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COVID-19 Vaccination Incentive for City of Dubuque Employees_PULLED Copyrig hted February 1, 2021 City of Dubuque Action Items # 1. City Council Meeting ITEM TITLE: COVID-19 Vaccination IncentiveforCityof Dubuque Employees SUMMARY: City Managertransmitting information regarding an incentive for City employees to get the COV I D-19 vaccine. SUGGESTED Suggested Disposition: Receive and File DISPOSITION: ATTACHMENTS: Description Type COVID-19 Incentive Memo-MVM Memo City Manager Memo COVID-19 Incentive Memo Staff Memo Dubuque THE CITY OF � ui-Aseria cih DuB E , . � . , � II � Maste iece on tj2e Mississi i zoo�•zoiz•zois YP pp zoi�*zoi9 TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager SUBJECT: COVID-19 Vaccination Incentive for City of Dubuque Employees DATE: January 28, 2021 Human Resources Manager Shelley Stickfort recommended to me and, since it is within the authority of the City Manager, I approved an incentive for City employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine. A side benefit is that by giving employees gift certificates instead of cash payments, this incentive will also provide assistance to local restaurants and not- for-profits. Public Health Officials advise that the best protection from COVID-19 and stopping the pandemic is using all the tools available to address the spread of the disease. One of these important tools is vaccination. The efficacy rates of the current vaccines are so high that getting vaccinated has a very high probability of preventing those vaccinated from being infected with COVID-19. COVID-19 can have serious, life-threatening complications for those infected. In addition, infected individuals could spread the disease to friends, family, co-workers, and others in the community. For these reasons, the City of Dubuque strongly encourages each of its employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. While the City is not mandating the vaccine for City staff, it believes that all employees who can be vaccinated should get vaccinated when it is their turn. In furtherance of encouraging City staff to get vaccinated against COVID-19 when it is their turn, the City is offering an Employee Vaccination Incentive Program. City of Dubuque employees who receive and complete the COVID-19 vaccination and submit documentation of such will be eligible for one of the following: 1. $100 Gift Certificate from a local restaurant of the employee's choice and selected from a list of restaurants prepared by the City; 2. $100 Gift Certificate from a local not-for-profit organization from a list of not-for- profit organizations prepared by the City; or 3. Elect that a $100 donation be made in the employee's name to a not-for-profit organization of the employee's choice. The not-for-profit organization must have a Dubuque chapter, service presence, and address. The City of Dubuque employs approximately 750 individuals, when including full-time, part-time, and temporary staff. Funding of the $75,000 cost for the vaccination incentive is available from the additional local option sales tax revenue that has been received in excess of FY21 budget projections. Specifically, the local option sales tax reconciliation payment received from the State of lowa in November is sufficient to fund the vaccination incentive. � Mic ael C. Van Milligen MCVM:jh Attachment cc: Crenna Brumwell, City Attorney Cori Burbach, Assistant City Manager Shelley Stickfort, Human Resource Director Mary Rose Corrigan, Public Health Specialist 2 Dubuque Human Resources Department THE CITY OF � City Hall 50 West 13th Street All•AmericaCity Dubuque,IA 52001-4805 �.��,��,���:���,u,�,�_ U� �""'� � � ��� Office(563)589-4125 LJ � � Fax(563)690-6025 TTY(563)690-6678 2007*2012+2013 humanresources@cityofdubuque.org Masterpiece on the Mississippi 2017*2019 www.cityofdubuque.org TO: Mike Van Milligen, City Manager FROM: Shelley Stickfort, Director of Human Resources DATE: January 27, 2021 RE: COVID-19 Vaccination Incentive for City of Dubuque Employees BACKGROUND Public Health Officials advise that the best protection from COVID-19 and stopping the pandemic is using all the tools available to address the spread of the disease. One of these important tools is vaccination. The efficacy rates of the current vaccines are so high that getting vaccinated has a very high probability of preventing those vaccinated from being infected with COVID-19. COVID-19 can have serious, life-threatening complications far