Civil Service Commission

MINUTES OF THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION MEETING September 20, 2023 – 8:00 A.M. Members Present: Chairman Jan Naso Commissioner Tom Kot Commissioner Lisa Zeno Carano Non-Members Police Chief Doug Bohon Fire Chief John Underwood Present: Director of Law Megan Raber Police Captain Jeremy McGee Director of Public Service Mike Rorar Mayor Dave Kline DOA/HR Administrator Jill Stritch ______________________________________________________________________________ The September 20, 2023 Civil Service Commission meeting was called to order. Minutes of the August 23, 2023 meeting were approved as published. Mr. Rorar said that the second set of interviews for the Tech I position have been scheduled for October 3 and 4. There are six. Mr. Naso stated that when those are done, Mr. Rorar will provide some type of number score based on the results. Mr. Rorar said that we need two applicants from that list. Mr. Naso reminded all that we will be doing written testing from now. We did get an additional application this week and he’s been made aware of that. Mr. Rorar said he appreciated the Commission letting him do the interview process; we were able to get some great candidates. He thanked the Commission. Mr. McGee stated that an initial job offer was given to Jeremy Lampley, he accepted, so we are waiting on the post-offer process. At that point, we are in a dead zone with our list. Mr. Naso asked Mr. McGee if he was going to terminate the list. His response was yes because there are no other viable candidates on the list. Mr. Naso: I will move to terminate the current Police Officer Eligibility List that was originally good until 07-24-2024. Motion was seconded, passed with no discussion. Mr. Naso asked if they had decided what to do going forward (referring to the hiring of Police Officers). Mayor Kline answered that they were either going to ask for another test or consider a lateral move; somehow, we’ve got to come up with some viable candidates. Captain McGee said he liked the process that was just done, gathering points. Mr. Naso said that whatever they decide to do, let the Commission know. Mrs. Raber stated that if you are going to do that as a permanent situation, then you may need legislation that allows for testing to be done in a certain manner. But if it’s deviating from and I don’t know if that’s the case or if it falls within the normal scope, but I think there was some deviation for emergency hire purposes that were created for that so we just need to review that. Mr. Naso said okay. September 20, 2023 Page 2 Mr. Naso stated that we have had a couple of voluntary requests for demotion. Mr. Rorar explained that Street Superintendent Wayne Corbett would like to go back to the Assistant Street Superintendent role. He’s been Street Superintendent for almost two years now and he would like to go back to his original position if that’s possible. Mayor Kline said that he did submit a letter requesting that. I think Service Director Rorar was willing to accept that letter. I’ll abide with it. Mr. Kot asked if we needed to know why. Mr. Rorar stated he thinks he’s more comfortable in the skills set of the assistant. Mr. Naso explained that he included in the packets some of the codes from the ORC/OAC regarding that. There’s no problem with doing that since it's voluntary (Rule 123.131.04 Reduction or Demotion). “ Reduction or demotion will be made only for one or more of the reasons given in Section 124.34 of the Revised Code except that a voluntary written agreement by an employee to a demotion or a reduction is considered a satisfactory basis for such action in the absence of evidence to the contrary. The salary of an employee following demotion will be affixed by the Director at the equitable rate not to exceed the rate of rate prior to the demotion.” The way I read that is that they can do that and he can keep his current rate of pay even after the demotion. Questions or comments? I will move to accept the request for demotion for Wayne Corbett from Road Superintendent to Assistant Road Superintendent with a pay that does not exceed his current pay. Mr. Kot said he doesn’t know what constitutes making a voluntary written agreement that the Code calls for, does an agreement have to be reached officially? I don’t know if a letter saying, “I’d like to be moved back to this position” is sufficient, so…. The Commissioners, the Mayor and the Law Director agreed to having a written agreement that has been formally accepted and signed by the Administration and Wayne that will be submitted to Civil Service. Mr. Naso asked if they could make a motion today or wait for that document to be completed. Mr. Raber said I think you can do that and say it’s subject to receipt of … Mr. Kot said, so we amend the motion to saying its subject to the voluntary written agreement by the Administration and the employee. Mr. Naso: Okay, that’s been seconded. Any more discussion? Motion was seconded and passed with no further discussion. Mayor Kline said let’s make sure Wayne signs the document because there’s not an opening until he signs that. The mayor asked if the old superintendent, Mike Wigand, is requesting to go back to his original appointment which was Road Superintendent which then means he goes from Assistant Service Director back down to the classified position as Road Superintendent. Mr. Naso said he would go from an unclassified position back to his classified position? The Mayor said it meets the time frame. Mr. Naso said that within five years you can do that. Mrs. Raber said if there’s an opening. The Mayor said today as we sit here, there is not an opening, but that’s the intent. Mr. Naso told the Mayor to take care of that with Wayne Corbett and it will be addressed at the next meeting. September 20, 2023 Page 3 Mr. Kot asked Mr. Rorar if that would cause any problems in the way you are able to do your work and Mr. Rorar answered no. Mr. Kot said, just making sure. Mr. Naso said if that were to happen, you need to fulfill the position he’s leaving. When Mr. Naso asked Mrs. Raber about the pay grid, she stated that we are going to be proposing an amended version to Council, so we’re asking you to review that version instead of the version previously distributed. This is the tracked change version. For Civil Service purposes, there were no changes in Civil Service status with any of the employees. The bands have been expanded. We had a Compensation Study performed by an outside consultant to expand the bands in order to make people fit more appropriately. There are two other companion ordinances that aren’t in front of you. Mr. Naso said that our only concern would be if any of the unclassified or classified positions would change. And that’s not happening. Mayor Kline stated that we will be coming to the Commission about restructuring the Police Department which will affect some classified employees. We’re not ready to present that to you, but I wanted you to be aware that we need to work with the Chairman to get some guidance and with the Law Department on a flow chart for the Police Department. Mrs. Raber referring to the pay grid, mentioned that as part of our proforma standards whenever this gets presented as part of our process it’s going to come in front of you, so that if there is any deviation from the Ohio Revised Code, we have our basis covered. She suggested a motion be made concerning this. Mr. Naso: I will move to accept the new pay grid that is being presented in front of City Council. Mr. Kot seconded with the understanding that the new pay grid doesn’t affect any classified employees. The Ordinance No. is 78-2023. Motion was seconded and passed with no further discussion. Mayor Kline stated that the Fire Department will be requesting a new test for entry-level Firefighter/Paramedic We need to create a new list. Mr. Naso said that he had a brief conversation with Assistant Chief Stasik and told him to leave that list alone for now and we’ll give a new test and before we certify that list, we will terminate the old one, but leave this list alone in case something would come up. Send a written request to Allison to schedule a test. Meeting adjourned at 8:17 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