ZOOM MEETINGS
	General Government Employees Wednesday, April 29, 2020 2 p.m.
	Knoxville Police Department Wednesday, May 6, 2020 1 p.m.
	Knoxville Fire Department Friday, May 15, 2020 2 p.m.

Mayor Indya Kincannon will be meeting via Zoom with groups of City employees to discuss her proposal to enhance human resources services while simultaneously strengthening the Civil Service merit system.

The sessions, which will include opportunities for any and all City employees to ask the Mayor questions or comment on the proposal, will be streamed live by Community Television of Knoxville.

The proposal to re-establish a Human Resources Department and separate HR duties from the Civil Service system will come before City Council for a vote in June. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the need to adhere to social-distancing protocols for months to come, discussions on the ordinance had to be scheduled to take place remotely.

City Council on April 16, 2020 met remotely via Zoom in a workshop on the proposed re-establishment of a Human Resources Department.

The first of three Zoom dialogues between Mayor Kincannon and employees has been scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 29, 2020, and it is for the City’s non-uniformed general government employees. Separate discussions will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday, May 6, 2020 (Knoxville Police Department) and at 2 pm. Friday, May 15, 2020 (Knoxville Fire Department).

Employees have been given instructions on how to participate in a Zoom meeting if they wish to pose questions or make statements.

However, all employees – as well as media and the general public – can watch the discussion by either accessing CTV’s website (www.ctvknox.org) or by watching CTV on their cable TV channel:

• Xfinity (Comcast) – Channel 12
• Charter (Spectrum) – Channel 193
• WOW! (Knology) – Channel 6
• AT&T U-verse – Channel 99
   
The City’s former personnel department was combined with the Civil Service merit system in the 1980s for budgetary reasons. The aim in returning to a separate HR Department is to improve the City’s recruitment and retention of talent and to enhance employee and supervisor growth through training and career development services. The discussion on re-establishing a Human Resources Department began under former Mayor Madeline Rogero.

Restoring the City’s HR functions to its own department, Kincannon has said, would also enable the Civil Service staff to focus on their core mission – assuring that personnel actions continue to be made solely on the basis of merit.