those infected. In addition, infected individuals could spread the disease to friends, family, co-workers, and others in the community. Far these reasons, the City of Dubuque strongly encourages each of its employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. While the City is not mandating the vaccine for City staff, it believes that all employees who can be vaccinated should get vaccinated when it is their turn. EMPLOYEE VACCINATION 1NCENTIVE In furtherance of encouraging City staff to get vaccinated against COVID-19 when it is their turn, the City is offering an Employee Vaccination Incentive Program. City of Dubuque employees who receive and complete the COVID-19 vaccination and submit documentation of such will be eligible for one of the following: 1. $100 Gift Certificate from a local restaurant of the employee's choice and selected from a list of restaurants prepared by the City; 2. $100 Gift Certificate from a local not-for-profit organization from a list of not-for-profit organizations prepared by the City; or 3. Elect that a $100 donation be made in the employee's name to a not-for-profit arganization of the employee's choice. The not-for-profit organization must have a Dubuque chapter, service presence, and address. Service People Integrity Responsibility Innovation Teamwork COST and FUNDING The City of Dubuque employs approximately 750 individuals, when including full-time, part- time, and temporary staf£ Funding of the $75,000 cost for the vaccination incentive is available from the additional local option sales tax revenue that has been received in excess of FY21 budget projections. Specifically, the local option sales taX reconciliation payment received in November is sufficient to fund the vaccination incentive. Service People Integrity Responsibility Innovation Teamwork 1 Adrienne Breitfelder From:Roy D. Buol Sent:Saturday, January 30, 2021 10:37 AM To:Mike Van Milligen; Adrienne Breitfelder Subject:Fwd: 100 incentive FYI Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: From: biddy62 <biddy62@aol.com> Date: January 30, 2021 at 10:13:47 AM CST To: "Roy D. Buol" <rdbuol@cityofdubuque.org> Subject: 100 incentive My name is Shirley Ramstedt, I live at 1824 Keymont Court. I am writing you this email in regard to the hundred dollar incentive you want to give to city staff if they agree to get the Covid vaccine. I have never ever heard of such a crazy idea. Why do we have to pay staff to get the Covid vaccine. They are adults and they should make their own decision about this and not be bribed by our city fathers and that is what it sounds like to me. I will be 85 in March. Thankfully I am in good health and of sound mind. I am going to get the Covid vaccine when it is available to me. It’s my choice. No one should pay anyone to get a shot. I don’t care where this comes out of the budget for the city, it is a terrible decision. What are you people thinking? I am 100% against this. Sent from the all new Aol app for iOS Click here to report this email as spam. 2 Adrienne Breitfelder From:Citizen Support Center <dubuqueia@mycusthelp.net> Sent:Saturday, January 30, 2021 11:12 AM To:Adrienne Breitfelder Subject:"Contact Us" inquiry from City of Dubuque website Contact Us Name: Erin Sandman Address: 2831 DANLIN CT Ward: 1 Phone: 563-599-7707 Email: assistant@davesandman.com City Department: City Council Message: I think the $100 bonus incentive, at a cost of $75,000, for city employees to get the vaccine is ridiculous!. I don't believe this is a good use of our tax dollars. If they don't want to get the vaccine then they are taking their own health into their own hands and if they infect others who don't want the vaccine then again that is on them for not getting the vaccine. And if they get sick and have to be out of work with no pay, again on them. You don't even know if most of them are willing to take it or not. Maybe do some research before making a decision costing that much!! Click here to report this email as spam. 3 Adrienne Breitfelder From:Mike Van Milligen Sent:Saturday, January 30, 2021 11:16 AM To:biddy62@aol.com Subject:100 incentive Dear Ms. Ramstedt, Thank you for expressing your opinion about the city employee incentive to get a COVID Vaccine. I believe it is the right thing to do to encourage the practice, but I understand that you do not. I would ask you to consider two other points and maybe that makes you feel more comfortable with the payment. Hundreds of city employees have risked their own personal safety and the