Hobart Fire Civil Service Commission

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE HOBART CIVIL SERVICE FIRE COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF HOBART HELD February 10, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. Call to Order/Pledge of Allegiance: Mr. St. Myers called the meeting to order at 18:00, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. The meeting was held with the building open to the public and a call-in number for remote public participation. Roll Call: The following members were present: Mr. Finnerty, Mr. St. Myers, and Mr. Schallenkamp. Also present: Clerk-Treasurer Longer, Fire Chief Smith, and Commission Secretary Pukoszek. Approval of Agenda: Motion by Mr. Finnerty and seconded by Mr. St. Myers to approve the agenda as presented. Motion carried (2-0). Approval of Minutes: Motion by Mr. Finnerty and seconded by Mr. St. Myers to accept the minutes of the regular meeting on October 14th, 2021 as presented. Motion carried (2-0). Correspondence: None Committee Reports: None Old Business: Commission Elections: -Commissioner Schallenkamp’s position on the Commission is open at this time. Mr. St. Myers makes a motion to re-elect Mr. Schallenkamp as the joint Commissioner’s pick. Mr. Finnerty seconds the motion. Mr. Schallenkamp is re-elected with a vote of 2-0. -Mrs. Longer advised that Mr. Schallenkamp will be sworn in at a later time. -Mr. St. Myers opens elections for Commission President and Vice President positions. -Mr. Finnerty makes a motion to retain Mr. St. Myers as President. Second by Mr. St. Myers. Motion passed. (2-0) -Mr. Finnerty makes a motion to keep Mr. Schallenkamp as Vice President. Second by Mr. St. Myers. Motion passed. (2-0) Promotional Testing Replacement for Jim Jaracz: -Mr. St. Myers mentions that Fabian Martinez, a current Battalion Chief for the Hobart Fire Department, was interested in the creation, administration and proctoring of promotional tests for the Hobart Fire Commission. Martinez is interested but has many questions, according to Mr. St. Myers. -Chief Smith endorses Martinez. Chief Smith advises that Martinez is leaving the Fire Department in June, but is not “off the books” until a later time. - Mrs. Longer suggests using another test company as needed in the meantime and suggests Mr. Mindel may know of someone to use. (Leave this item on the agenda for further discussion) -Chief Smith states that he will reach out to Portage and Valpo to get their suggestions. Mr. St. Myers states that he will reach out to Gary for their suggestions as well. Proposed Commission Rule Changes: -Mr. St. Myers introduces proposed changes to Commission Rule II-9, Duties of Acting Officers. Mr. St. Myers advises that due to the many questions put forward by Fire Department members at the last meeting, a new draft of II-9 was made. -Proposed changes to II-9, read aloud by Mr. St. Myers as follows: II-9 DUTIES OF ACTING OFFICERS Any member filling in for officer positions may act at one rank above the member’s normal rank. Acting officer positions shall come from the Acting Officers list. The Acting Officers list will consist of members currently on the active promotion lists, additionally members who have the requirements set forth by the Commission to challenge the test of rank in question can also voluntarily be added to the list. Acting Officer position will be filled by the following order. 1. The highest ranked member on the acting officer list that is already assigned to the station needing the acting officer. 2. If no member at the station is on the acting officer list, Then the position will be offered to the member in the highest position on the list who is working. The position will continue to be offered to members who are working, starting from the highest position to the lowest position until a member accepts the acting officer position. 3. If no member voluntarily accepts the acting officer position, then it will be filled by the lowest position member on the acting officer list who is working. If there is no candidate for acting officer working on a given shift, a department wide request will be put out for an Acting Officer from the active list for that rank to fill the position. If there is no qualified individual available on the Acting Officer’s list, the position will be filled by the most senior and most qualified member on duty that day. An Acting Officer shall be governed by the same rules and regulations as those governing a regular Officer and shall assume full responsibility of the regular officer’s position. The Acting Officer shall be compensated with Acting Officer pay for hours worked. The acting officer list will be maintained by the Civil Service Commission. Members who are qualified may request to be added to the acting officer list between January 1st to  January 15th of each year. Members may request to be added to the list outside of the sign-up period within 30 days of meeting the qualifications. Request to be added to the acting officer list shall be done in writing to a Civil Service Commissioner or the Civil Service Secretary. Members who request to be taken off the acting officer list will be required to remain off the acting officer list for a period of at least two years. Members on the acting officer list shall be placed in the following order. 