Civil Service Commission

MINUTES OF THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION MEETING April 11, 2018 - 8:00 A.M. Members Present: Chairman Jan Naso Commissioner Tom Kot Commissioner Christine Higham Non-Members Mayor Dave Kline Present: Director of Administration Dr. Don Cooper Director of Law Megan Raber Director of Public Service Mike Rorar Police Chief Ron Williams Councilwoman Mary Tricaso ______________________________________________________________________________ The April 11, 2018 Civil Service Commission meeting was called to order. Minutes of the March 28, 2018 meeting were approved as published. Mayor Kline said that he had met with School Superintendent Ferguson, Steve Wood and Jeff Hostetler for a quarterly meeting. When I asked questions, they acted like Civil Service had all the information and said they were going to contact their attorney to find out where he’s at with that stuff. They are going to need to hire for next school year, so this summer they will be looking to hire somebody. Chairman Naso stated that they (the schools) do not have any active eligibility lists. The last one was Kitchen Manager which expired in February. He stated his concern with all this is if they go out and hire somebody and don’t go through this process. I’m not sure what we would end up having to do. Director of Law Raber said that we can cross that bridge when we get to it. She stated that an email had been sent to Mr. Briton, the attorney representing the schools, asking multiple questions that had been asked by the Civil Service Commission at their last meeting. Mr. Briton answered that no hiring had taken place and he would try to answer the other questions with a prompt response. Mrs. Raber said they are waiting to hear from them on the follow-up questions. Commissioner Higham asked if they withdraw from Civil Service, would this be something that would go through Council. Mrs. Raber replied, “correct.” Chairman Naso asked if it would be appropriate to write Mr. Woods stating that there are no more eligibility lists and that we’re concerned about if you hire someone outside of this process. Mrs. Raber suggested that he forward the email I forwarded to you to him and say that this is the latest correspondence that I have record of on this matter and keep in mind there is no list Commission Kot stated that he had talked to his niece, whose specialty is labor and employment matters in education. She said that all but one of her clients have opted out of Civil Service; that is has become a common practice because it gives them greater control on who they can hire and fire and they do their own testing and they’re not limited by the lists as provided to them; and that the unions like the binding arbitration because they have a better understanding of the agreements through their experience. Chairman Naso asked what procedure they follow to opt out. Commissioner Kot answered that she said it would take legislative action and Mr. Kot stated that we are probably going to have to do something. Mrs. Raber said, “Right” and that our concern is Page 2 April 11, 2018 that by law they are not allowed to collectively bargain away the testing piece, the hiring piece, so that’s our hang-up. The rest of it can be collectively bargained, that piece cannot be. What procedurally they have done to avoid that or get around that is our questions and we wanted examples of what other jurisdictions have done. Mr. Naso said that is why the City must legislate to do this that makes it all legal. Mrs. Raber stated that because we are a charter city, we can do certain things, but our concern is that it specifically does not include the hiring process. That is our biggest question. Commissioner Higham asked if that were under the State Law. Mrs. Raber said “yes.” Mrs. Higham asked if we haven’t written any specifically in contradiction with City Law from the Charter? Mrs. Raber answered “Correct and whether we would want to…that’s why we want examples of what other people have done to work around that issue. Mr. Kot stated that it seems to him that we’ve now put that onus on Mr. Attorney Briton, we should expect something from him. I think he sent that email out a couple weeks ago, at least, and he promised a prompt response and it hasn’t happened yet. Chairman Naso said that the Part-Time General Laborer was appointed to the full-time position and so now we have had a request to do a Part-Time/Full-Time General Laborer Exam. It is scheduled for April 30th at the Community Center at 6:00 p.m. There are no more candidates on the current list. Prior to creating the new list, we will need you (speaking to Mr. Rorer) to officially ask to terminate the permanent Full-Time General Laborer Eligibility List and then we’ll have the new one after the exam is given. Mayor Kline officially request that we terminate, and we’ll follow that up with an email. Mr. Naso said that the current list is good until November 1, 2018. We also have a Full-Time General Laborer’s list; you have two lists – Part-Time/Full- Time and a Full-Time. The Full-Time one is good until November 1st; if you’re not going to use it, you can terminate it as well or we can just leave it go. Mr. Rorar said to terminate them both. Chairman Naso asked about the anticipated hiring numbers. Mayor Kline answered: one full- time and one part-time and possibly and possibly two full-time. Regarding the Part-Time Records Clerk position, Chief Williams stated that an offer was extended, and the applicant accepted, and we are going through the entire process with her. Mr. Naso said that the list is good until August of this year and asked the Chief if we need a new test. The Chief said he does believe we will need a new test cause this lady has a full-time job, she can assist on the weekends, but I’m still going to need to fill the bulk of it during the week nights. Mr. Naso told the Chief that once he completes the hiring of this current applicant, you will want to do the same thing to terminate that list prior to establishing a new list from a new exam. Chairman Naso informed everyone that Civil Service has received the job description for the position of Property/Evidence Room Assistant. The exam for that position is scheduled for June 14th. Originally, we talked about making the position an internal process; after talking to the Chief, we have decided that it is better to open it up. He asked if the ordinance regarding this position been amended and Mrs. Raber stated that it will be in front of Council on Thursday and it has been changed to Property/Evidence Room Technician Assistant, it’s a Pay Band 2 and a non-exempt and it is a Civil Service position. Page 3 April 11, 2018 Chairman Naso stated that Fire Chief Passarelli probably will be requesting a new Part-Time Firefighters Exam soon. He has utilized just about everyone on the list; the last test we gave was in February 2017. That is not a classified position, Civil Service does this for them as a courtesy. Once the list is established, it is good for as long as he wants to keep it. Meeting adjourned at 8:12 a.m. An audio file of this meeting is available in the Civil Service office. Jan T Naso, Chairman Civil Service Commission TALLMADGE OHIO JTN:asi