Civil Service Commission

Office of the Clerk of Council City of Gahanna 200 South Hamilton Road Gahanna, Ohio 43230 Meeting Minutes Civil Service Commission Paul Leithart, Stephen A. Patterson, Beryl Piccolantonio, Paul Bittner, Mark Foster Wednesday, August 19, 2015 6:30 PM City Hall Committee Rooms A. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Chair Bittner called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Additional Attendees: Sue Wadley, Shane Ewald, Clerk Kim McWilliams, Chief Dennis Murphy, Director of Public Safety - Robert Keyes, and resident Mark Thomas. Present 4 - Stephen A. Patterson, Beryl Piccolantonio, Mark Foster, and Paul L. Bittner Absent 1 - Paul Leithart B. ADDITIONS OR CORRECTIONS TO THE AGENDA None. C. HEARING OF VISITORS Mark Thomas, 1308 Totten Drive; said he is here to speak about the process of the deputy chief position; worked in Whitehall as a police officer for 32 years; asked why we are spending all this money to do testing procedures and backgrounds on outside candidates; believes we have qualified candidates within the Gahanna police department; concerned with how it will impact the morale; worried our officers will leave if they do not see the opportunity to move up; asks why we are not appointing an interim deputy chief instead of speeding up the process; asks why we need a deputy chief if we are able to function for months without one. Bittner said he will entertain comments from Human Resources (HR) or the Chief in reference to these comments; said there is already someone who acts as deputy chief and even the chief in situations when they are unavailable; this will be a similar process; could be a lieutenant or a sergeant; Wadley said the decision to open it up to external candidates is Mayor's and the Civil Service Commission does not own the process; there was review and discussion on whether it should be open to external and internal candidates; the Mayor made the final decision; this does not mean she would not want to promote internally; she felt it was her due diligence to open that up to external City of Gahanna Page 1 Civil Service Commission Meeting Minutes August 19, 2015 candidates; Bittner added that this system with the Civil Service Commission pre-dates the addition of the Human Resources Department; the role of the Civil Service Commission changed; Murphy said this is an old argument from 1996 when there was a Charter change; previously this process was all from within; there has been heated arguments whether to make the selection open to external candidates; said it worked out well opening the candidate pool up the last time as the department was able to secure our current deputy chief; nothing wrong with making the process competitive; want to choose the best and not just the best from our garden; Keyes introduced himself to the Commission; said the process has been tried and true; understands the concerns; it is not beyond us to consider the concern but we have to consider the cost of not opening the process up to finding the best candidates; agrees we have some very good candidates internally; Thomas said he believes we have a great police department; Keyes said we opened up the candidate pool to get the best candidates; the point is moot as the application is now closed; Wadley said there has not been a full discussion on doing backgrounds on all candidates yet; Keyes noted the concern for the need of a deputy chief; said we definitely need a deputy chief; not only to fill in but the department has grown so much; our policing is very dynamic and technology is changing every day; the deputy chief has become, in his term, the operations manager for the department; the chief is more of the administrative officer; we also must consider Chief Murphy's tenure; possible that the next person we select is the next Chief of Police; the vacancy is short term; Chief Murphy has said he will step up and absorb some of the responsibilities and we have an excellent command staff to help with those responsibilities as well; have never explored the option of an interim; Thomas said not here to bash the department just wants to raise concerns on where we are spending our funds; Bittner said he appreciates the concerns brought before us. D. APPEAL/GRIEVANCE HEARINGS - None. E. MINUTES TO REVIEW DOC-0346-2015 CSC Minutes - July 21, 2015 A motion was made by Piccolantonio, seconded by Foster, that the minutes be approved. The motion carried. F. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 1. Deputy Chief Review Board Process City of Gahanna Page 2 Civil Service Commission Meeting Minutes August 19, 2015 Bittner said the memorandum was printed off and sent out to each Commission member; believes the document is at a final point for distribution; McWilliams said review board members will have additional contact information for one another; asked for additional comments to the memorandum; Wadley said they did further research from the process in 2007; found additional information that was given out to the review board from the Commission member; Piccolantonio asked if the process was similar in 2007; Wadley said yes; Piccolantonio asked if a test was given and what it was; Wadley said it was with an outside vendor and measured police ability and policing knowledge; said we do not have a copy of that test; gathered information from the minutes; Piccolantonio asked if all the applicants were invited to take the test and how the scores were broken down; Wadley said they created an eligibility list from that test and cannot speak for anything that occurred much further in those regards; believes there were only six people who tested; Murphy said it was a joint HR and Civil Service effort; Bittner said we should learn from this process and have a how-to manual for the next time; Wadley said made a list of things to add to information for the review