HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Civil Services Commission - 11/17/1983 KENT CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES
November 17, 1983
The regular monthly meeting was called to order by Chairman T. Richard Ried
at 8:00 a.m. In attendance were Chairman Ried, Commissioners Whitener and
Street , City Administrator Cushing, City Attorney DiJulio and Assistant to
the Administrator Webby. Also present: Chief Angelo, Chief Skewes, Acting
Assistant Chief Bond and Captain Rees. Captain Orndorff, Lieutenants Grubbs
and Robertson and Firefighter Nutter were also'in attendance.
Mr. Street moved, Mr. Whitener seconded, to approve the minutes of the
October 20, 1983 meeting. Motion carried.
The memo dated November 9, 1983 from Chief Angelo was read. A title change
of the Captain's rank to BATTALION CHIEF under Rule VIII, Section 6, is
proposed. He said it has the approval of the City Administrator, City
Attorney, Assistant to the City Administrator, Local 1747 and personnel
presently in the rank. A copy of the letter of November 7, 1983 from Thomas
S. Barnes, president of Kent Firefighters' Local 1747, approving the title
change was also read. Chief Angelo clarified for Mr. Street that the change
would have no impact financially on the position, benefits or retirement
system, just a title change. It was moved by Mr. Street, seconded by Mr.
Whitener, to accept the letters and to adopt the changes for Rule VIII,
Section 6. Motion carried.
Chief Angelo reported that the written exam for Firefighter was conducted on
Monday evening, the 14th, with 438 applicants taking the test.
Acting Assistant Chief Bond explained the process of utilizing Troy Nutter's
personal computer to assist and facilitate the scoring of the Firefighter
physical agility exam next month. In order to proceed with the meeting, it
was decided to wait until the conclusion of the meeting for the demonstration.
In reference to the Nutter petition, a joint response by Chief Angelo and
Chief Skewes in a memo by Chief Angelo, dated November 4, 1983, was read.
Their recommendation is that a candidate may take a promotional examination
and be placed on the promotional list if he/she meets the minimum prerequisites
during the life of the list but will not be promoted until the minimum pre-
requisites are met. Chief Angelo commented that after becoming aware of the
police department's experience_ so far and in maintaining consistency, this
recommendation is being made. Mr. DiJulio noted the change of terminology
of "class" to "rank" to be consistent throughout the rules. , When the Chairman
expressed concern of keeping track of dates of eligibility, Mr. DiJulio
suggested placing the eligibility dates after the names. Mr. Street moved,
Mr. Whitener seconded, to adopt the proposed change to Rule IX, Section 6.
Motion carried.
The memos from Chief Skewes dated November 3, 1983, Chief Angelo dated Novem-
ber 9, 1983, and City Administrator Cushing dated November 15, 1983 were read.
When asked by Mr. Street as to what in his opinion is the difference between
the Chiefs' memos and Mr. Cushing's memo, Mr. DiJulio responded that it is
his understanding that the Chiefs' two recommendations are to leave the rule
as it is now and as he understands the City Administrator's position, to give
the Commission flexibility to declare an open competitive examination in
other than the limited situation currently provided in the rules. He explained
that the Commission, in response to Firefighter Nutter's petition, amended
the first part of Section 6 with respect to promotional exams and that Mr.
Cushing's proposal concerns only the limited clause with respect to the Chief's
position. That clause is "or if the vacancy could be filled better by an
open competitive examination". He said that what the City Administrator is
proposing is to provide the Commission in its rules the same flexibility it
Civil Service Commission Meeting Minutes - Page 2
November 17, 1983
has for all supervisory promotional exams and as the rule is currently, it
restricts the Commission's authority as to when to declare an'eligibility
40 for an open competitive exam for the position of Chief. Chief Angelo added
that we should be thorough enough up front by defining the qualifications
and minimum requirements and do a realistic objective evaluation of what
is there and make the best decision from there. He said there are poeple
in both departments they are trying to develop and thought that what the
city attorney said about developing the classification system might relieve
most of the problems. Chief Skewes suggested removing the time and grade
if the Commission is bothered with it , and if an opening occurs, the Commission
determines the qualifications and if you find less than six qualified applicants,
open it up but don't take out the six candidates. He said he thinks the
first consideration should be given to people who are now in the department
and if additional degrees are required, set those qualifications. If there
are not enough qualified, he said, then open it. Chairman asked Mr. Webby
if he had any difficulty when conducting the last chief's exam. Mr. Webby
responded that there were no problems because there were not enough in-house
qualified based on longevity, that the Commission had to go outside. Mr.
