Loading...
2015-12-02 Civil Service Commission MinutesEDMONDS CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION MINUTES CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION MEETING Regularly Called Meeting December 2, 2015 Commissioners present: H. Scott McEwen, Chair Mike Fields Norm Davis Commissioners absent: Others present: Assistant Chief of Police Jim Lawless Secretary & Chief Examiner Mary Ann Hardie Police Corporal Mark Froland Police Officer Alan Hardwick CALL TO ORDER Chair Scott McEwen called the meeting to order at 7:02 pm. Chair McEwen welcomed new Commissioner Norm Davis to the commission and invited him to introduce himself. Commissioner Davis explained that he had lived in Alabama and works/worked in Human Services. MINUTES Chair H. Scott McEwen made a motion to approve the September 9, 2015 meeting minutes. Commissioner Mike Fields seconded the motion. The motion carried. CORRESPONDENCE Request to extend the current Police Sergeant Eligibility List (expiring 2/11/15) for a one year period (as requested by Police Corporal Mark Froland and Police Officer Alan Hardwick). Commissioner Fields inquired as to what the history has been with renewing eligibility lists in the past. Chair McEwen explained that [such requests have come before the commission and] eligibility lists have been renewed [by the commission] previously. Secretary & Chief Examiner Mary Ann Hardie confirmed that these eligibility lists have been renewed as there is no continuous testing process and eligibility list for this process for Police Corporal and Police Sergeant (as this process is cost -prohibitive) although there may be discussion in the future with the commission about this. Corporal Froland explained that he was respectfully requesting the extension of the list for a one year period from the date of expiration, also in consideration of the administrative burden (to the department) and the cost. Commissioner Fields inquired as to how many sergeants there were currently. Assistant Chief of Police (ACOP) Jim Lawless stated that there were 8-9 with one potential vacancy and that, as Ms. Hardie stated, there is not continuous testing process for this position. There was some discussion that followed by the Commission as to the expense involved with the Assessment Center process and what services the City receives for the cost of the Assessment Center (including a candidate briefing and personality profile for each candidate) which is helpful to the candidates. Commissioner Davis inquired as to whether or not the eligibility list score contained both oral and written scores. ACOP Lawless confirmed that they did. Commissioner Fields made a motion to extend the Sergeant Eligibility List for a one year period from the date of the expiration of the current list. Chair McEwen seconded the motion. The motion carried. POLICE BUSINESS Review and Approval of Entry Level Police Officer Eligibility List ACOP Lawless explained that there are a lot of tenured officers and younger officers in the department and that there have been 4-6 openings for officer positions, with 53 sworn officers (including command staff). ACOP Lawless provided an update to the commission that candidate Nathaniel Bickley (currently on the list) was interviewed and an offer of employment would likely be extended to him. Chair McEwen asked ACOP Lawless to explain (for Commissioner Davis' benefit) a little about the application process for entry level police officers. ACOP Lawless explained that the City uses Public Safety Testing (PST) and that many of the candidates at PST apply to 10-15 agencies and that the job market (including with other agencies) in the recent past has been competitive. As of late, there have been many very good candidates applying for openings. Commissioner Fields inquired as to what may be attributing to this and if it was specific to [a change] in the recruitment process. ACOP Lawless stated that Sergeant Josh McClure, the Professional Standards Sergeant, is handling the recruitment process and has done an excellent job with this. He has been using social media and other less used mediums, such as Facebook and recruitment videos, recruiting posters now, etc. There was further discussion that followed by the Commission regarding department vacancies and the entry level police officer starting pay. Chair McEwen inquired about minimum staffing levels. ACOP Lawless confirmed that there are, but that injuries, leaves, vacation schedules and sickness affected those staffing levels. Commissioner Davis made a motion to approve the Entry Level Police Officer Eligibility List. Commissioner Fields seconded the motion. The motion carried. Review and Approval of Lateral Level Police Officer Eligibility List ACOP Lawless explained that there have not been many viable candidates for this list. Recently, the department hired a lateral level candidate (Julie Burrell) in the last month and there is another candidate who has been extended a conditional offer of employment (Sierra Jensen). Chair McEwen inquired as to whether or not there was a restriction on choosing candidates in a certain order from the eligibility list(s). ACOP Lawless confirmed that was correct. There was further discussion that followed by the Commissioner regarding lateral level candidate eligibility and confirmation of the consistency/validation of the scores [by the Secretary/Chief Examiner] for the eligibility list(s). Commissioner Fields made a motion to approve the Lateral Level Police Officer Eligibility List. Chair Davis seconded the motion. The motion carried. NEW BUSINESS None OTHER Commissioner Davis inquired about whether or not the Commission may be able to use Skype and/or phone conference for meeting quorum purposes (when members are unable to physically attend the meeting). Ms. Hardie stated that, per the information provided from the city attorney's office, this would have to be adopted and incorporated into the rules. Ms. Hardie suggested that she could bring back some language for the Commission to review for adoption at the next meeting. ACOP Lawless mentioned that there may be a future request to extend the current Police Corporal Eligibility List depending on department vacancies. The meeting adjourned at 7:35 p.m. H. Scott McEwen, Chair Mary Ann Hardie, Secretary and Chief Examiner Date Date 2