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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Civil Services Commission - 01/20/1990 CITY OF KENT CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION MINUTES Thursday, January 20, 1994 at 8:00 a.m. Members Present: Ron Forest Callius Zaratkiewicz Others Present: Lt Shepard, Human Resource Senior Analyst- Rose Nelson, Sgt Weissich, Lt Cline, Chief Crawford, others present. Chair Forest called the meeting to order at 8:10 a.m. I. COMMISSION BUSINESS: None. II. REPORTS City Attorney, Roger Lubovich- no report Fire Chief Angelo- Scheduling conflict. Police Chief, Ed Crawford- no report. Human Resource Senior Analyst, Rose Nelson- no report. III. HEARINGS • IV. OLD BUSINESS Chair Forest motioned to approve the Minutes from the December 30, 1993 Civil Service Commission Special Meeting. Seconded and carried. V. NEW BUSINESS Chair Forest motioned to Accept into Record the memo dated December 15, 1993 from Chief Angelo to the Commission notifying them of the offer of a position of Probationary Firefighter to Jeffrey L. Ziegler, effective starting date based upon successful completion of his physical and psychological evaluations and the start of the next Academy. Seconded and carried. Chair Forest motioned to Accept into Record the letters dated December 15, 1993 from Chief Crawford to Jeffrey Allen Cobb, Brian Trent Bunch and Dennis Patrick McCrillis and confirming their appointments as probationary Police Officer effective December 21, 1993. Seconded and carried. Lt Cline stated for the record that the order of hire for Seniority purposes was as follows: 1. Jeffrey Allen Cobb 2. Brian Trent Bunch 3. Dennis Patrick McCrillis ,f Page 2 Civil Service - Minutes January 20, 1994 Chair Forest motioned to Accept into Record the letter dated December 16, 1993 from Chief Crawford to Corrections Sergeant Stone notifying her of her successful completion of her probationary period effective December 16, 1993. Seconded and carried. Chair Forest motioned to Accept into Record the letter dated December 30, 1993 from the Civil Service Examiner to Mr. Schmit notifying him that the City of Kent Civil Service Commission denied his request to reconvene the Firefighter Oral Boards. Seconded and carried. Chair Forest motioned to Accept into Record the letter dated January 6, 1994 from Chief Angelo notifying the Commission of the resignation of Firefighter Duane S. Keyes effective December 6, 1993. Seconded and carried. Chair Forest Opened for Discussion the memo dated January 13, 1994 from Lt. Cline requesting: 1. That eighty (80) applicants, including ties, be invited to the Entry Level Police Officer Oral Board Interview and that three concurrent Oral Board Panels be set up. 2. That a new Civil Service Rule be written to allow reversion rights to last held Civil Service position for Employees that are selected as Police Chief from a currently held Civil Service • Position. Lt Cline noted that the Police Department would like to table Item 2, the New Rule request, until the next meeting. Regarding Item 1. Lt. Cline outlined that the Police Department would like run the three Oral Boards at the same time which would require appointing two assistants to the Civil Service Examiner to run the other two Oral Board Panels. The Civil Service Examiner interjected and asked to go on record that she felt that there should be a single Oral Board and that she had no objection to running them for two weeks. She felt that having three separate Oral Boards with separate Assessors and Examiners would leave the Commission open to Appeal due to the fact that each of the Assessors and Examiners would be bringing different life experiences and perceptions to the individual Oral Boards thus not allowing each candidate the same scoring in his/her interview. Lt. Cline stated that was true but that other Agencies have run multiple Oral Boards successfully and due to time constraints regarding employee hours and drain on personnel to carry out the process within one week is a tremendous strain. Two weeks in a row is pretty much unbearable. Three different boards at this time would seem to be the way to go. Chair Forest inquired if the Orals had been run two weeks at a time. The Examiner stated that for Fire yes but for Police no. Chair Forest asked if either of the Unions had anything to say or any opinions regarding this matter. Both answered no. Page 3 Civil Service - Minutes January 20, 1994 Chief Crawford stated that with objective standards the process would not be open to appeal. He stated that the Department would prefer not to have to run another test within a six month period. The Police Department feels that it is very important to get people of color and other protected groups into the Interview process so that there is the opportunity to grade fairly. In the past they have not been able to do that. Having sat on Oral Boards previously himself, after a week you're through. He questions the credibility of a Board that would sit for more than a week interviewing candidates. A Board could only handle so many candidates before they're through. The Police Department feels that this is an opportunity to reach out and get as many people through the Oral Boards as possible. They have felt in the past that the Oral Board Interviewers, with the help of Civil Service, have been extremely valuable and have really been an excellent gauge to the quality of people they have hired. He thanked the Examiner for that. C/A Attorney Lubovich stated that it could be done but that there could be challenges to it because of the different people involved. He stated the opinions of the Chief and the Examiner were well taken. That there haven't been any challenges to the current process to-date. He supposed that it could be challenged. • Chair Forest noted that he had sat on Hiring Boards himself and when you have eighty people to interview, towards the end of the list your main goal is just to get it done. You're not concerned about a whole lot else. You're tired and everything looks the same at that point. The Examiner