health of their families by working the front lines of this pandemic providing service to residents each and every day. Maybe you could consider this a reward instead of an incentive. If that does not make you feel more comfortable I would ask you to think of one more thing. The employees are not actually receiving $100 in cash. They are being issued gift certificates to a locally owned restaurant or a not-for-profit that serves the community (and if the employee does not want the gift certificate they can just direct the money to be donated to a not-for-profit), so the actual beneficiaries of this money are the local restaurants and organizations who have struggled during this pandemic. In fact, I am hoping this idea catches on with businesses in Dubuque and these locally owned restaurants and not-for-profits will be the beneficiary of much more then the $75,000 from the city. Mike Michael C. Van Milligen City Manager City of Dubuque 50 West 13th Street Dubuque, IA 52001 Telephone: 563-589-4110 Fax: 563-589-4149 www.cityofdubuque.org Dubuque: Masterpiece on the Mississippi Before printing this e-mail, please determine if it is truly necessary From: biddy62 <biddy62@aol.com> Date: January 30, 2021 at 10:13:47 AM CST Subject: 100 incentive My name is Shirley Ramstedt, I live at 1824 Keymont Court. I am writing you this email in regard to the hundred dollar incentive you want to give to city staff if they agree to get the Covid vaccine. I have never ever heard of such a crazy idea. Why do we have to pay staff to get the Covid vaccine. They are adults and they should make their own decision about this and not be bribed by our city fathers and that is what it sounds like to me. I will be 85 in March. Thankfully I am in good health and of sound mind. I am going to get the Covid vaccine when it is available to me. It’s my choice. No one should pay anyone to get a shot. I don’t care where this comes out of the budget for the city, it is a terrible decision. What are you people thinking? I am 100% against this. 4 Adrienne Breitfelder From:Mike Van Milligen Sent:Saturday, January 30, 2021 11:24 AM To:assistant@davesandman.com Subject:Incentive for COVID Vaccine Mr. Sandman, Thank you for expressing your opinion about the city employee incentive to get a COVID Vaccine. I believe it is the right thing to do to encourage the practice, but I understand that you do not. I would ask you to consider two other points and maybe that makes you feel more comfortable with the payment. Hundreds of city employees have risked their own personal safety and the health of their families by working the front lines of this pandemic providing service to residents each and every day. Maybe you could consider this a reward instead of an incentive. If that does not make you feel more comfortable I would ask you to think of one more thing. The employees are not actually receiving $100 in cash. They are being issued gift certificates to a locally owned restaurant or a not-for-profit that serves the community (and if the employee does not want the gift certificate they can just direct the money to be donated to a not-for-profit), so the actual beneficiaries of this money are the local restaurants and organizations who have struggled during this pandemic. In fact, I am hoping this idea catches on with businesses in Dubuque and these locally owned restaurants and not-for-profits will be the beneficiary of much more then the $75,000 from the city. Mike Michael C. Van Milligen City Manager City of Dubuque 50 West 13th Street Dubuque, IA 52001 Telephone: 563-589-4110 Fax: 563-589-4149 www.cityofdubuque.org Dubuque: Masterpiece on the Mississippi Before printing this e-mail, please determine if it is truly necessary Name: Erin Sandman Address: 2831 DANLIN CT Ward: 1 Phone: 563-599-7707 Email: assistant@davesandman.com City Department: City Council 5 Message: I think the $100 bonus incentive, at a cost of $75,000, for city employees to get the vaccine is ridiculous!. I don't believe this is a good use of our tax dollars. If they don't want to get the vaccine then they are taking their own health into their own hands and if they infect others who don't want the vaccine then again that is on them for not getting the vaccine. And if they get sick and have to be out of work with no pay, again on them. You don't even know if most of them are willing to take it or not. Maybe do some research before making a decision costing that much!! 6 Adrienne Breitfelder From:Roy D. Buol Sent:Saturday, January 