1987-01-20 CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING MINUTES..
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE CIVIL .SERVICE COMMISSION
OF THE CITY OF PEARLAND, TEXAS HELD ON JANUARY 20, 1987, AT
7:05 P.M. LN THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF CITY HALL, 2335 N. TEXAS
AVENUE, PEARLAND, TEXAS.
The regular meeting was called to order with the
following members present:
James Gilbert - Chairperson
Gail Birdsong - Vice Chairperson
Mary Hickling - Director
****************
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of the November 11, 1986 meeting were approved as
read.
ACTIVITY
~ Director Hickling presented the results of the entrance level
exam held on December 13, 1986 in the form of a current eligibility
list. Gilbert. made a motion to accept-the eligibility list as
information. Birdsong seconded,-the motion carried.
Plans were announced for a promotional exam to be .given on March
19, 1987 for Lieutenant.. Three positions need to be filled at
this level, and three positions at the sergeants level are being
eliminated. This classification change comes as a result of
the passage of Ordinance 450-3 on December 8, 1986.
Commissioner Birdsong made a motion that Commissioner Gilbert
be re-elected as Chairman of the Commission. There was no
opposition to that motion, Gilbert seconded and the motion
L.
carried.
Commissioner Gilbert made a motion that Commissioner Birdsong
r-- be re-elected as Vice-Chairperson of the Commission. There was
no opposition to the motion, Birdsong seconded and the motion
carried.
ADJOURNMENT
~^ The meeting was adjourned at 8:12 p.m.
Minutes approved as submitted and/or corrected this the ~'-~ ~
day of March, A.D., 1987, by Mary Hickling, Director.
Chairperson
~,
THE FOLLOWING OFFICERS PARTICIPATED IN THE PROMOTIONAL EXAM FOR
~ THE RANK. OF LIEUTENANT ON MARCH 19, 1987, AND RECEIVED PASSING
GRADES. SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS ARE BEING USED AS A MEANS OF
IDENTIFICATION TO ENSURE EACH OFFICERtS RIGHT OF PRIVACY.
r ~'
SOCIAL SECURITY #
RAW SCORE SENIORITY POINTS
449-25-5623 97 6
218-44-2594 88 6
139-28-8660 88 5
476-44-8775 73 10
464-68-3479 70 10
46,6..-80-1044 72 8
POSTED: MARCH 19, 1987
MAR'lf H,rt~`K L I NG
DIREC OF CIVIL
IQE
TOTAL SCORE
103
94
93
83
80
8Q
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9 - Coil of o
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*,.EX~* CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION
P.O. Box 818
Peorland, Texos 77588-0818 (713) 485-Q411
T0: CHIEF ROBERT RIEMENSCHNEIDER
SUBJECT: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR RANK OF LIEUTENANT
DATE: MARCH 20, 1987
CHIEF RIEMENSCHNEIDER:
IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS SET FORTH IN VERNON'S TEXAS
CIVIL STATUTES, ARTICLE 1269m, SECTION 14CE), THE CIVIL SERVICE
COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF PEARLAND, TEXAS HEREBY RECOMMENDS THE
FOLLOWING FOR .PROMOTION TO THE RANK OF LIEUTENANT IN THE PEARLAND
POLICE DEPARTMENT:
RANDALL L. GARNER
JAMES A. TEMPLIN
ROBERT J. CUNA
IF YOU SHOULD HAVE A VALID REASON WHY THE AFOREMENTIONED OFFICERS.
SHOULD NOT BE PROMOTED TO THE RANK OF LIEUTENANT, YOU MUST FILE
THESE REASONS IN WRITTEN FORMS WITH THE CITY OF PEARLAND CIVIL
SERVICE COMMISSION FOR REVIEW.
VERY TRULY YOURS,
/,~
MAR` H`F£iCL I NG
DIRECTOR OF CIVIL
CC: CITY MANAGER, RON WICKER
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CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION
P.o. Box s18
Peorlond, Texos 77588-0818
{713} 485-Q411
TO: ROIJ ~iICKER, CITY MANAGER
CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION
FROM: MARY HICKLING~ DIRECTOR OF CIVIL SERV
- ICE
DATE: FEBRUARY 4, 1987
RE: TML/TMPA CIVIL SERVICE WORKSHOP
Thank you very much for the opportunity to attend the recent
workshop in Fort Worth on Civil Service. I was very much
encouraged by the things I heard there, and greatly appreciate
the opportunity to network with other Civil Service Directors,
City Managers, Personnel Management and City Attorneys.
