HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Civil Services Commission - 05/29/1980 KENT CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES
May 29, 1980
40 This special meeting was called to order by Chairman T. Richard Ried at Fire
Station Headquarters. Present were: Commissioner Donald Whitener, Chief
Foster, Deputy Chief Freelove, Lieutenant Robertson, Lieutenant-elect Webb,
Firefighter/Mechanic Woodin and Firefighter Somerville.
A motion was made and seconded to accept the letter from Michael Somerville
dated May 14, 1980 into the record. Motion carried.
Mr. Somerville was given the floor. He began with authorization of the Lieuten-
ants examination for the Fire Department by the Commission on February 21,
1980; the powers and duties of the Civil Service Commission to authorize reclassi-
fication; the March 12, 1980 memo 8-6 issued noting eligibility standards for
qualifications and directive to submit resumes. He claimed the Lieutenant's
examination was not approved prior to the test being given. Other items brought
up were: type of dress uniforms worn by the candidates during the exam, identity
of examinees by ID cards, the April 10, 1980 Eligibility List for Lieutenant,
notification of results, Eligibility List date corrected to April 17 at May 15th
meeting, and passing score changed to 60% after the examination.
Chairman Hied called on Commissioner Whitener who went over each point be-
ginning with the dress code. Chief Foster explained that white shirts are issued
to Fire Prevention personnel and black shirts are to be worn when they are
• assigned to the department and he felt that they did not break the rule because
the candidates wore the uniforms they were assigned.
On the matter of the ID cards, Chief Foster responded that ID cards are mainly
used to help refresh the assessor's memory for consensus type grading. He
emphasized that ID cards were not used for the grading for this exam which was
of the assessment center type.
Chief Foster also explained to Mr. Somerville that although the April 10 Eligibi-
lity List had not been officially approved by the Commission, it was posted just
to let the candidates know their standing.
Commissioner Whitener reported that during the meeting with Commissioner
Yshn, Chief Foster and the Secretary, the group went over all the points Mr.
Somerville made in his letter of April 20, 1980, but did not come to a decision
because they wanted to meet with Mr. Somerville to listen to his explanation.
Mr. Somerville also remarked that he did not receive notification of results on
the previous Lieutenant's examination. The Chairman emphasized that it is the
intent of the Civil Service Commission to notify all participants in each exami-
nation with scores and standings. Closer control will be maintained on this.
In regard to the passing score being changed from 70% to 600/0, Chief Foster re-
quested lowering the passing score to 60% after analyzing the examination and
Kent Civil Service Commission Meeting Minutes - Page 2
May 29, 1980
he felt that 60% was still a satisfactory score. He noted that only two would have
passed if left at 70%. Chairman Pied asked Mr. Somerville if that answer was
satisfactory to him and he agreed that it was.
Chairman Pied called on Chief Foster who went over each item: Rule V, Section 1:
New Positions - not a new position; Rule V, Section 2: Reclassification - not re-
classification; Rule VIII, Section 2: Firefighter 3rd Class - irrelevant (Somerville
admitted error); Rule IX, Section 1: Examination approval - they were approved,
omitted inadvertently from minutes; Rule IX, Section 3: Identity of Examinees
taking a written test - not a written test, but an assessment type lab; Rule IX,
Section 5: Notification of results - was done this time; Rule X, Section 1: Exami-
nation methods - Item 6 (Evaluation) was type of test used; Rule X, Section 8,
last paragraph - can now be taken care of; Rule X, Section 9: Grading and appeal-
ing - appeal was made before he received grade; Rule X, Section 10: Notification -
,forthwith' should be changed.
Chairman Pied pointed out to Mr. Somerville that his second letter was dated May 14
in which he wrote of having attended the May 15 meeting, which Mr. Somerville
acknowledged was his error on the date of the letter. Chairman noted to Mr. Somer-
ville how it is possible such errors could be made by any party, to!which Mr. Somer-
ville agreed. Chairman also stated that the hearing is being handled to satisfy
Rule IV together with the appointment of the two members of the Commission to
investigate the allegations. Chairman Pied asked Mr. Somerville if the points in
• his letter of April 20th had been answered to his satisfaction. Mr. Somerville
agreed that they had. A motion was made and seconded that the matters brought
before the Commission in the letter of April 20 have been satisfactorily resolved.
Motion carried.
Chairman Pied thanked Mr. Somerville for his attendance and by participating in
this investigation, he knows more about how the Commission operates; it was not
a denial of an appeal. We will look into the matter of 'forthwith' on notification of
testing-results at the next regular meeting.
Chief Foster remarked that he will now make an official appointment for the position
of Lieutenant and that if any candidate wishes to investigate or make inquiries con-
cerning his examination papers, he may make an appointment with'him or Deputy
Chief Freelove.
The minutes of the May 15, 1980 meeting were approved as submitted.
Meeting adjourned at 1:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Amy E. Kato
• Approved: Secretary and Chief Examiner
T. Richard Ri
Chairman