already conducting such checks, but Dublin could offer them the resource. This will cover anyone on City grounds in an official capacity. Public Services Committee November 24, 2008 Page 5 Mr. Gerber inquired about a scenario in which the vendor provides a substitute for the original person checked. Could an ID card or wristband be used to verify the person has been checked? Ms. Puskarcik responded that would create a situation of liability, and it doesn't work. Although an individual has applied and been checked, that doesn't necessarily mean that is the person who will be on site. Lt. VonEckartsberg stated that the background check that Police will be conducting on employees and volunteers is limited to the sexual offender check. Looking at the sample language provided, does the City intend to hold them to a different standard? Ms. Puskarcik responded that it is not the case. It is the language used by another community for their situation. Dublin's Legal Department is developing language that reflects sexual offender checks for festival participants. The professional services agreement will be reviewed annually, and it will be determined then if the language will suffice or be modified. Once approved, that will be the template used for all events that year. However, this process will only be as good as those who comply with it. Even an identified sexual offender cannot be refused admittance to an event. Lt. VonEckartsberg responded that is correct. The City can refuse them admittance only if the individual does something specific that day to justify removal from the event. Mr. Keenan inquired if there should be spot checks of booths, stages and dressing rooms, in particular. The trailers parked on the periphery of the Irish Festival could be a potential problem. A sexual offense is more at risk of occurring in areas where adults are left alone with children. Ms. Puskarcik responded that situation has been discussed. The children dance troupes are supervised by parent volunteers. They are not participants of the City's volunteer program, so the City would not run a check on them. However, if the City has a professional contract with a dance company, the agreement will be that everyone that company has back stage has been background checked. In the controlled area of back stage, the City does have systems in place. It is more difficult on the festival grounds. Mr. Ball suggested that language also be added to the contract to the effect that, "The Professional agrees to abide by the 'two adult rule. "' Mr. Keenan responded that he prefers that language be used. Mr. Keenan suggested that when the City announces this policy, it would be advisable to let the community know that the City is attempting to do whatever possible to safeguard festival attendees, but emphasize that the City cannot turn away an attendee on the basis that they have been convicted of some crime in the past. Lt. Von Eckartsberg agreed. The public information should share what the City is doing and remind everyone of their own parental responsibilities. Public Services Committee November 24, 2008 Page 6 Ms. Puskarcik stated that one point in the City's communication to the public would be that this is a shared responsibility. The process is only as good as everyone's contribution to it. Mr. Keenan moved to direct staff to develop a recommendation for Council action at the December Council meeting regarding the three sub groups — employee, volunteers and all other participants in staging the event. Mr. Gerber seconded the motion: Vote on the motion Mr. Keenan, yes; Mr. Reiner, yes; Mr. Gerber, yes. Mr. Reiner adjourned the meeting at 5:37 p.m. Clerk of Council