board; bios; designated chair and secretary; given oath; time commitment from the members; will Human Resources and Clerk attend the first meeting; noted she would be a source for the review board; list of expectations and responsibilities; setting their own meetings; determining evaluation criteria; meeting criteria; asked if they were in executive sessions; noted the Safety Director can attend those executive sessions; how to submit the six candidates to the Safety Director; who should see that list; necessity of a quorum; will the Safety Director attend the deliberation meetings; wanted to bring those questions forward; Bittner asked Ewald if we would require an oath and if the meetings are done in executive session; noted the language says they may rank candidates but they do not have to do so; Ewald said prefers a list is made official and signed by the Commission; notes they can submit up to six to the Safety Director for his review; Bittner asked if there were thoughts on the executive session nature; Ewald said he will review the Civil Service Commission Rules; usually personnel issues are taken care of in executive session; Bittner said preparing a bio would be nice but not required; would make this an option unless the board feels different; time commitment is up to the board and how much time they want to spend on the process; Bittner asked if the police members can flex their time and put in over-time; Murphy said this is important and that is fine; would invite anyone to attend the first meeting, including the Commission members; will just be a resource; setting meeting schedules and determining evaluation criteria are not set in the rules; Foster asked when these questions were formed previously; Wadley said she is not sure when but they were covered; some of these questions have come in for the current process; Bittner said it notes in the memorandum the criteria the board should City of Gahanna Page 3 Civil Service Commission Meeting Minutes August 19, 2015 consider; do not believe we should weigh the criteria; Ewald noted the Commission can pass the rules down to the review board so they can go into executive session; from the Article Six power; Bittner said they will include that in the memo to the review board members; Foster asked if the Safety Director can attend the interviews; Wadley said in the past he did not attend interviews but attended deliberations toward the end; Patterson said the decision will be forwarded to the Safety Director; Piccolantonio asked if anyone can attend the executive session; Wadley said you can be invited into executive session; Keyes said would only want to attend if there was controversy; Bittner said will include in the memo that review board members can invite people into executive session; Foster asked if we should make a decision on the quorum; Bittner said we can build that into the rules of procedure; said decision is by consensus or majority vote according to Rule 6; Wadley noted the review board members will rank the members together; Ewald said we need to administer the oath; all boards and commission members are sworn in; does not need to go into the memo; Foster asked how the six would be submitted; Ewald said the review board will sign off and certify the list and it can go straight to the Safety Director; said the Commission is finished after the process is set; Piccolantonio asked for an update on where we are; Bittner said will make the changes and forward out tomorrow morning. DOC-0347-2015 MEMORANDUM: Deputy Chief Review Board Members G. NEW BUSINESS - None. H. CORRESPONDENCE AND ACTIONS None. I. OFFICIAL REPORTS a. Director of Human Resources Wadley handed out a tentative timeline for each step of the process; said will notify candidates within a week of getting the test results; candidates must get a 70 or higher to pass the test; can apply for military credit; due to the cost and time constraint we will do a basic background that will go to the review board members; Ewald asked if there were prep materials; Wadley said no; Ewald asked what the military credit is; Wadley said they can earn, she believes, up to five points for their military credit; Bittner added that the score is used after the pass/fail is determined; they cannot go from a 65 to a 70 with military credit; after a conditional offer is given based on the City of Gahanna Page 4 Civil Service Commission Meeting Minutes August 19, 2015 recommendation a full background investigation will occur; Piccolantonio asked what prompted the change of doing the background after the conditional offer; Wadley said the cost; it was going to be around $3,000 per person and the time factor; Bittner said this is a way we can pick up on some of the cost savings; Piccolantonio asked what occurs if there is something in the full background; do we start over; Bittner said believes we discussed going back to the list that was given to the Safety Director and he can determine if he will make another conditional offer; Keyes said he does not typically look at ranking when making a decision; will look at a new conditional offer from the list if something is found in the extensive background. Wadley shared that they did police testing; believes there were 88 individuals who passed all phases; created an eligibility list and forwarded that to the police department. b. Chairman Bittner said he appreciates everyone's input on the process; police officers and police departments are a reflection of a community; commends the City of Gahanna Police Department and the officers we have. J. POLL COMMISSION FOR COMMENT Patterson said this is good and will set the foundation going forward; Foster thanked Chair Bittner for assembling the memo. K. ADJOURNMENT: 7:35 p.m. motion by Foster DOC-0348-2015 Documents handed out at the Civil Service meeting - August 19, 2015 Kayla Holbrook, reporting. City of Gahanna Page 5