Civil Service Commission

DocuSign Envelope ID: 43F30A64-F039-4C79-A223-22C3193BB4C4 TUMWATER CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION MINUTES OF VIRTUAL MEETING MARCH 21, 2024 Page 1 CONVENE: 5:30 p.m. PRESENT: Chair Simon Tee and Commissioner Blake Chard. Staff: Secretary/Chief Examiner Michelle Sutherland, Police Chief Jon Weiks, Fire Chief Brian Hurley and Assistant Fire Chief Shawn Crimmins. CHANGES TO There were no changes to the agenda. AGENDA: APPROVAL OF The Commission agreed no action was necessary because the informational MINUTES: CIVIL minutes documented the lack of a quorum at the January 11, 2024 meeting. SERVICE COMMISSION MINUTES, JANUARY 11, 2024: STATUS OF Chief Examiner Sutherland updated the Commission on the status of ELIGIBILITY LISTS: eligibility lists. Lists established in February 2024 include the Battalion Chief and MSO Battalion Chief. The Lateral Paramedic Firefighter list expired. Police Officer Entry and Police Officer Lateral are active continuous lists. The Police Services Specialist II list is an active and continuous list. Chief Examiner Sutherland advised that as the Chief Examiner, she authorized a provisional certification of all lists in January and February because of the lack of meetings. Civil Service Rules authorize the Chief Examiner to provisionally approve lists to ensure timely recruitment actions. APPROVAL OF Chief Examiner Sutherland reported five applicants are proposed for ENTRY LEVEL addition to the eligibility list. Two applicants were removed from the list. POLICE OFFICER One applicant was hired by the department and one applicant accepted a ELIGIBILITY LIST: position with another law enforcement agency. The request is approval of the March 2024 list. MOTION: Commissioner Chard moved, seconded by Chair Tee, to approve the Entry Level Police Officer Eligibility List as presented. A voice vote approved the motion. APPROVAL OF Chief Examiner Sutherland advised of proposed four candidates to add to POLICE SERVICES the Police Services Specialist II Eligibility List for a list totaling seven SPECIALIST II candidates. The Commission is requested to approve the eligibility list. ELIGIBILITY LIST: MOTION: Commissioner Chard moved, seconded by Chair Tee, to approve the Police Services Specialist II Eligibility List as presented. A voice vote approved the motion. DocuSign Envelope ID: 43F30A64-F039-4C79-A223-22C3193BB4C4 TUMWATER CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION MINUTES OF VIRTUAL MEETING MARCH 21, 2024 Page 2 APPROVAL OF Chief Examiner Sutherland reported an examination was held in February BATTALION CHIEF 2024. Four candidates passed the examination and are proposed for addition ELIGIBILITY LIST: to the Battalion Chief Eligibility List. MOTION: Commissioner Chard moved, seconded by Chair Tee, to approve the Battalion Chief Eligibility List as presented. A voice vote approved the motion. APPROVAL OF MSO Chief Examiner Sutherland advised of one candidate qualifying for the list BATTALION CHIEF in February 2024. The request is for approval of the proposed MSO ELIGIBILITY LIST: Battalion Chief Eligibility List. Chief Examiner Sutherland noted that she provisionally certified the proposed list on February 8, 2024 to enable the Fire Department to move forward with the recruitment process. MOTION: Commissioner Chard moved, seconded by Chair Tee, to approve the MSO Battalion Chief Eligibility List as presented. A voice vote approved the motion. APPROVAL OF Chief Examiner Sutherland reported on one successful candidate qualifying LATERAL POLICE for placement on the Lateral Police Officer Eligibility List. The proposed OFFICER list includes three candidates. ELIGIBILITY LIST: MOTION: Commissioner Chard moved, seconded by Chair Tee, to approve the Lateral Police Office Eligibility List as presented. A voice vote approved the motion. APPROVAL OF Chief Examiner Sutherland requested consideration of changing the exam LATERAL plan for Lateral Firefighter as a continuous process to enable the City to FIREFIGHTER recruit for candidates on a regular basis. (CONTINUOUS) EXAM PLAN: Fire Chief Hurley reported that requests have been presented periodically to the Commission to establish lists. Rather than the current process, the Department is requesting a continuous process, similar to the Police Department, to schedule oral boards. Chair Tee asked whether any changes to the exam plan would be presented to the Commission for consideration and approval. Fire Chief Hurley advised that any change in the exam process would be presented to the Commission for consideration. MOTION: Chair Tee moved, seconded by Commissioner Chard, to approve the Lateral Firefighter Continuous Exam Plan as presented. A voice vote approved the