1. Members on the current promotion list ranked in the same positions as the promotional list. 2. Members who meet the requirements to challenge the ranks test, but who are not on the current promotional list, Ranked by seniority. -Mr. St. Myers advises that this proposed rule is a mesh of old rule and newly proposed rule. -New parts include: -How the required position will be filled. -Maintaining one list instead of two separate lists. -Limitations to personnel travel. -Requirements for getting onto the list and penalties for removing oneself from the list. -Maintenance of the list. -Chief Smith advises that he wants to share this proposed rule with his two Assistant Chiefs and the Battalion Chiefs in order for them to take a look at it. -Chief Smith advises that one thing he would like added to this rule is, “After the sentence that says ‘The position will be filled by the most senior and most qualified member on duty that day’ is a stipulation that this isn’t something you can say ‘Nah, pass.’ That senior guy, most qualified guy, is going to be in charge.” Mr. St Myers agrees and advises that this is already the intent of the rule, however, Mr. St. Myers states that he will attempt to word it as clearly as possible. -Chief Smith requests that the Commission table this proposed change in order to “digest” the proposed changes and come up with some additional language, stating “I think it’s going to take nothing more than an additional sentence.” -Mr. Finnerty asks why someone would want to be taken off the Acting Officer’s list and asks if it has ever happened. Mr. St. Myers states that it has happened in the past for a multitude of reasons. -Mr. St. Myers states that in the interests of getting the list together, he would like to pass this rule and begin populating the list. With the proposed rule in place, the changes would be in place to begin populating the list per the proposed rule. There are currently no rules in place regarding the population and maintenance of the Acting Officer list. -Chief Smith again advises that he wishes to share the proposed rule with the Assistant Chiefs and Battalion Chiefs before it passes the Commission. -Mr. St. Myers suggests passing the bottom two paragraphs of the proposed rule, which only talks about the list itself, in order to begin populating the Acting Officer’s list as soon as possible in order to be ready for the next Commission meeting. -Mr. St. Myers makes a motion to add, “The acting officer list will be maintained by the Civil Service Commission. Members who are qualified may request to be added to the acting officer list between January 1st to January 15th of each year. Members may request to be added to the list outside of the sign-up period within 30 days of meeting the qualifications. Request to be added to the acting officer list shall be done in writing to a Civil Service Commissioner or the Civil Service Secretary. Members who request to be taken off the acting officer list will be required to remain off the acting officer list for a period of at least two years. Members on the acting officer list shall be placed in the following order. 1. Members on the current promotion list ranked in the same positions as the promotional list. 2. Members who meet the requirements to challenge the ranks test, but who are not on the current promotional list, Ranked by seniority. “ to the current Commission rule, II-9, Duties of Acting Officers, with an initial enrollment period of 28 days outside of the enrollment period listed in the proposed Commission rule. Motion second by Mr. Finnerty. Motion passed. (2-0). -Mr. St Myers states that the proposed rule will receive input from Chief Smith and have additional clarification regarding specific wording by the next Commission meeting. New Business: Work to Begin on Revamping the Commission Rules: -Mr. St. Myers states that he will start looking through the duties of firefighters/lieutenants. -Mr. St Myers asked Chief Smith to also look through those rules and propose changes regarding duties of Firefighters and Lieutenants based on input from he and his administration by next meeting. -Mr. St. Myers states that he would like to add wording to the duties of Assistant Chiefs due to the fact that no changes were made after the restructured addition of a second Assistant Chief, and asked Chief Smith for input from he and his administration regarding this issue. Announcements: NONE Adjournment: Mr. St. Myers adjourned the meeting at 18:24.