asked the Commission if they decided to go with the three separate Oral Boards that the people serving as Assessors would all have similar positions so that they would bring the same type of credibility to the Board. If there is an officer on one board, then all three boards will have to have an officer. Chief Crawford stated that, of course if there were three Oral Boards there would have to be six (6) officers, two per board. The Examiner thanked him for that stating that her overall concern is for consistency in the makeup of the Boards and to eliminate any possibility of Appeals to the process, for even though the Appeals might not be upheld, they are very time and cost consuming to all parties concerned. Commissioner Zaratkiewicz stated that he concurred. Chair Forest stated that he could relate to both sides of the situation and tended to think that having three Oral Boards would be the way to go. The Examiner noted that the City of Kent is known for running a tight ship with regards to its testing process. Current Oral Board Dimensions need to be explicitly defined. She asked if the dimensions were going to be weighted. Lt. Cline stated yes. She suggested that if the Commission decided on three Oral Boards, the dimensions be well defined and criteria • consistent, and given to all Assessors for timely review. Then if there were Appeals the Oral Board process could be defended. Page 4 Civil Service - Minutes January 20, 1994 Chief Crawford stated that he agreed that the Orals need to be objective and that there be a training session beforehand. He further stated that from what he had seen from the previous Boards that they were run exactly that way. He did not see a need to do anything differently. There is a time-line problem because the Police Department wants to get the candidates into the State Academy in a timely manner. Chair Forest asked how the Assistant Examiners would be picked. Lt. Cline stated that they are usually selected from within the Department and that they would have similar backgrounds. Chair Forest asked if they would be trained by the Examiner for consistency and then they could be reappointed for future Oral Boards. Chief Crawford stated that he thought that the Examination process was valid. That, for example, his Godson had gone through the last examination process and then failed the Oral Board. He noted that it shows the validity of the process and the value of the Examiners and Civil Service, that they have consistently been above board and by the book and that is what he wants. He has no worry of making sure, with the help of the Examiner, that the integrity of the Board is • perfect. Lt. Shepard suggested keeping the Examiner throughout two weeks of Oral Boards and changing the Assessors. The Police Department stated that time was the factor, one week of orals only. Chair Forest stated that he felt that if people were brought from within and the Examiner trained them, that could be done without opening the process to too much vulnerability to Appeals. The Examiner asked if the Orals would all be run in the same building. Lt. Cline stated yes that the Detectives briefing room could be separated into two rooms and the Chiefs Conference Room. The Examiner asked if the Detectives Briefing area rooms were totally soundproof so that the interviews could be carried out without fear of being overheard. Lt Cline stated he would check them out and if not he would find another room within the general area. Chair Forest asked C/A Lubovich his opinion regarding the process. C/A Lubovich: "I think you can do it. I would like to suggest having Catherine for continuity throughout the whole process but its not my decision. You can do it either way. Time is a factor and if another four or five days is going to have an impact on it I guess you can't really do that. There is some bearing to continuity. Accessibility to the Examiner is the next best thing as long as there are no questions to the procedure." Page 5 Civil Service - Minutes January 20, 1994 There was further discussion regarding the number of Assistant Examiners. It was decided that the Civil Service Examiner would train three Assistant Examiners to run the Oral Boards and she herself would rotate each day into each of the individual Oral Board rooms. Chair Forest stated and Commissioner Zaratkiewicz concurred that the Commission should allow the process and observe the results. Chair Forest motioned to allow three concurrent Oral Boards,with three Assistant Examiners,for the Entry Level Police Officer examination process and that the Commission be given a report on how it went after it's completion. Seconded and carried. Chair Forest motioned to Accept into Record the memo dated January 14, 1994 to Lt. Cline from the Civil Service Examiner regarding running three separate concurrent Oral Boards for the Entry Level Police Officer Oral Board Interviews. Seconded and carried. Chair Forest motioned to Accept into Record the Certification Letter dated January 14, 1994 from the Civil Service Chief Examiner establishing the Eligibility List for Entry Level Corrections Officer. Seconded and carried. The Examiner referred to Mr. Santos's Reclassification stating that due to her Medical Leave and • the changes within the Human Resource Department, she and Rose Nelson had not been able to start working together. Chairman Forest asked Ms. Nelson what the schedule was on the reclassification. Ms. Nelson stated that a schedule had not yet been mapped out due to the loss of their Director and the appointment of the new Operations Director, Brent McFall who has not been briefed on this and also Catherines Medical Leave had impacted this as well. Forest: 'Thank you. As there is no other business to come before the Commission, we will adjourn" Adjourned at 8:30 a.m. The next Civil Service Meeting will be held on Thursday, February 24, 1994 at 8:00 a.m. in Council Chambers West. Please note that this will be the fourth Thursday of the month. Respectfully submitted, Q 4�- Catherine M. Guiguet Secretary & Chief Examiner Approved: Zj /; ;z"L I 'iVion Fo est, Chair