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Civil Service Commission Minutes - 05/10/2007MINUTES OF THE FIREFIGHTERS' AND POLICE OFFICERS' CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION May 10, 2007 Present: Bob Monaghan, Chairman § Commission Members Dr. Ernest Dover § Dr. Floyd Thornton § Dennis Bachman, Police Chief § Earl Foster, Fire Chief § Bill Weske, Assistant Fire Chief § David Winney, Human Resources Director § City Staff Julia Vasquez, First Assistant City Attorney § Linda Merrill, Recording Secretary § Russell Sheppard § James Gowen § Firefighters, WFFD Steve Wilkinson, FEO § 1. Call to Order. Chairman Monaghan called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. 2. Approval of Minutes (April 27, 2007). Commissioner Dover moved, seconded by Commissioner Thornton, that the minutes of the meeting of April 27, 2007, be approved. The motion carried. 3. Action Concerning And Ruling On Appeal By Firefighters James Gowen, Scott Freeland And Russell D. Sheppard On The Interpretation Of Local Civil Service Rules And Section 143.033(a) And (b) Of The TEXAS LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE Regarding Seniority Points. Chairman Monaghan noted the Commission discussed this issue at length at its last meeting. The item was tabled for further deliberation until today. He asked the appellants if they had anything to add to their statements. None did. He asked his fellow Commissioners if they wished to speak. They did not. Chairman Monaghan then addressed the appellants. He noted that the Commission spent a lot of time reviewing the minutes and looking at the state and Minutes of the Civil Service Commission Meeting May 10, 2007 2 local statutes. The minutes clearly pointed out that there is a misunderstanding between the language used prior to the changes made in 2005 and the language used hence, as well as in the application of that language. His personal opinion is that the changes to the state and local codes in 2005 clearly had intended to declare when a firefighter becomes certified. The state code elaborated on its definition of what qualified meant in terms of certification of firefighters. On that basis, he moved that the three appeals be denied. Seconded by Commissioner Dover, the motion unanimously carried. Chairman Monaghan expressed his apologies to the appellants. He noted that this ruling will have a different effect on Mr. Gowen than on Messrs. Sheppard and Freeland (as Mr. Gowen was already certified when he joined the department). He acknowledged that part of the confusion is that seniority has been applied back to the date trainees started in the fire academy versus the day they were certified as firefighters. He offered his regrets, but observed that the Commission has to rule based upon its interpretation of the local and state codes. The Chairman then urged those responsible for administering the rules to make sure they are consistently applied. He offered the appellants the opportunity to comment. They did not wish to do so, and left the meeting. 4. Report from Police Chief. Chief Bachman noted the Police Department is considering changes to its hiring process, pending Commission approval. The physical part of the entrance examination has been problematic. For instance, the requirement that applicants perform 32 sit -ups in one minute is causing the department to lose some good applicants. When the physical requirements were set, the Coopers standard was applied in what was thought to be a good range. The Department will want the graduates from the Academy to be able to perform in that range or higher, but the requirement can be lowered for those just entering the Academy. They'll be worked up to higher standards through training. He will come back at a later date with a proposal for the Commission to consider. He believes this change would not lower the Department's standards, but could result in more applicants. Chairman Monaghan asked if the standards were changed at the time of the change to the Local Rules in 2005. Chief Bachman replied affirmatively, but he could not tell him off -hand exactly which ones were amended. They looked at the Cooper standards and took the median standard for local law enforcement. The federal guidelines are the strictest, followed by the State, and then the local. Staff tried to find a median level. As an example, a median range was used in one criterion, but within that median, there were five ranges. For some unknown reason, the bottom of the range was chosen for all but one, where the top of the range was used. He and his staff will look at these issues and bring a proposed change to the Commission. Minutes of the Civil Service Commission Meeting May 10, 2007 3 He added that his own department might need to study the controversy over seniority points. Chief Foster told him the fire seniority points are different from police. Chairman Monaghan noted that the language for the police is much clearer. Chief Bachman noted that 16 officers are graduating from the Academy in the near future. Still, at the end of this month, the Department will be short 10 officers. In addition, he is losing Lt. Fred Smith, a 32 -year veteran of the Department. He regrets that he is leaving, as he is a valuable resource, but he has been given a good career opportunity and is retiring. Chairman Monaghan asked that the Commission be included on the invitation list for graduation. Chief Bachman assured him they would be invited. The Academy will continue for approximately 14 more weeks. He then noted that the Department has recently held an open house open to females only. On June 19, they will hold another open house type event that will be open to everyone. The Department is willing to work with anyone who is not used to the physical agility testing. Sometimes people accept the offer of help, and sometimes they don't. Unfortunately, today's youth have not maintained a good physical fitness regime to get them conditioned for the agility testing. Ms. Vasquez noted that the Police Department's training officers are very dedicated. They train with applicants on their own time, if necessary. They are top notch. 