30, 2021 12:30 PM To:Mike Van Milligen; Adrienne Breitfelder Subject:Fwd: $100 gift card Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: From: Michelle Freisinger <mickbe55@icloud.com> Date: January 30, 2021 at 12:00:37 PM CST To: "Roy D. Buol" <rdbuol@cityofdubuque.org> Subject: $100 gift card I read with total disbelief the proposal of offering the city employees a $100 gift card for getting g the COVID vaccine. That is the most ridiculous idea I have ever heard of. I believe we live in America and have the the choice whether or not to receive the vaccine. Personal choice whatever the reason and then to use taxpayer money for it is unconscionable the money is coming from sales tax excess why not use it for things that will benefit the city as a whole not just a few. As for the city council person stated the employees cannot receive bonus and have done a wonderful job during the pandemic etc etc. well Mr.Mayor I don’t feel we need to reward people for doing their job. The city did what they could to keep our employees safe some worked remotely some in the office most of the offices were closed to the public so I don’t understand why we feel the need to do this at all. I do not know of your position is on this but this is mine. Thank you for your time I appreciate it Have a good day! Michelle Freisinger 815 Harlan Street Dubuque Is 52001 Mickbe55@aol.com Sent from my iPhone Click https://www.mailcontrol.com/sr/e4Ww_hxC2NfGX2PQPOmvUtVTDJsKpCsgVSr0BeVt1juDvVjTqEMLWS5 9gJxWi1Y4HsssQ0hVddUeRLY-cWrx9g== to report this email as spam. 7 Adrienne Breitfelder From:Citizen Support Center <dubuqueia@mycusthelp.net> Sent:Saturday, January 30, 2021 1:06 PM To:Adrienne Breitfelder Subject:"Contact Us" inquiry from City of Dubuque website Contact Us Name: Mary Giesler Address: 2310 HIGH CLOUD DR Ward: 1 Phone: 563-583-8778 Email: mjgiesler2020@gmail.com City Department: City Council Message: Re: Paying staff to get vaccine. This is ridiculous. There are many people waiting and wanting the vaccine. No bonus are needed for city staff. They actually had jobs with wages. Consider the many people who have NO jobs. If the city has excess funds, lower some of our taxes and fees. Click here to report this email as spam. 8 Adrienne Breitfelder From:Citizen Support Center <dubuqueia@mycusthelp.net> Sent:Saturday, January 30, 2021 2:30 PM To:Adrienne Breitfelder Subject:"Contact Us" inquiry from City of Dubuque website Contact Us Name: jackie m crimmins Address: 2055 Bunker Hill Rd Ward: 2 Phone: 5635827949 Email: crimminsjackie@gmail.com City Department: City Council Message: Members, Please vote NO to giving city workers $ 100 in incentive for getting the vaccine...they should get the vaccine for the same reason others in the city get their"s , for the communitys good. No one else gets/needs this type of encouragement. In a nutshell its still taxpayers dollars Click here to report this email as spam. 9 Adrienne Breitfelder From:Citizen Support Center <dubuqueia@mycusthelp.net> Sent:Saturday, January 30, 2021 2:34 PM To:Adrienne Breitfelder Subject:"Contact Us" inquiry from City of Dubuque website Contact Us Name: Deanna Biedermann Address: 790 BOYER ST Ward: 3 Phone: 5635645450 Email: Dmbiede@mchsi.com City Department: City Council Message: To all Council Member, I am very concerned by the article appearing in today’s TH, Saturday, Jan 30, The article stated that the city may incentivize/ pay its employees $100 for getting the Covid vaccine. Really? We are sending our students back to packed classrooms and our teachers are NOT yet vaccinated. They report there will not be enough vaccine for months to vaccinate all the seniors in his First Phase . As a tax player I am concerned that $75,000 will be used to “motivate” these employees to get vaccinated while there are SO many waiting ( probably months) for this opportunity. NO INCENTIVES to get vaccinated. Please put a stop to this use of tax money !! Deanna Biedermann, a 70 senior, and a mother of a DCST teacher Click here to report this email as spam. 10 Adrienne Breitfelder From:Citizen Support Center <dubuqueia@mycusthelp.net> Sent:Sunday, January 31, 2021 8:02 AM To:Adrienne Breitfelder Subject:"Contact Us" inquiry from City of Dubuque website Contact Us Name: Jeanne M Woodyard Address: 1578 LUCY DR Ward: 1 Phone: 49735819709 Email: gknee12@gmail.com City Department: City Council Message: I strongly oppose the proposal to "reward" city employees for getting the Covid-19 vaccination. I do not want my tax dollars paying