~ ~
.Enclosed is a summary of the meetings I attended. I also have
cassette tapes of each meeting available in my office. Thank
you again.
i-
TML/TMPA CIVIL SERVICE WORKSHOP
SPEAKER: TED WILLIS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, TEXAS MUNICIPAL LEAGUE.
TOPIC: LEGISLATIVE PROCESS; CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSIONS: HOW
THE PROCESS OUGHT TO WORK, and KEYS TO MAKING THE
CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION EFFECTIVE; RESPONSIBILITIES
OF A PERSONNEL MANAGER/CIVIL SERVICE DIRECTOR.
LEGISLATIVE PROCESS:
1. 28$ of the grants previously available to Cities, have been
cut back.
2. The President, in his new budget, recommends basically, that
all Federal Domestic Aid Programs to cities be eliminated.
3. The Federal Government proposes to impose mandatory medicare
coverage on all municipal employees. There is a mentality
that exists that suggests this will not be defeated.
4. Reduction in Federal Aid is being funneled to other programs,
therefore, the budget isn't actually being "shaved". This
is not a favorable practice.
5. Single greatest adversary is police and fire units. They
represent something less than a responsible position, and
are only concerned with their own welfare. This is due-
in part, to the influence of Labor Unions.
6. Labor should be more optimistic. in 1987, as the Senate is
more liberal than in previous years.
7. Two major issues should dominate your attention as managers
during this legislative session, according to Mr. Willis:
a. Tort Reform
b. An unprecedented, major assault by Labor Unions
to take control of the Texas Municipal .Retirement
System.(TMRS).
CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSIONS: HOW THE PROCESS OUGHT TO WORK
1. Anon-political management environment should exist.
2. A Director and/or Personnel Manager who will talk with the
fire and police people, and .listen to them. This will.
create an attitude of trust instead of rejection and alienation.
3. Three member commission - These people should be appointed
-''' as "civic minded" individuals, with "no pre-conceived lean
to labor or management, realizing the stress involved in
sitting on the Commission. They should be people who will
go out of their way to be fair and objective". People
appointed on the Commission should have the highest degree
of leadership in the community, and on par with the leadership
of that community..i.e. City Council..
• 4. The City should take its .position just as seriously as the
officer .does.
GOOD PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT:
1. There is no substitute for good management.
2. The. greatest single asset we have in our organization is our
people. "They ought to be treated with a high degree of
dignity and respect. Experience proves that they respond to
that. They'll work a little harder and longer if .this type
of management prevails, because they feel they can trust
management". There is a world of difference between a _
manager and a leader. Develop good managers. "Your leaders
will inspire competence and trust".
3. Times for City Municipalities are hard. It is time to
re-trench and to work smarter and harder. One way to do
that is to work with our employees and to listen to them.
Break down the barriers of dis-trust.
4. Encourage Commissions, Councils, Department Heads, everyone,
to listen.
SPEAKER: JAN STRICKLAND - CIVIL SERVICE DIRECTOR, CITY OF WICHITA FALLS
,--.
TOPIC: CIVIL SERVICE COMMLSSIONS AND DIRECTORS: COMMANDMENTS
AFFECTING EACH, AND HELPFUL HINTS FOR BETTER EFFECTIVENESS
CIVIL SERVICE COMMANDMENTS:
THOU. SHALL
1. Always strive .for fairness
2. Always maintain objectivity
3. Always present a concerned, responsible, caring and
listening image.
.THOU SHALL NOT
1.
Hear or consider any information that isn't presented"inside"
the Hearing Room.
2. Give Commissioners information or opinions in reference to
a Hearing, before that Hearing is conducted.
3. Give Commissioners any information other than the Chief's
statement and the request for appeal before the Hearing is
~ conducted.
HELPFUL HINTS
1. Develop an orientation program for new members. The Director
should take him through a Hearing, step by step, Rules should
never just be handed over to a new Commissioner...instead
,
the Director should take that new person through the rules
and 1269m and help. them to understand the process.
2. The Commission can investigate, subpoena, etc. This information
should be presented to the Commissioners for the first tim
e
at the Hearing. It can be presented by the Director, the
Commission's attorney, or any other person designated to
investigate for the Commission.
3. A Hearing can be stopped,-the investigation can be held, and
the Hearing reconvened.
4. Basically, 1269m takes men and women of
good character (laymen
)
r--~ .
,
and makes them District ''Judges. With that thought
a
,
Commissioner should get a statement of .charges from the Chief,
a written appeal that states exception to the charges and
a Hearing is then scheduled. Never refuse or deny a request
for a Hearing. Even if the Commission calls a Hearing and
-^ then has to say, "We can not hear this, or we have no obligation
to hold a Hearing for this purpose". One Director told of
denying a Hearing to an officer who complained because his
schedule had been changed. The officer took his complaint to
Federal Court and won $170,OOOrpartly because no one would
listen to his complaint.
