08/19/2002 Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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all in one unit. Mrs. Martin asked if the police and fire departments have anything different because of the unions. Mr. O'Malley indicated they have separate unions and the labor contract tends to dictate the grievance procedure disputes over terminations and employment issues on the back end. He said he believes the civil service rules tend to govern on the front end. Mr. Thomay mentioned that the last bargaining contract made a change to the rules and he did not see that reflected -in the new -book. He knows they discussed it and agreed to change it but he did not see it in the book. Mr. O'Malley said he can ask Jim Dubelko to confer with Gary Johnson who is currently in firefighter negotiations, while they have someone at that level of expertise. It would seem that they would have a standard practice of incorporating the rules and regulations into the labor agreement. While the rules and regulations are free to change, they can be incorporated by reference in the labor agreement. It seems the Civil Service Commission is staking out its territory on promotional exams and not getting too heavily involved in the termination end. Mr. Thomay agreed and said there have been protests but not anything involving a termination issue since he has been on the board. There was further discussion of the handbook. Mrs.. Kilbane pointed out a section of the book that referred to the city school district. She -indicated it is a good example of the problems they will encounter when trying to do revisions in sections. Mrs. Kilbane also indicated that once testing is scheduled, they need to make sure everyone is working from the same book. Mr. Thomay reiterated that he thinks the new members need to "get their feet wet" before approaching the book. Mrs. Giesser asked if any of the rules need to be changed because of the upcoming exams. She asked if there is any confusion in the rules that needs to be clarified with regard to any exam that they think they may offer. Mr. Thomay indicated he believes it should be left as it is for now. He said he was wondering about the hiring freeze situation. He read Mr: Dubelko's opinion that technically there is no vacancy in the fire department because the chief is on administrative leave. Mr. O'Malley confirmed that is still the case. Mr. Thomay said he does not know how far down the chain they will do promotional tests. Mr. O'Malley said the issue is whether we have current lists for the other ranks. Mr. Thomay said they do not have that currently. He said they have an entry level list that is up in October. A new exam would normally have been done in the summer to get a new list. Mr. O'Malley said they always want to have a list and whether the City is hiring or not is not an issue. Mr. Thomay said he does not believe they have any current promotional lists. Mrs. Kilbane confirmed that it is just the entry level list that is current. Mr. Thomay said he is uncertain as to when to start the promotional testing. He pointed out that Mr. Dubelko recommended going ahead with getting the promotional exam completed in anticipation of a new hire. He added they don't want .to be without a chief for an extended period of time. Mr. O'Malley said it would also anticipate vacancies down the line. Mr. Thomay asked whether they should go ahead and pick one of the agencies to conduct the tests. He then reviewed some of the pricing information the board members received. He said the promotional exams should not be as expensive as an entry level test. Mrs. Martin commented on the vacancy. issue addressed in Mr. Dubelko's memo. Mr. Thomay pointed out that Mr. Dubelko indicated there is no vacancy until the chief retires in October, but he went on to say the board can go ahead and give an exam to get ready to fill the vacancy. Mr. O'Malley suggested they defer that until the Safety Director appears because she might be suggesting something other than an outside agency. Mr. Thomay said in Ms. Thomas' memo to him, she indicated she would check out other cities and their. methods of testing. Mr. Thomay mentioned the next meeting is scheduled for September 16th. He asked if this issue can wait until that time. Mr. O'Malley referred to the statelaw which indicates in the case of a fire chief vacancy, an exam should be conducted within sixty (60) days. He wondered if the North Olmsted rules address it in the same way. Mr. Thomay and Mr. . O'Malley reviewed the rules and regulations book and the Ohio Revised Code sections that cover the issue. Mr. O'Malley said it would seem the North Olmsted rules incorporate a statutory outline, which is a safe thing to do. Mrs. Giesser asked if the state law says they have to wait until the vacancy occurs before they can have an exam. She said the memo doesn't say that they cannot have the exam. She said the state law Mr: O'Malley referred to indicates that if no promotional list is in existence, then within sixty (60) days they must have a test. Her interpretation of that is they can have a test before that and set up a promotional list if they wanted to get someone in the job faster. Mr. O'Malley said that is correct. He said that a promotional list for other ranks in the fire department, assuming