for this bribery scheme! As a voter, I will be following this closely. Click here to report this email as spam. 11 Adrienne Breitfelder From:Citizen Support Center <dubuqueia@mycusthelp.net> Sent:Sunday, January 31, 2021 8:44 AM To:Adrienne Breitfelder Subject:"Contact Us" inquiry from City of Dubuque website Contact Us Name: David M Soat Address: 2105 Embassy West Dr Ward: 1 Phone: 5635649674 Email: Davesoat@gmail.com City Department: City Council Message: As for the $100 payment incentive to encourage city staff to receive the covid-19 vaccine....if they're not smart enough to get it....they shouldn't be working for the city. What about paying ALL CITY RESIDENTS to receive the vaccine....no that's another great idea....NOT!! Another lesson in how to waste taxpayers money! Click here to report this email as spam. 12 Adrienne Breitfelder From:Citizen Support Center <dubuqueia@mycusthelp.net> Sent:Sunday, January 31, 2021 9:42 AM To:Adrienne Breitfelder Subject:"Contact Us" inquiry from City of Dubuque website Attachments:letter_to_council.docx Contact Us Name: Kathleen A Klapatauskas Address: 904 Farrell Court Ward: Phone: 5635424489 Email: klptsks@gmail.com City Department: City Council Message: Please see attached letter re: agenda item for Monday, Feb 1 meeting Click here to report this email as spam. 13 Adrienne Breitfelder From:Citizen Support Center <dubuqueia@mycusthelp.net> Sent:Sunday, January 31, 2021 8:38 PM To:Adrienne Breitfelder Subject:"Contact Us" inquiry from City of Dubuque website Contact Us Name: Rob McDonald Address: 3399 EAGLE POINT DR Ward: 3 Phone: Email: Rmcdonald@aymcdonald.com City Department: City Council Message: City Council Members, I think there should be a survey of city employees to better understand their stance on receiving vaccinations. Giving $100 to someone who would willingly get vaccinated is a waste of tax payer dollars. I know of no private companies following this practice. Can we please understand the risk/reward before proceeding with such a large expense that may not be necessary. Rob McDonald Click here to report this email as spam. 1 Adrienne Breitfelder From:Jim/Judy Arlen <asburyjnj@q.com> Sent:Saturday, January 30, 2021 10:53 AM To:CtyClerk Subject:Better Idea To whom it may concern; I have a better idea regarding paying city staff to get the Covid-19 vaccine, why not pay all residents of the city $100 to take the vaccine. It would only cost about 5.7 million dollars but the whole city would vaccinated... Better idea... If members of the staff don't want the vaccine, then give it to people who want it. Maybe the elderly(over 65) in the city that are anxious to receive it. I thought bribery was against the law. I thought the city was looking for ways to save money in the midst of this pandemic not spend it. I am sure there are many people over 65, teachers, other essential workers that would gladly get the vaccine. If the staff personnel decline the vaccine, give it to someone who wants it. Don't pay them to do something that should be common sense and help alleviate the problems this pandemic has caused. Jim Arlen asburyjnj@q.com Click here to report this email as spam. 2 Adrienne Breitfelder From:Tracey Wieser <traceyweez@icloud.com> Sent:Sunday, January 31, 2021 10:03 AM To:CtyClerk Subject:Vaccine incentive I can’t believe that our city council is even CONSIDERING paying city staff to take the vaccine! As a taxpayer I say give the vaccine to our teachers & older population who are desperate to get it! And find a better use for the $75,000 of taxpayer money! Tracey Wieser Sent from my iPhone Click https://www.mailcontrol.com/sr/F4vnNzFzNJHGX2PQPOmvUlQqnVH2UXcWixDe030TRy6z01V9zUe0x_RDbi7DSJDvbPzN PftDsTHaNxM9hG2QrA== to report this email as spam. 3 Adrienne Breitfelder From:PHILIP G BRENNAN <pbrennan7@msn.com> Sent:Sunday, January 31, 2021 1:21 PM To:CtyClerk Subject:Fw: Vaccine incentive to city staff From: PHILIP G BRENNAN Sent: Sunday, January 31, 2021 7:06 PM To: ctyclerk@cityof-dubuque.org <ctyclerk@cityof-dubuque.org> Subject: Vaccine incentive to city staff Dear Council Members, Where did this ridiculous proposal originate, or garner even a modicum of support among you? Mr Van Milligan is surely free and easy with other people's money in authorizing it. Dubuque is not exactly flush with cash, yet up to $75,000 here is considered 'excess'? Must be some accounting sleight of hand. Further, this is supposed to reward the city staff for 'for all of their hard work'. No doubt they did so. Yet did any