TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Philippe Eskandar, City Manager
BY: Lizette Guerrero, Human Resources Director
DATE: September 10, 2025
SUBJECT: ADOPTION OF REVISIONS TO THE CITY’S PERSONNEL
RULES AND REGULATIONS; ADOPTION OF HARASSMENT,
DISCRIMINATION, AND RETALIATION PREVENTION
POLICY; APPROVAL OF A SIDE LETTER OF AGREEMENT
WITH THE SAN MARINO CITY FIREFIGHTERS’
ASSOCIATION LOCAL 3626 (“FFA”) TO ESTABLISH
DISCIPLINE APPEAL PROCEDURES; AND FIRST READING
OF ORDINANCE NO. O-25-1422, AN ORDINANCE OF THE
SAN MARINO CITY COUNCIL AMENDING SECTION 2.05.1
OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE TO RESTATE EXEMPT FROM THE
CITY’S CLASSIFIED SERVICE
STRATEGIC PLAN CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
Efficient, Responsive, and Effective City Services
Fiscally Responsible and Transparent City Government
BACKGROUND
The City of San Marino’s (“City”) Personnel Rules and Regulations (“Rules”) have not been revised in many years. Since then, there have been various revisions and additions to the laws that apply to California employers. Although the City maintains several standalone policies addressing key aspects of employment laws, the City’s Rules required significant revisions to bring into compliance. The current Rules also include corresponding introductory sections that mirror the substantive sections. The introductory sections provide background information about the substantive sections. Such introductory sections crowd the Rules and make determining the controlling Gretchen Shepherd Romey, Mayor
Tony Chou, Vice Mayor
Hunter Chang, Council Member
John Chou, Council Member
Calvin Lo, Council Member
provisions difficult. The proposed overhaul revamps the entire Rules document and will implement pertinent new laws and will clarify various sections of the Rules to better protect the City and its employees.
Concurrently, the City also extracted certain personnel policies from the Rules document to maintain as stand-alone documents. This approach allows the City to easily revise policies in the future without necessitating another review of the Rules document at this scale. Further, the proposed stand-alone policies cover topics that frequently undergo changes in the law, including Harassment, Discrimination, and Retaliation Prevention Policy. While the City Manager has authority to adopt the majority of the new stand-alone policies, the Harassment, Discrimination, and Retaliation policy requires City Council approval since it is applicable to City Council.
In addition, the City of San Marino’s (“City”) Municipal Code does not provide which employees are exempt from the City’s Classified Service. However, the City has been, as a matter of past and present practice, excluding certain individuals from the Classified service according to the City’s current Personnel Rules and Regulations definition regarding the Classified Service. Ordinance No. O-25-1422 (Attachment 3) will amend the Municipal Code by adding subsection “E” to section 2.05.01 to memorialize in writing in the Municipal Code which offices, positions, and employments in the service of the City have been and are currently exempt from the Classified Service.
DISCUSSION
PERSONNEL RULES AND REGULATIONS
Staff has worked closely with City Attorney Office’s labor and employment attorneys to review and provide the new set of Rules. For clarity, the new Rules have been restated to incorporate some of the previous provisions and substantially expanded as required by law, the new set of Rules is a comprehensive document (Attachment 1, “Exhibit A”). A Revision Summary Chart for the new Rules (“Chart”) was prepared to provide a comprehensive overview of the key changes to the Rules (Attachment 2).
The City and bargaining units have met and conferred over the proposed new set of Rules.
Side Letter of Agreement between the Fire Fighter's Association (“FFA”) and the City of San Marino (“City”)
On May 31, 2024, the City Council adopted the July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2027, Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with the San Marino City Firefighters’ Association Local 3626 (“FFA”). Pursuant to the provisions of the MeyersMilias-Brown Act, the City is entering into a Side Letter Agreement (“Agreement”) to establish discipline appeal procedures for Firefighters (Attachment 4). Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, employees are subject to Rule XX “Discipline,” as provided in the City of San Marino Personnel Rules and Regulation, in relation to disciplinary matters. These procedures set forth in this Agreement are adopted pursuant to Government Code section 3254.5 of the Firefighter’s Procedural Bill of Rights Act. These procedures apply to Firefighters that are employed by the City who have completed their initial probationary period with the City. Probationary employees do not have rights to the procedures in this Agreement.