motion. DocuSign Envelope ID: 43F30A64-F039-4C79-A223-22C3193BB4C4 TUMWATER CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION MINUTES OF VIRTUAL MEETING MARCH 21, 2024 Page 3 APPROVAL OF Chief Examiner Sutherland requested the Commission’s approval of the LATERAL Lateral Paramedic Firefighter Continuous Exam Plan to enable the Fire PARAMEDIC Department to move forward to announce the opening. FIREFIGHTER CONTINUOUS Fire Chief Hurley said the request is similar to the Lateral Firefighter EXAM PLAN: process. The Commission has been requested frequently to use the exam. The Fire Department is in need of paramedics and conversion to a continuous exam plan would assist the Department in hiring qualified candidates. MOTION: Commissioner Chard moved, seconded by Chair Tee, to approve the Lateral Paramedic Firefighter Continuous Exam Plan as presented. A voice vote approved the motion. APPROVAL OF FIRE Chief Examiner Sutherland requested approval of the Fire Prevention PREVENTION Officer Exam Plan as presented. A provisional certification was provided OFFICER EXAM to enable the Department to post the position. PLAN: Fire Chief Hurley advised of the retirement of the current Fire Prevention Officer at the end of June. The Department would like to initiate the hiring process to determine if any internal applicants are interested in filling the position, if they are qualified. The exam was used previously at the end of 2021 to promote the current Fire Prevention Officer. MOTION: Commissioner Chard moved, seconded by Chair Tee, to approve the Fire Prevention Officer Exam Plan as presented. A voice vote approved the motion. UPDATES: Chief Examiner Sutherland reported the City received an application for the vacant Civil Service Commissioner position. Staff is scheduled to review the application within the week. Police Chief Weiks reported on three open positions. One Police Officer candidate is undergoing the background investigation process. Additionally, five Police Officers are currently in training with one officer completing the Field Training Program, one officer graduated from the police academy last week, one officer started the police academy, and two officers are scheduled to attend the academy pending the availability of training slots. One individual is undergoing the background investigation process for the Police Services Specialist II position. The investigator is scheduled to visit Dallas, Texas to begin the official background investigation on the candidate. Fire Chief Hurley said the Fire Department currently has two Firefighters attending the Fire Academy. The first employee is scheduled to graduate on April 19, 2024 at the North Bend Fire Academy. The second employee is attending the Lacey Fire Academy. Pending actions include two Paramedic DocuSign Envelope ID: 43F30A64-F039-4C79-A223-22C3193BB4C4 TUMWATER CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION MINUTES OF VIRTUAL MEETING MARCH 21, 2024 Page 4 Firefighters retiring at the end of June. Both employees have been with the department for approximately 28 years. The Fire Prevention Officer is retiring at the same time. The employee served with the department for 25 years. Paramedic testing through Medic One is scheduled in mid-April. The department promoted Alex Bates to the position of MSO Battalion. Another employee was promoted to fill the newly created Paramedic Lieutenant position vacated by Alex Bates. The department is working to stay ahead of pending retirements. The department is in a better position than other local fire agencies that are struggling to fill a number of vacant positions. All departments are facing the same hiring challenges. Chair Tee asked Police Chief Weiks whether the department is facing similar challenges in hiring. Police Chief Weiks said the department is holding steady with many new employees added to the department. The department anticipates many retirements within the next several years resulting in many new employees within the department. Consistent hiring should be expected over the next three to four years. Chair Tee asked about the possibility of appointing the new Commissioner by the Commission’s next meeting. Chief Examiner Sutherland advised that since the next meeting is scheduled on April 11, 2024, it is unlikely because the City will need time to check references and complete the appointment process. ADJOURNMENT: Commissioner Chard moved, seconded by Chair Tee, to adjourn the meeting at 5:55 p.m. A voice vote approved the motion. _________________________ ___________________________________ Simon Tee, Chair Michelle Sutherland, Secretary Chief Examiner Prepared by Valerie L. Gow, Recording Secretary/President Puget Sound Meeting Services, psmsoly@earthlink.net