Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCIV 1976-02-05 Minutes CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION CITY OF NORTH RICHLAND HILLS - 7301 N.E. Loop 820 Special Meeting(closed) ~ebruary 5, 1976 M I N U T E S CALL TO ORDER: Mr. Moore called the special meeting of the Civil Service Commission to order at 7:30 p.m. on February 5, 1976, in the conference room of the City Hall Building located at 7301 N.E. Loop 820, City of North Richland Hills. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes of the previous meeting of January 27th were approved by a motion from Mr. Denver Mi11s. Mr. Moore seconded the motion. The Minutes stand approved by a vot~ of 2- 0. At this time the meeting was closed for the agenda item, personnel problems. ROLL CALL: COMMI5SION MEMBERS PRESENT Mr. W. C. Moore, Vice Chairman Mr. Denver Mills COMMISSION MEMBER ABSENT Mr. John Green, Chairman OTHER5 PRESENT: Gene Riddle, City Manager Hamp Scruggs, Police Chief Stan Gertz, Fire Chief Don Andrews, Employee Helen Cline, Deputy Secretary AGENDA Item: Personnel Problems Gene Riddle first gave the steps of the "transfer" of Don Andrews from the Fire Department to the Police Depart- ment, as he knew them to occur. Chief Scruggs talked with Gene regarding the "transfer". Gene referred the . ~ Chief to the Civil Service. Later, being made aware that there were others who were interested in the same position, they discussed the validity of the special testin~. Hamp Scruggs expressed that it was a matter of co~nunication. Since the Civil Service Coramissioners are not readily available, he had come to the office where both Ruth Pinner, Secretary, and Helen Cline, Deputy Secretary, were. He said he had Don Andrews wanting to transfer from the Fire Department to the Police Department and that he understood Don would have to take a written examination in order to transfer. We agreed that testing would be _ necessary. The test was administered and the score was higher than all others remaining on the register. Hamp frankly expressed that, in his opinion, present city employees might have precedence over outsiders. He recognized the newness of the Civil Service rules, the fact that they Special Meeting February 5, 1976 Page 2 ° are not yet approved by the City Council and the possibility of mistakes being made by all who attempt to comply with these policies and regulations. He said there were no special favors made. Mr. Moore asked Don Andrews whether he had an application on file for the Police Department position. His answer was "no". Mr. Mil1s, referring to the rules, found no preference, only on the basis of seniority for the two years service. He asked, "When is an eligibility list invalid?" Chief Scruggs pointed out the use of double standards of hiring in the City, since the only testing done is for the Police Department and the Fire Department. A general discussion pertaining to hiring of clerical workers and others in the Public Works and/or Utilities ensued. The question was considered whether preference should be given and if so, when, in cases where applicants were coming from the public and from prior city service. The question was not resolved as to what should be done with the remaining names on the register when there were less than three names to be certified and when another testing must be given in order to provide names on a new register. ~ Mr. Moore referred to Article XVII, Section 9. Competitive examination for eligibility lists is provided for persons making proper application. All applicants considered must meet all requirements and qualifications set out in these rules. Mr. Scruggs stated that there is no clause in the Charter which provides for transfers. The Police Department and Fire Departments have seriously considered the 1269-M, State Civil Service, which is set up for only those two departments. The City Council promoted city Civil Service which would be for al1 employees. Mr. M311s explained that the Civil Service has not gotten far enough along to establish testing for all departments of the City, but should do so. Hamp Scruggs pointed out that the Charter requires two years in grade service for promotions. Although Don Andrews has two years service, Scruggs did not consider this transfer to be a promotion; however, Don might consider it such because of the increase in salary. Hamp suggested that the Civil Service Commission make the present written test invalid. Stan Gertz reviewed the results of testing in Che Fire Department, which leave the opinion that the test used was unsatisfactory. Special Meeting February 5, 1976 Page 3 Mr. Mills, again, Article XVII, Section 14, on promotions is applicable to two years prior service within ranks only. There were four names on the existing register of eligibles and there was no request made for these names, by the Department Head. The secretary made no certification of eligibles to the Department Head. The special written examination was given on January 21, 1976 at 11:30 to 1:30 in the Council Chambers of the City Hall located at 4101 Morgan Circle, City of North Richland Hills. Hamp Scruggs brought a copy of the examination and the employee, Don Andrews, to Helen Cline, Deputy Secretary, and asked if the test would be given. It was begun at 11:30 a.m. At 12:30 p.m. Helen ~ent to lunch, leaving Ruth Pinner to administer during the lunch hour. At 1:30 p.m. the test was graded by the Deputy Secretary in the presence of Don Andrews. He had a total of 36 wrong answers. Hamp Scruggs picked up the examination as soon as it was graded to have someone calculate his score in points. Hamp Scruggs inquired as to whether something could be written into the Charter to provide for proper transfers? He feels Andrews has certain advantages because of his knowledge of the City, streets and so forth. Mr. Mills expressed a need to revise the Charter so that we could.employ the best qualified people both from the outside and from prior service with the City. Mr. Riddle inquired what were our classification codes and whether they relate one department to another. Mr. Moore showed him the ordinance chart with codes. Mr. Mills said that in his opinion, we were in violation of the Charter, the way it is written now, and we should override the transfer. Mr. Moore pointed out that Don Andrews never applied for police officer work, which the Charter requires. The examination was not advertised. Other applicants for police work were not tested at the same time. He felt the action should be reversed. He explained to Don that it was not from a personal standpoint, but he was looking only at the Charter and compliance with the EEO laws. Mr. Moore made the motion that the transfer of Don Andrews from the Fire Department to the Police Department be ~ reversed due to violation of Sections 8, 9& 10, Article XVII, Charter of the City of North Richland Aills. Mr. Mills seconded the motion. The vote was 2- 0. Special Meeting February 5, 1976 Page 4 Gene Riddle pointed out that no matter what our rules or Charter say, we must comply with EEO regulations. Mr. Mills stated that the Civil Service was designed to protect people and also to surface better qualified persons ~or employment. Chief Scruggs agreed that we should reverse the transfer, have Don apply for police officer work and then take the examination whenever it is announced. Mr. Mills requested an opportunity to present some questions to the city attorney for his research, and then a chance to meet with him. Mr. Moore agreed the Civil Service may be amiss in not having testing for all employees, but it has done other work which awaits action by the City Council. Hamp Scruggs stated that the employees are still not getting what was promised to them, such as an automatic cost of living increase, pay scale and retirement. Also, he expressed a need for the Department Heads to know what the Civil Service rules are, in order to abide by them. Mr. Moore understood that each Department Head should have a copy of the PAS Study containing Rules and Regulations. Mr. Moore made a motion to ad~ourn the meeting at 9:30 p.m. The motion was seconded by Mr. Mills. The meeting was adjourned. W. C. Moore, Vice Chairman . i:``~~ii ~ ~ e en Cline, Deputy Secretary