5. Report from Fire Chief. On June 22, at 2:00 p.m., the five certified firefighters will graduate. The Department will hold a combination graduation /promotion ceremony. The Commission will receive invitations. It will be held at the Public Safety Training Center, if available. 6. Action concerning and ruling on proposed entrance examination changes for firefighter trainees. Chief Foster elaborated on this issue, previously discussed at the Commission's last meeting. The physical agility standards are in the Local Civil Service Rules. When the test was validated, firefighters age 18 -35 were used. The average time was 6 minutes 59 seconds. But somehow, the slowest time (7:46) became the standard in the rules. He would like to see 31 seconds added to the 6:59 to make 7:30 the passing time for the physical agility test. Using the 7:46 standard, 75 out of 105 applicants passed that test. That is too large of a number; about one -half of the field should be eliminated. Had the 7:30 standard been used in the last test, approximately 55% would have passed. That is a good number. This physical agility time has got to mean something. Commissioner Thornton moved, seconded by Commissioner Dover, that the Local Civil Service Rules be amended at Attachment 1, Wichita Falls Fire Department Physical Ability Test Standards, to reflect that the Total Test Time Limit for Section 2 be Minutes of the Civil Service Commission Meeting May 10, 2007 4 amended from 7 Minutes, 46 Seconds, to 7 Minutes, 30 Seconds. The motion passed unanimously. Chairman Monaghan expressed a warning to Chief Foster that he hoped this reduction in time did not result in the Department being unable to get enough recruits to pass. Chief Foster acknowledged that is a valid concern, but reiterated that the physical agility of a firefighter is important. 7. Action concerning and ruling in proposed updates to the Local Civil Service Rules. Mr. Winney reiterated his concern about the need for a change to the Rules that he had discussed at the Commission's last meeting. Section 143.023, Eligibility for Beginning Position, Subsection (4), Cause for rejection of applicants for firefighter classification, states that applicants who have violations exceeding four events (moving violations or preventable accidents) within the past three years may be rejected. The City's Employee Handbook makes applicants or employees ineligible for certain positions if they have four or more violations within the past three years. The Local Rules language should be changed to reflect the language of the Employee Handbook, to include four events, rather than "exceeding four events." This change would put police and fire employees in the same category as all other City employees. Commissioner Thornton so moved, seconded by Commissioner Dover. The motion carried. Chairman Monaghan noted that he has a document that proposes a change to the B -Pad language, and another change, to Section 123.024, regarding the order of entry level application and examination process for fire applicants. He asked if the 1 -10 listing is the proposed change. Mr. Winney replied affirmatively. Chairman Monaghan then noted this document further outlines a need to change Section 143.030, declaring that, since the probationary period is included for eligibility to take the promotional examination, it should also be included when determining the years of service for calculating tiebreakers, for consistency. Chief Foster noted the paperwork from which Chairman Monaghan is reading is an internal document. He did not necessarily intend for these items to be on the agenda; it is simply a list of items he has an interest in amending. Chairman Monaghan asked if these items were out of the scope of discussion of today's meeting. Ms. Vasquez replied these items can be addressed under Item 7. She personally has not seen the document from which Chairman Monaghan is reading. Commissioner Thornton noted he had a question mark beside number 8, but could not recall why. Ms. Vasquez noted that Chief Foster wanted that changed; applicants were receiving job offers before going through the interview with the Fire Minutes of the Civil Service Commission Meeting May 10, 2007 5 Chief. Chief Foster concurred; he stated the applicants should not be offered a job before he interviews them. Ms. Vasquez asked Linda Merrill how rule changes had been handled in the past. Ms. Merrill noted that the former Civil Service Director, Jan Stricklin, prepared the rule changes with each revised rule on a separate sheet of paper, with a place for signatures of the Commissioners. Ms. Vasquez added that these notices of rule changes are posted in the fire and police departments (where applicable). Chairman Monaghan noted that it is his inclination to not pass any of these rules changes at today's meeting. Mr. Winney noted that the Commission will need to meet again in about two or three weeks to look at some questions in an appeal of a captain's test. The rule changes can be included on that agenda. Ms. Vasquez noted the Commission can adopt them today, but the rules have to be posted for seven days at the respective fire or police department before the changes become effective. Chairman Monaghan observed that if the rule changes were passed today, any discussion concerning those changes at the next meeting would be moot. He believes it is best to wait until the next agenda to allow any interested parties to attend and make their comments. 8. Adjourn. Commissioner Dover moved, seconded by Commissioner Thornton, that the meeting be adjourned. The motion carried, and the meeting adjourned at 3:25 p.m. Bob Monaghan, Ch 'rman � d . Dr. Floy Thornton, Commissioner