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Home My WebLink AboutMN-CS-2016-04-06CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION Regular Meeting April 6, 2016 Commissioners Present: Commissioner Richardson Commissioner Abrams Commissioner Thompson Staff Present: Valerie Saul (Deputy Director of Human Resources) Commissioner Richardson called the meeting to order at 11:40 am. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner Abrams made a motion to approve the minutes from the February 24, 2016 meeting. Seconded by Commissioner Thompson. Motion carried 3-0. NEW BUSINESS New Position Duties Statement: GIAC – GIAC Program Leader (2) The Commission reviewed and discussed a New Position Duties Statement for two new positions at GIAC. Commissioner Richardson made a motion to classify the positions as GIAC Program Leaders. Seconded by Commissioner Thompson. Motion carried 3-0. Update of Job Description and Revision of Minimum Qualifications - Deputy Greater Ithaca Activities Center Director The Commission reviewed proposed updates to the Deputy Greater Ithaca Activities Center Director job description. The job description is being updated in preparation for the search for a new Deputy GIAC Director. The updates reflect current GIAC programs and activities, and do not change the overall scope or nature of the position. The revised minimum qualifications clarify the qualifying academic degree fields and add a requirement of prior experience supervising or administering direct service programs. The minimum qualifications are proposed to read as follows: “MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: A. Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university with a Bachelor’s Degree in social work, sociology, psychology, human services, education, recreation, business, public administration, communications or a related field and two (2) years of full-time paid experience working with diverse youth, adults and/or families in a community, human services or recreation program, an educational environment, or a similar organization in a capacity which involved the administration or supervision of direct service programs; or B. Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college with an Associate’s Degree in social work, sociology, psychology, human services, education, recreation, business, public administration, communications or a related field and four (4) years of full-time paid experience working with diverse youth, Civil Service Commission April 6, 2016 Page 2 adults and/or families in a community, human services or recreation program, an educational environment, or a similar organization in a capacity which involved the provision of direct services to clientele, at least two (2) years of which shall have involved the administration or supervision of direct service programs; or C. Graduation from high school or possession of a high school equivalency diploma and six (6) years of full-time paid experience working with diverse youth, adults and/or families in a community, human services or recreation program, an educational environment, or a similar organization in a capacity which involved the provision of direct services to clientele, at least two (2) years of which shall have involved the administration or supervision of direct service programs; or D. An equivalent combination of training and experience as defined by the limits of (A) through (C) above. Note: Part-time and/or verifiable volunteer experience may be credited toward the experiential requirement on a pro-rata basis.” Commissioner Thompson made a motion to adopt the proposed updates and to revise the minimum qualifications as proposed. Seconded by Commissioner Abrams. Motion carried 3-0. New Position Duties Statement: ICSD – Senior Account Clerk-Typist The Commission reviewed and discussed a New Position Duties Statement from the Ithaca City School District for a new position in the Child Nutrition Program. Commissioner Richardson made a motion to classify the position as Senior Account Clerk- Typist. Seconded by Commissioner Thompson. Motion carried 3-0. New Position Duties Statement: ICSD – Senior Typist The Commission reviewed and discussed a New Position Duties Statement from the Ithaca City School District for a new position in the Ithaca High School Main Office. Commissioner Richardson made a motion to classify the position as Senior Typist. Seconded by Commissioner Abrams. Motion carried 3-0. Request to Waive Residency Requirement: Chamberlain’s Office – Fiscal Manager The Commission discussed a request from City Chamberlain Deborah Whitney to expand the residency requirement for the current Fiscal Manager vacancy to include contiguous counties. Recent recruitment efforts for this title have not yielded adequate applicant pools from within Tompkins County. After discussion, Commissioner Abrams made a motion to expand the residency requirement for the Fiscal Manager position to contiguous counties, through the completion of the next exam process. Seconded by Commissioner Thompson. Motion carried 3-0. Civil Service Commission April 6, 2016 Page 3 Residency Requirement for Exams – Discussion The Commission reviewed a recent opinion from the NYS Department of Civil Service that states that the Commission cannot establish separate residency requirements for current City employees for open-competitive exams. In order to accommodate current employees who reside outside of Tompkins County, the Commission would have to expand the residency requirement for open-competitive exams to contiguous county residency for all applicants. Since the Commission has no way of knowing in which specific exams non- resident employees would be interested in participating, the contiguous county residency requirement would have to be extended to all exams to accommodate the potential interest of non-resident employees. All three Commissioners spoke in favor of retaining the current residency requirements and continuing to support local residents by giving them preference for local municipal jobs. Additionally, opening all exams to non-residents would increase both the expense of the examination program and the staff time required to administer it. The increased cost and staff time are unnecessary in most cases, in which local recruitment already yields sufficient applicant pools. Deputy Human Resources Director Saul asked the Commission to consider delegating the authority to expand residency requirements for specific exams to the Human Resources Department, to make the process for addressing recruitment difficulties or internal candidates more efficient. No Commissioner expressed support for this idea. After further discussion, the Commission elected not to make any changes to the current policy governing residency requirements for civil service exams. EXECUTIVE SESSION Commissioner Richardson made a motion to go into executive session to discuss civil service examination matters. Seconded by Commissioner Abrams. Motion carried 3-0. During executive session, the Commission took the following actions: CONTINUING BUSINESS Approval of Rosters of Candidates for Examination Commissioner Richardson made a motion to approve the Roster of Candidates for Firefighter Examination #62-975. Seconded by Commissioner Thompson. Motion carried 3-0. Establishment of Eligible Lists Commissioner Abrams made a motion to establish the eligible lists specified below for the time period indicated. Seconded by Commissioner Thompson. Motion carried 3-0. Assistant Civil Engineer #62-972 (1 year) Director of Engineering Services #71-318 (1 year) Civil Service Commission April 6, 2016 Page 4 Addition of Candidates to Continuous Recruitment Eligible Lists Commissioner Thompson made a motion to add candidates to the continuous recruitment eligible lists. Seconded by Commissioner Abrams. Motion carried 3-0. Approval of Personnel Transactions Commissioner Richardson made a motion to approve the Personnel Transactions. Seconded by Commissioner Thompson. Motion carried 3-0. The next Civil Service Commission meeting will be held Wednesday, May 4, 2016 at 11:30 am. With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 12:28 pm.