Civil Service Commission

MINUTES OF THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION MEETING March 17, 2014 - 3:30 P.M. Members Present: Chairman Jan Naso Commissioner Tom Kot Commissioner Christine Higham Non-Members Mayor Dave Kline Present: Fire Chief Pat Gaffney Director of Law Megan Raber ______________________________________________________________________________ The March 17, 2014 Civil Service Commission meeting was called to order. Minutes of the February 24, 2014 meeting were approved as published. Chairman Naso announced the date for the upcoming Full-Time Firefighter Exam which is Thursday May 8, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. It will be held in the downstairs conference room of the City Building due to the limited number of persons taking the test. Mr. Naso also announced that there will be no fee charged to the applicants taking the test. Commissioners decided that the test will be deemed entry-level and therefore, 5% Veteran’s Preference will be applied to a passing grade for those candidates claiming Veteran’s Preference. Chairman Naso went through the hiring procedure for the position of Full-Time Firefighter. The exam will be closed to the current Part-Time Firefighters. Names of the top three written scorers will be given to Chief Gaffney to begin background checks. After three persons who have passed the background check, the Commission will certify the list. There will be no physical agility test; the candidates have already taken a physical agility test to get where they are at now. After the list has been certified, the committee interviews will take place and then the Chief will make his selection. The medical and psychological evaluations will take place and then an offer of employment will be made. Chief Gaffney explained why he wanted the test announcement to be silent concerning smoking. There are 25 general standards not listed on the announcement, so why mention smoking as the only one. Commissioner Higham stated that the issue of smoking is not mentioned on any County test announcements. Chairman Naso made a motion that the Commission accepts the posting for the Full-Time Firefighter Test with all the issues that were discussed. Motion was seconded and passed. The announcement will be posted at both Fire Stations and at City Hall. Chief Gaffney stated that it will be scanned and send to all fifty members of the Fire Department so they will be aware of it. The letter received from Tallmadge City Schools Superintendent Jeff Ferguson requesting that the Food Service Employees be removed from Civil Service jurisdiction was discussed. Director of Law Megan Raber stated that Asst Director of Law John Scavelli had prepared the March 13 memo in response to Mr. Ferguson’s request and apologized that Mr. Scavelli could not make today’s meeting. Mrs. Raber affirmed that anything that has to do with Civil Service here in the City is all through ordinance and that Tallmadge is a chartered municipality, making it possible for the rules to be changed that differ from the Ohio Revised Code. Mrs. Raber suggested that the Commission discuss their individual feelings on the matter so that they would be prepared to Page 2 March 17, 2014 make a final determination. She also stated that the minutes of the School Board meeting in which they discussed this and to obtain more information. The step in the process would be either to forward to Council the request to be discussed and to see if there would be a sponsor of the legislation and/or someone internally can sponsor the legislation and then discussed before asking Civil Service for their recommendation to Council on that legislation. She also said that we need to be cognizant of what our long-term issues would be relating to this request. Chairman Naso questioned whether or not the School by-pass the Commission and ask Council to do this. Mrs. Raber answered, “Sure, I think that they could come in front of the Council members and ask for it. They can’t compel us to draw up the legislation.” Mr. Naso stated that the Commission has had three incidents with the Schools over the last 3 years where the Commission was involved. He pointed out that he saw no good reason in the Superintendent’s letter to do this, and at this point without having any more information, he is not in favor of the request. Commissioner Kot stated that he thought it was a good idea to obtain the minutes from the meeting which the request was discussed and that he would be interested to know what their motives were behind this request. Commissioner Higham agreed with Mr. Naso and Mr. Kot that at this time, she does not see any specific reason, unless those minutes would show some other motivation for this move. She also stated that she would be inclined to not be supportive of the request. Chairman Naso shared with the members the email he received from BOE Business Director Steve Wood that indicated a couple of custodians would be retiring in June or July and asked for information concerning the testing process to fill those positions. Mrs. Raber asked the Commission’s permission to request a copy of the School Board’s meeting minutes to clarify the request. Chairman Naso said that was fine with him; Commissioners Higham and Kot agreed also. Mr. Naso stated that he would like to hear from the employees that would be affected by this; he thinks that would play a big part in this decision. Mr. Naso said that the Commission would wait to see what Mrs. Raber has to say after the said minutes are reviewed by the Law Department. Mr. Naso will be responding to Mr. Wood concerning the testing of the custodians, but say nothing about Mr. Ferguson’s letter of request that Civil Service would no longer have any jurisdiction over the Food Service employees. Chairman Naso told the members that the clerk will be meeting with the IT Manager Lloyd Alger to start the construction of the City’s newly-revised application. There is a status conference scheduled for April 16 concerning the Figler vs. Tallmadge City Schools. Mrs. Raber stated that she and Mr. Scavelli will be attending this conference along with School Board members. Mrs. Figler’s attorney was copied the memo regarding this conference. Meeting adjourned at 4:07 p.m. ___________________________________ Jan T Naso, Chairman Civil Service Commission JTN:asi