5. Hearings must be conducted and a written decision rendered
within 30 days of request for appeal. If investigation is
expected, don't wait too long into that 30 day period before
scheduling.
6. Investigations made before the Hearing should be conducted by
the Director or some other appointee, and presented ads
evidence du,~r_ing the Hearing; otherwise your decision may be
overturned. At the Hearing, subpoened witnesses may be called
by the Commission, to support findings.
7. If Hearing is stopped, with intent to reconvene after an
investigation is conducted, be sure to announce the date
~ and time of returning to open meeting.
8. The Final Order should be written and signed by the
Commission as soon as possible after the decision is rendered.
It must state clearly what decision was rendered. If it i
s
a dismissal, the allegations given in the .Chief's original
statement must be listed, and a statement given that the
Chief's remarks were .indeed true.
9. It is the responsibility of the Civil Service Director to help
the Commissioners "dot their I's and cross their T's"
10. .
The Commission has the right to ask anyone in the audience if
they have anything relevant to the issue. The. Civil Service
Commission's attorney can then tell the Commission how to
continue.
I1. Experts on 1269m are not going to be your City Attorneys.
Your 1269m experts are those people who do nothing-but work
1269m......~, and your police and fire people.
12.
~- COMMISSIONERS AND DIRECTORS: Watch your body language during
the Hearing. Show interst and concern. Don't advertise that
you'd rather be somewhere else.
13. During the Hearing, the Commission has the power to control
the Hearing room. If someone is being disruptive, a Commissioner
might say,"There is a gentleman in the audience, who I believe
has some information that he would .like to share with the
Commission" or, "Sir,ryou've been trying to say something
to us, would you like to address the Commission at this time?".
(At this point, if he answers to the affirmative, be sure to
swear him in) If the heckler says, "You are a bunch of
S.O.A.'s", say, "Thank-you very much for that information,
are you finished?". You never want to tell someone off, or
put someone down...this would very clearly prove that you
could not be objective and fair. Remember, you are to listen
and consider all sides, be objective and render a fair decision.
Always lend dignity, respect and order to the Hearinq Room,
not disorder, confusion or comedy.
14. Requests for Hearings must not be refused. You may require
a written request, but always accept the request when it is
made properly.
FOR CONSIDERATION
WHAT RIGHTS ARE AVAILABLE TO THE PRESS? (same as everyone else)~If
you do not want the press badgering your witnesses, cloister
them with a monitor or someone who will tell the press that
the rule has been invoked and these witnesses can not talk
about the case at this time ".
WHEN .SHOULD A COMMISSIONER REMOVE HIMSELF FROM A CASE? When they
are personally involved or related to someone involved in
the appeal process. The question should be asked before that'-
Commissioner is appointed: can you remain objective? Appointments
should not be made of people who cannot remove themselves.
from the situation.
HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH "CONDUCT UNBECOMING TO AN OFFICER?
WHAT IS MORAL TURPITUDE?
SPEAKER: RANDY STRONG - CITY ATTORNEY, BAYTOWN
TOPIC: PROCESSING APPEALS
Appeals can be broken into 3 major catagoriesr
A. Disciplinary
B. Tests, as in the promotional process
C. B.S. appeals
DISCIPLINARY:
1. There is a set procedure for disciplinary action. Look at
. Section I7 of i269m for appeal procedure guidelines.
2. An officer will risk the cost of the arbitrator when he feels
he can not get a fair Hearing from the Commission. This will
result in much more cost to the City and~to the officer..
3. Always have a copy of the Hearing transcribed in case of
an appeal. to District Court. Cassette tapes are nice to be
able to refer to in deliberation.
4. Prior to formally terminating an officer, the Chief should
notify that officer that he is contemplating taking. disciplinary
action against that officer which would result in termination..
At that point,_an appointment should be scheduled for that
officer to come before the Chief and state, basically, why
he believes that he should not be fired. Otherwise, the officer
might complain that he was denied due process of a termination
hearing. Give him an opportunity ahead of time to plead for
consideration.
5. Section 18 of 1269m covers appeal to District Court,-trial
de novo. Sometime you can convince the trial judge to read _
the transcript before the trial date. This way you can get
a much quicker decision and you dont have to go through the
time and expense of a new trial.
APPEALS OF TESTS AND PROMOTIONS
1. Section 14 provides guidelines for promotional exams
2. It is suggested that the Director does not plan to be available
for questions immediately following the grading of the exam.
Rather, that she/he schedule appointments-for the next morning
and deal with any problems on a 1 to 1 basis, rather than a
5 to 1, etc.