Cushing re-emphasized that what he thought most important and if he were
a member of the commission, he would want the most flexibility possible when
it came to filling a position as important as Chief. He said he believes
in promoting from within if possible, but there is no guarantee in any city
department that it'll happen. Chief Angelo added that the point is to define
ahead of time a stronger basis for time and service of the rank for the
qualification. Captain Orndorff commented that he was an applicant for
the last chief's test and he is in agreement with the proposal of the six
candidates remaining, but he said it is important to establish qualifications
so that the people within the department can develop their career and become
qualified for the position. Chairman suggested setting forth the qualifica-
tions for both chiefs' positions, then the Commission makes the determination
of the in-house candidates and if there are six, or even five, qualified, why
go outside? Mr. Webby commented that he would be concerned in working with
the Commission in trying to establish some testing procedure with only a
few candidates because it may not work. Chef Angelo agreed with Mr. Webby
that it wouldn't be very wise to have only afewcandidates in an assessment
center because you wouldn't have others to compare with, yet an assessment.
center would have more insight than most other types of testing. Mr. Webby
said it is possible if there is only a pool of five candidates in the begin-
ning, it may be less than that in the final stages of the process and it
could preclude the use of some examination the Commission might desire.
Mr. Cushing suggested the Commission might consider a better elaboration
of the qualifications and it might consider,a language change to have in
place until those qualifications are available.
Mr. Whitener said that at this point he was not ready for a rule change
and recommended holding it at a later date at a special session. Chairman
responded that special sessions are difficult for him now and he would not
like to postpone it while memos and discussion are fresh in their minds.
Mr. Street moved that the city attorney develop the minimal 'standards for
which individual personnel may consider promotion to chief of either depart-
ment and present it to the Commission before a final determination on the
city administrator's proposed rule change is made, with a time limit of
two months. Mr. Whitener seconded. Motion carried.
A letter dated November 8, 1983 from Assistant Chief Berg, Secretary of
the JATC was read. The JATC committee granted its approval of Firefighter
Robinson's request to take the First Class Firefighter exam in February
due to credit received for attendance at. Bates Vocational Technical Institute.
Civil Service Commission Meeting Minutes - Page 3
November., 17, 1983
Mr. Street moved, Mr. Whitener seconded, to approve Firefighter Robinson's
request. Motion carried.
The memo dated November 15, 1983 from Assistant Chief Bond giving the dates
• for the Firefighter examinations was read. Physical agility is scheduled
for December 12 and 13, Assessment Lab for December 28, 29 and 30th and
Oral Board for January 3, 4 and 5, 1984. Mr. Whitener moved, Mr. Street
seconded, to accept the memo into the record. Motion carried.
Captain Rees reported that entry level physical agility examination is scheduled
for Saturday, the 19th, at 6:30 a.m. and the written exam to be given on
November 28 and 29th. Chairman Ried inquired as to the request for the
'dummy' for the physical agility exams being removed from the 1984 budget
request. He expressed hs concern about the exam being challenged if the
substitute for the 'dummy' was not consistent each time. Mr. Cushing will
look into the matter.
The memo of October 27, 1983 from Assistant Chief LaBore to Al Bond informing
him to report as Shift Commander on November 26, 1983 was read. A memo of
the same date to John Henkel from Assistant Chief LaBore to report as Station
Lieutenant as of November 26, 1983 was read. Mr. Street moved, Mr. Whitener
seconded, to accept the letters into the record. Motion carried.
Captain Rees requested a sergeant's examination as soon as possible. Mr.
Street approved authorization of a sergeant examination. Mr. Whitener sec-
onded. Motion carried.
Mr. DiJulio reported receiving a phone call from a Firefighter applicant,
Joseph Perusse, who expressed his concern that he paid his application fee
and the time of the exam precluded him from taking the exam. He said he
had explained the purpose of the application fee. Secretary reported she
also received several phone calls from applicants who could not attend.
Mr. Street moved that the reports from the attorney and secretary be noted
and to reaffirm the current rule that the application fee is nonrefundable.
Mr. Whitener seconded. Motion carried.
The next meeting is scheduled for 8:00 a.m. , December 15, 1983, in the Council
Chambers. Meeting adjourned at 9:32 a.m.
Meeting was reconvened at 9:35 a.m. to review the fire physical agility
time frame. Mr. Street moved, Mr. Whitener seconded, to approve the cut-
off time at 10 minutes and 58 seconds, which is one second beyond the slowest
time of a member of the department. Motion carried.
Meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
l�>>
Amy E. Kato
Approved: Secretary and Chief Examiner
T. Ric�d Ried
Chairman