Palmer weighing nepotism rule

March 10, 2006

DAWN DE BUSK\Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - A brilliant round-cut diamond engagement ring adorned a finger of Tanya Alston's left hand as she sat by her fiancé in Palmer City Council chambers during a recent meeting. Although Alston is looking forward to her November wedding date, the fulfillment of her ring's promise will spell the end of her job with the city.

Alston works as an administrative assistant to the Palmer Police Department's chief. Her betrothed, Lt. Shayne LaCroix, serves as a police officer with that department. Both report to Lt. Tom Remaley. Therefore, according to the city's nepotism law, they cannot be married and still work in their current positions with the same supervisor.

The Palmer City Council on Feb. 28 voted to ask the city attorney to rewrite the nepotism rule to allow a little more leeway for city employees who work in the same department and live in the same house. City council members Jim Wood and Larry Hill introduced the memorandum.

The rule prevents unrelated people who live under the same roof as well as any family members from being employed in the same department, and is not specific to only supervisory roles, Wood said.

Council member Tony Pippel clarified that the rewording would not be for one specific situation, but to create an ordinance that was more fair toward all city employees.

Already, the nepotism rule has altered some of Alston and LaCroix's plans.

To prepare for the loss of income, the couple purchased a home a year earlier than previously planned and moved in together, Alston said. They decided Alston would give her notice because it would be more difficult for LaCroix to find a position with another police department, Alston said.

Because they were both hired prior to Oct. 12, 2004, they have grandfather rights over a law that was later added to the books, which says that anyone living in the same house for more than 60 days may not work in the same department or hold jobs in which one person is supervised by another.

&#8220It's OK for us to ‘live in sin' but not to get married,” she said. &#8220You should read that nepotism law. It's really strict. The rule is archaic.”

Wood agreed, saying the city should return to the original reason nepotism laws came into existence - so the boss couldn't hire family members to fill all the choice positions regardless of their qualifications.

&#8220The ordinance we have now is overly restrictive. It's more restrictive than the state's law,” Wood said. &#8220It restricts two people from working in the same department if they've lived together for 60 days or more. I don't know where that came from.”

If something happened and a natural disaster occurred, Wood said, forcing Palmer to set up temporary housing for people, all the city employees bunked together for more than two months would be breaking the city's ordinance.

Palmer's nepotism ruling prevents established police officers or firefighters from helping their sons launch a career in those fields, Wood said. &#8220This ruling would diminish a cornerstone of American employment,” he said.

Wood said he was aware of LaCroix and Alston's plight only peripherally, but the ordinance came to his attention when the council was reworking the personnel regulations.

&#8220It's always been something that needed to be attended to,” he said. &#8220By and large, it discourages the city's ability to hire the best.”

Council member Brad Hanson said during a recent meeting that he sees some advantages to couples working in the same department.

&#8220Nepotism serves to more fully have a management staff that is more responsive to one another,” Hanson said. &#8220Say the chief of police and the public works director were married and reported to the city manager. They would make a good management team.”

City manager Tom Healy said that was an unusual situation he would avoid.

City Attorney Jack Snodgrass said the ordinance could be rewritten to forbid department heads from being married to each other. Snodgrass will have a completed rewriting of the ordinance to present to the council during a work session at 6 p.m. on March 28.

&#8220The way the law stands, it's broken and it needs fixing,” Mayor John Combs said.

Contact Dawn De Busk at 352-2252 or dawn.debusk@frontiersman.com.