3. An officer has 5 business days to appeal the exam to the
Commission. The complaint must be specific.. If requirements
of filing the appeal are met, then the Hearing should be held.
~^ At the Hearing, listen to all applicants who might be affected
by a change...this might influence the decision. If change
to the test occurs, it chhnges for everyone.-
. 4. BYPASS- Bypass occurs when the Chief makes a decision to hire
someone outside of the order in which they appear on the
' eligibility list. Refer to Section 14. E. and Section 10
1269m. When this occurs, the Chief should sit down and
discuss with that officer, why he is being bypassed. See
Denton vs. Matheson. In this event, don't list too many
negatives for why the officer was bypassed, rather list the
positives for why the preferred officer was chosen. '
5. The Chief, in the event of a bypass, will make a written-,
report to the Commission in reference to~his reasons for the
by-pass. This should contain as many reasons as possible,
as this is the document that the courts will look at if appealed.
B.S. APPEALS
1. Non-specific complaints that do not point out the precise
argument; can't identify the problem; just un-happy.
2. Weigh these very carefully. It is sometimes best to hear
these to allow the employee to make his grievance heard.
NEPOTISM
1. This becomes a problem when you have too many relatives
working in a given department together to keep them scheduled
apart. In police departments there is danger in having
f married couples work together..i.e. when in a life or death
situation, emotion would play a large role in the way a person
reacts. One city (Baytown) recently asked their Civil Service
Commission to draft a rule regarding Nepotism. The rule was
written to prohibit future marriages in the department, and
it was written in such a way, that if 2 Civil Service employees
,~ got married, it would constitute the resignation of .the
officer with the least seniority unless they designated that
the other would resign. RE: Pasadena
i • ~
SPEAKERS: RITA HARMAN, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, PAST PERSONNEL &
CIVIL SERVICE DIRECTOR, LUBBOCK
NANCY CARNEY, DIRECTOR OF PERSONNEL & CIVIL SERVICE,
GARLAND
DAN TARTAGLIA, ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEY, FT, WORTH
TOPIC: "WHAT SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN LOCAL CIVIL SERVICE RULES"
There are four key points to remember when re-writing your
• local rules:
I. WHEN should you attempt to re-write the local rules?
- Do not attempt to re-write the rules if there are
significant or major managerial problems or issues
facing your police and fire departments at that
time...i.e. changing traditional ways of promotional
testing, reduction in force or size of the department,
hiring or firing of chief, etc.
II. WHO ought to be involved in this process?
- Be sure you understand...this is an intense process,
that takes time, patience and much study and thought.
- The result that you are looking for in a finished
product is a workable, document of value that can be
used on a daily basis. The best people qualified to
work on this project are the Director and staff, the
Commission and the Commission's attorney.
III. HOW should one approach the re-drafting process?
- Find those xules which are in direct conflict with.
1269m or related statutes.
- Compare the provisions with the current practices. of
the police and-fire departments.
- Review the Charter provisions for the establishment
of the Commission.
- Compare section by section to State and Federal Laws
r-- for any apparent conflict to non-Civil Service employment
laws.
. y
- Compare to procedural changes that are covered in
the minutes, but not yet covered in the rules.
- Extract those procedures and put them. in the rules.
- Make a list of things not included that-you would
like to see.
IV. WHAT should and should not be included?
• - The rules and regulations should be a policy guide-.
to the Director, the Commission, Department Heads and
' Civil Service employees.
- The rules should clarify, elaborate, define and/or
specify.
- The Civil Service Commission is the only board of
appointed public officials that share personnel
responsibilities with the City Manager and the City
Council. Lines of.jurisdiction on many issues are
drawn very narrow.. Councils and Commissions have
a tendency to covet their responsibilities. Be very
sensitive to this.
- The general purpose of the Commission should be stated
in the rules, giving the purpose of: the act,. and the
ultimate purpose of the Commission's actions.
Set out an outline that covers these 7 general areas:
I. General Considerations and definitions
A. Equal Employment Statement
B. Affirmative Action Policy
C. Non-Discrimination Statement
D. Definition of terms
II. Commission Actions, Responsibility and Authority
A. Purpose
B. Meetings
C. Records
D. Proceedings
III. Employment and Selection
A. Application Process
,~ .
B. selection Criteria
IV. Promotions and Appointments.
A. Tie Breaking Rules
B.
s ~ i
V. Disciplinary Actions
A. Written reprimand
l--
B. Indefinite Suspensions
C. What kind of applications do you want to address?
VI. Benefits
A. Those identified by 1269m
B. Vacation -general
• C. Sick Leave -general
D. Other
VII.Saving Clause
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