Civil Service Commission

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Civil Service Commission Contact: Nicole Camus 360.753.8213 Tuesday, July 19, 2016 8:30 AM Room 112 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Villegas Bremer called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. 1.A ROLL CALL Present: 2 - Commissioner Oscar Soule and Chair Linda Villegas Bremer Excused: 1 - Commissioner Reiko Callner STAFF PRESENT Amy Cleveland, Chief Examiner/Secretary Nicole Camus, Human Resources Greg Wright, Deputy Fire Chief Laura Wohl, Police Administrative Services Manager Hyun Allister, Human Resources 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA The agenda was approved. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 3.A 16-0868 Approval of April 19, 2016 Civil Service Commission Meeting Minutes The minutes were approved. 4. PUBLIC COMMENT - None 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS - None 6. BUSINESS ITEMS 6.A 16-0866 Approval of Advanced Entry Police Officer Register Ms. Camus reported eight advanced entry Police Officer applicants were invited to phase 1 suitability testing. Two participated, and one passed the test. That applicant successfully passed the interview and is on the register with a final score of 92.5%. The interview was held on July 13, 2016 and the interview panel consisted of Olympia City of Olympia Page 1 Civil Service Commission Meeting Minutes July 19, 2016 Police Sergeant Matt Renschler, Lacey Police Sergeant Kevin Landwehrle, and Intercity Transit Supervisor Joy Gerchak. Discussion occurred concerning reasons lateral applicants may drop out of the process before participating in the phase 1 suitability testing. Commissioner Soule expressed an interest in analysis of why candidates decline or don’t respond to the City’s invitations to participate. Ms. Wohl summarized the effort the Olympia Police Department (OPD) is making to give more personal attention to applicants throughout the application process in an effort to retain applicants through the hiring process. Commissioner Soule moved, seconded by Chair Villegas Bremer, to approve the register. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 2 - Commissioner Soule and Chair Villegas Bremer Excused: 1 - Commissioner Callner 6.B 16-0867 Approval of Entry Level Police Officer Register Ms. Camus reported 28 entry level Police Officer applicants were invited to phase 1 suitability testing, and five participated in testing. All five passed and were invited to oral interviews. Three applicants attended oral interviews, and all three passed and are on the register with scores ranging from 87.08% - 94.32%. The interviews were held on July 13, 2016. The interview panel consisted of Olympia Police Sergeant Matt Renschler, Lacey Police Sergeant Kevin Landwehrle, and Intercity Transit Supervisor Joy Gerchak. Commissioner Soule moved, seconded by Chair Villegas Bremer, to approve the register. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 2 - Commissioner Soule and Chair Villegas Bremer Excused: 1 - Commissioner Callner 7. REPORTS 7.A 16-0870 Oral Report on Recruitment Statistics for 2014 - 2015 Ms. Cleveland distributed handouts for an oral report about the Civil Service process and recruitment statistics in OPD for the years 2014-2015. She explained OPD hires less than two percent of applicants as police officers and that the hiring process is lengthy. Ms. Cleveland described how the number of applicants decreases from step to step in the application process. Chair Villegas Bremer asked Laura Wohl at which phase OPD is personally contacting applicants. Ms. Wohl explained that applicants are being contacted before phase 1 suitability testing, but staff plans to expand outreach to recruit applicants at the time they apply through Public Safety Testing. Ms. Wohl described other recruitment strategies being implemented to support diversity and get people interested in working in Olympia. Discussion occurred about the diversity makeup of City of Olympia Page 2 Civil Service Commission Meeting Minutes July 19, 2016 applicants and how numbers changed from step to step in the recruitment process. Ms. Cleveland described what phase 1 suitability testing consisted of and how the information is used by OPD to make hiring decisions. Commissioner Soule inquired if there was concern that the Oral Board eliminated close to half of applicants who reached that step. Ms. Cleveland explained the Oral Board was designed to be another test so that failure rate is what should be expected. Ms. Wohl gave an overview about efforts to engage the community in discussion about careers in law enforcement and changes being made in marketing at OPD as recruitment strategies. Ms. Cleveland explained how Human Resources plans to partner with OPD to speed up the administrative side of the recruitment process in an effort to retain applicants. The report was received. 7.B 16-0869 Removal of Names from Entry Level Police Officer Register Ms. Cleveland reported two candidates were removed from the entry level Police Officer register because they did not successfully complete one or more phases of the selection process police officer candidates undergo after being placed on the register. All candidates have been notified in writing and no candidates have appealed. The report was received. 8. OTHER TOPICS Chair Villegas Bremer expressed her gratitude to OPD Deputy Chief Steve Nelson for his service upon the news of his retirement. 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:40 a.m. City of Olympia Page 3