Civil Service Commission

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Civil Service Commission Contact: Nicole Camus 360.753.8213 Tuesday, December 21, 2021 8:30 AM Online via Zoom Register to attend: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89596008623? pwd=b2w1OFBXTkM5REZnNGJwU245OVlsUT09 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 8:30 a.m. 1.A ROLL CALL Present: 3 - Chair Linda Villegas Bremer, Commissioner Reiko Callner and Commissioner Oscar Soule OTHERS PRESENT Senior Human Resources Analyst Nicole Camus Olympia Police Sergeant Jason Winner 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA The agenda was approved. 3. PUBLIC COMMENT - NONE 4. ANNOUNCEMENTS Ms. Camus announced Olympia Fire Department Battalion Chief Todd Carson is being promoted to Deputy Chief effective January 1, 2022. 5. BUSINESS ITEMS 5.A 21-1222 Approval of November 16, 2021 Civil Service Commission Meeting Minutes The minutes were postponed to the next meeting and will come back under File 22-0224. 5.B 21-1223 Entry Level Firefighter Testing Process Ms. Camus learned about this process at a Civil Service Conference and it has been used in King County. Other departments have found that increasing the initial candidate pool they have been able to get more diverse successful candidates. City of Olympia Page 1 Civil Service Commission Meeting Minutes December 21, 2021 The proposal is to increase from the current top 5th percentile of candidates to anyone who scores 80% or higher - in this case that resulted in 397 people - to an initial interview that is nine minutes long. These particular interviews will be conducted over two days, with three different panels. One panel will consist of one representative from the fire department and one community member. This interview will be three questions in nine minutes of getting to know the candidate to learn communication skills, community engagement, compassion, and ability to work with the public. Following the interview, the panel will discuss and jointly arrive at a score. The City is hoping this process will bring more diversity into the fire department and create a more inclusive process, which following this new initial interview, is more conventional - oral board, chief’s interview, conditional offer, medical, psychological exam, and final offer. Chair Villegas Bremer suggested approving the process due to the need to meet a deadline, with the notation of revisiting the number of panels on a “need” basis versus a set number. Commissioner Callner asked Ms. Camus to keep an eye on the number of panels. Commissioner Callner moved, seconded by Commissioner Soule, to authorize the proposed changes to the firefighter testing process, specifically expanding the initial candidate pool and adding an introductory interview round. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 3 - Chair Villegas Bremer, Commissioner Callner and Commissioner Soule 5.C 21-1224 Approval of Promotional Captain - Medical Services Officer Register Ms. Camus reported the Civil Service Commission approved a Captain - Medical Services Officer promotional process in March 2020. This same process was used again on December 10, 2021. The process included using Public Safety Testing’s promotional testing services which involved an assessment center and a written exam. The testing process included a candidate orientation, assessor preparation and assessment center. Assessment center exercises included an oral presentation, practical scenarios/critical thinking, and an interview. The exam was completed in one day and measured five dimensions of the Captain - Medical Services Officer position, which were selected based on a task analysis and survey of incumbents and fire department leadership. Assessors included Captain-MSO Matt Gantenbein, Paramedic Lieutenant Matt Rios, and Thurston County Medic One ALS Coordinator Ben Miller-Todd. Three candidates passed the exam and have been placed on the register with scores ranging 71.27 - 80.87. City of Olympia Page 2 Civil Service Commission Meeting Minutes December 21, 2021 Commissioner Callner moved, seconded by Commissioner Soule, to approve the Medical Services Officer Register. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 3 - Chair Villegas Bremer, Commissioner Callner and Commissioner Soule 5.D 21-1225 Approval of Entry Level Police Officer Register Ms. Camus stated this is the same pool of 31 candidates from last month. Nine more candidates have since passed the phase 1 suitability assessment and have been invited to interview. Six have passed interview. The interviews were conducted on various dates to accommodate candidates and department staffing. The common panel members amongst the interview were Officer Brooklyn McKoon and community member Madison Sola del Vigo. Two sergeants participated in these interviews at separate times, Sergeant Ryan Hirotaka and Sergeant Aaron Ficek. Scores of the six passing candidates ranged from 76.15-89.23. Five additional interviews have been scheduled. Commissioner Soule moved, seconded by Commissioner Callner, to approve the Entry Level Police Officer Register. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 3 - Chair Villegas Bremer, Commissioner Callner and Commissioner Soule 6. REPORTS - NONE 7. OTHER TOPICS - NONE 8. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 a.m. City of Olympia Page 3