The City and the FFA have met and conferred in good faith concerning the terms and conditions of this Agreement and its implementation and now therefore agree to add article “XXVI, Discipline” to the MOU.
STAND-ALONE HARASSMENT, DISCRIMINATION, AND RETALIATION
PREVENTION POLICY
The City also wishes to adopt a Harassment, Discrimination, and Retaliation Prevention Policy (Attachment 1- “Exhibit B”). This policy provides staff with detailed implementation guidelines consistent with current state and federal laws regarding harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. This area of law periodically changes due to legislative action or court decisions regarding the same. Therefore, maintaining this policy in stand-alone format makes future revisions easier as it will not be tied to the main Rules document.
The City and bargaining units have met and conferred over the proposed new Harassment, Discrimination, and Retaliation Prevention Policy.
EXEMPTION FROM CLASSIFIED SERVICE
Currently, the City does not define which positions and offices are exempt from the Classified Service in its Municipal Code. Rather, the previous version for the Personnel Rules and Regulations stated that “All employees of the City of San Marino except those specified as unclassified or as management personnel” are in the City’s Classified Service. The new version of the Personnel Rules and Regulations, as adopted in Resolution No. R-25-24 (Attachment 1), provides clarity and specifically lists the positions and offices that are exempt from the Classified Service. This list does not change which positions and offices are exempt from the Classified Service, rather it is a mirror reflection of the City’s ongoing practice, consistent with the previous definition in its prior version of the Personnel Rules and Regulations regarding the same.
However, to avoid ambiguity and confusion while implementing the newly revised Rules and any future revisions to the Personnel Rules and Regulations, staff recommends revising the Municipal Code, Chapter II, Article 5, Section
2.05.01 to clearly outline, in the Municipal Code, which positions and offices have been and are currently exempt from the Classified Service.
Chapter II, Article 5, Section 2.05.01 is amended to add subsection “E” to read as follows;
“E. Classified Service means the offices, positions and employments in the service of the City except the following: 1) Elected and appointed officers; 2) Members of appointed boards, commissions and committees; 3) Persons engaged under
contract to supply expert, professional, or technical services for a definite period of time; 4) Volunteer personnel; 5) City Manager; 6) City Attorney; 7) Department Heads; and 8) Employees serving in hourly, temporary, provisional, part-time, or seasonal appointments.”
To best ensure clarity regarding which offices, positions, and employments are exempt from the Classified Service, staff recommends City Council adopt Ordinance No. O-25-1422 (Attachment 3).
FISCAL IMPACT & PROCUREMENT REVIEW
None.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney's office has reviewed and approved as to form.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the Council 1) adopt Resolution No. R-25-24, adopting revised Personnel Rules and Regulations and adopting a Harassment, Discrimination, and Retaliation Policy, 2) approve the Side Letter of Agreement with the San Marino City Firefighters’ Association Local 3626 (“FFA”) to establish discipline appeal procedures, and 3) introduce for first reading Ordinance No. O-25-1422. If the City Council concurs with staff’s recommendation, an appropriate motion would be:
“I move to 1) adopt Resolution No. R-25-24, adopting revised Personnel Rules and Regulations and adopting a Harassment, Discrimination, and Retaliation Policy, 2) approve the Side Letter of Agreement with the San Marino City Firefighters’ Association Local 3626 (“FFA”) to establish discipline appeal procedures, and 3) to waive full reading and introduce by title only Ordinance No. O-25-1422, an Ordinance of the San Marino City Council amending Section
2.05.1 of the Municipal Code to restate exempt from the City’s Classified Service.”
ATTACHMENTS
1. Draft Resolution No. R-25-24, adopting revised Personnel Rules and Regulations and adopting a Harassment, Discrimination, and Retaliation Prevention Policy
2. Revision Summary Chart for New Personnel Rules and Regs
3. Draft Ordinance No. O-25-1422, amending Section 2.05.01 of the Municipal Code
4. Side Letter of Agreement between the Fire Fighter's Association (“FFA”) and the City of San Marino (“City”)