LIMA — Lima City Council will consider a change to the city’s strength ordinance, the regulation which sets the guidelines for city employment and hiring, during its regular meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at the Lima Municipal Building downtown.
The proposed change is prompted by a request from Lima Municipal Court concerning the size of its staff.
“The Lima Municipal Court is requesting Council approve a change in the strength ordinance for court security officers to six full-time positions,” Municipal Court Administrator Lisa Deters wrote in a letter to the council. “While not all six positions may be utilized, this will further enhance our abilities in the future.”
Deters said the court’s intention is to use security officers both as security and as court bailiffs, as needed.
“It should be noted the Chief Bailiff will retire at the end of August 2017,” she continued in her letter. “The Lima Municipal Court Administrator will then assume this role in addition to her current position.”
Deters also said the court is not requesting any increase to its portion of the city’s general fund budget. Last year, the court’s chief security officer, Gary Dilworth, earned just more than $25,000 in pay.
In addition, the council will consider a new rule the Civil Service Board recently approved in which the board president could perform the duties of the board secretary should the secretary be unable to perform such duties, including accepting job applications and administering the civil service exam. The secretary, Lima attorney Andy King, is unavailable to perform those duties, according to board president Debra Vobbe.
