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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,February 9, 2015 Page 28 Councilmember Etten questioned what advantages or abilities the Cadet position provided versus the CSO position in finding minority candidates. Chief Mathwig advised that the Cadet position could identify community leaders among minority groups through their interaction with those cultures and those po- tentially interested in the law enforcement field, made easier by having those dis- cussions with someone they considered more of an equal especially when many of those cultures come from a background that had a negative view of law enforce- ment and needed a changed mindset beyond that provided from their previous ex- periences. Chief Mathwig admitted that this would not happen immediately, but take time and effort to change viewpoints from one-on-one contacts. Councilmember Etten questioned why the current CSO position was not or could not be just as effective. Chief Mathwig responded that the CSO day-to-day responsibilities and positions were already packed and they were not able to dedicate sufficient time to address those diversity needs. Councilmember McGehee shared the concerns raised by Councilmember Etten, opining that to her it seemed to be more of a scheduling issue, and if an additional CSO position was needed, Chief Mathwig should seek approval for such a posi- tion rather than creating a new Cadet position. Councilmember McGehee further opined that efforts should be made to hire all CSO's to be language competent in an additional and applicable language, and be available for the community to be- come familiar with them as the face of law enforcement, and not simply pigeon- holed into their role as a CSO. Referencing another concern she had with packet materials on this item and simi- lar job descriptions, Councilmember McGehee noted her phone contact with Chief Mathwig and Human Resources Manager Eldona Bacon and clarification that the Cadet position was not actually considered "exempt," but was a typo- graphical error and the Cadet and CSO positions were both "non-exempt" posi- tions. Since both positions were part time, and did not receive benefits, Coun- cilmember McGehee questioned why the Cadet position would be eligible for tui- tion reimbursement and suggested the need for the Police Department to consult further with Human Resources to address this issue. Councilmember McGehee opined that, if this position was eligible for tuition reimbursement, other part-time positions should also be eligible. Councilmember McGehee opined that, from her review and understanding in consultation with the Human Resource Manager, the CSO and Cadet positions had identical job descriptions other than hiring require- ments for additional language abilities and the ability to assign additional duties to the Cadet position as suited. Councilmember McGehee opined that, if the Police Department did not have sufficient CSO's, they should ask for another CSO posi- tion.