of them miss a paycheck, lose health insurance or lose a business? Many of our citizens have suffered much more from the handling of this pandemic than have those remaining on the city payroll. Please take the right and fiscally responsible action - promptly and resoundingly defeat this ill - conceived proposal. Thank you. Phil Brennan 1905 Embassy West Dr Click here to report this email as spam. 4 Adrienne Breitfelder From:Linda Sanford <l.sanford@mchsi.com> Sent:Sunday, January 31, 2021 5:48 PM To:CtyClerk Subject:vaccine pay off for employees Shame on the city for paying people to get the vaccine. There are hundreds and thousands awaiting this vaccine. I will pay the city $100 to get the shot. I’ve been waiting for months and am in the high risk for the disease and death. Again shame Linda Sanford Key West IA 588-2193 Click here to report this email as spam. 5 Adrienne Breitfelder From:Kris Fair <thefourfairs@yahoo.com> Sent:Sunday, January 31, 2021 5:56 PM To:CtyClerk; Kristine Fair Subject:$100 for City employees Hi, I would like to let it be known that as a person who pays taxes, I am AGAINST, paying the City of Dubuque employees to get the COVID vaccine. I feel you should either require it or let it be up to the employee, if you can't legally require it. I do not feel my tax dollars should be spent on this. I would hope that my opinion is shared before the meeting so those voting for this will consider my view. Also, if you look on the Telegraph Herald's Facebook page, I am not alone and many others do not agree with this. Thanks you. Kris Fair Click here to report this email as spam. 6 Adrienne Breitfelder From:mdbluff@aol.com Sent:Sunday, January 31, 2021 8:49 PM To:CtyClerk Subject:Re: city council meeting City Council Members, The offer of a $100 gift card to "incentivize" city employees to get the Covid vaccine is absurd! You are assuming "not enough people are going to get vaccinated." Based on what? Did you take a survey? I know plenty of people who would PAY $100 for the privilege of getting the vaccine. Are they less important than city employees? The idea of setting a precedent that other employees may expect an "incentive" from their employer to be willing to take the vaccine, is reckless. If presented correctly, people will gladly get vaccinated because it is the right thing to do. Rescind your decision. Martha Schmid 500 Laurel St Dubuque Click here to report this email as spam. 7 Adrienne Breitfelder From:Douglas Schmid <douglas.schmid@aol.com> Sent:Monday, February 1, 2021 7:26 AM To:CtyClerk Subject:stipend Please reconsider your approval of the city managers proposal to provide city employees with a $100 gift card to help persuade/bribe them to get a covid vaccination. In the first place this will likely sway only a few of those opposed to getting it to go ahead with vaccination. Secondly I feel that money would be better spent educating and informing a much larger group of people in our community much less likely to be vaccinated than city employees i.e. the Black, Marshallese and Hispanic. I'm sure you have heard they are much more affected by covid and much less likely to get vaccinated. Thank you for your attention. Douglas Schmid, M.D. Click here to report this email as spam. 1 Adrienne Breitfelder From:Citizen Support Center <dubuqueia@mycusthelp.net> Sent:Saturday, January 30, 2021 9:46 AM To:Adrienne Breitfelder Subject:"Contact Us" inquiry from City of Dubuque website Contact Us Name: Larry Kasemeier Address: 2370 Chaney Rd #3 Ward: Phone: 5635839818 Email: mlkase72@gmail.com City Department: City Council Message: Paying city employees $100 to get their covid shot? BAD IDEA! There are better uses for the money from the local option tax. If the city goes with this idea, what will prevent ALL other employees in the city to expect the same from their employer? Citizens should get the shot because it is the RIGHT thing to do for themselves and their fellow human beings. These are the incentives parents use with their children- If you don't eat your vegetables, you can't have any dessert! Aren't we beyond that? My son-in-law works at Mayo clinic in Rochester. He is in administration. Their policy for years has been- If you work at Mayo you WILL get a flu shot. End of discussion! If this practice is approved, what will happen if it is determined that the covid shot will be an annual thing just like the current flu shot? Could get a little expensive! Thanks for your time Larry Kasemeier Click here to report this email as spam.