Department of Personnel

Section 6.1. Director - Appointment; qualifications

The director of the personnel department shall be selected by the city manager on the basis of his training, experience, qualifications, and fitness in personnel administration.

Section 6.2. Same - Powers and duties

The Personnel Director shall have authority and be required to:

1. Hold competitive examinations for appointments in the classified service.
2. Give publicity to all announcements of competitive examinations.
3. Establish training and educational programs for municipal employees.
4. Report, at least annually, to the personnel board regarding the operation of the personnel provisions.
5. Prepare and recommend to the city manager and the personnel board such rules as he may consider appropriate to carry out the provisions of this article.
6. Keep or supervise the keeping of such employee records as may be required by the merit system rules.
7. Perform such other duties as may be required by this Charter, by ordinance, or by the city manager.

Section 6.3. Personnel board - Generally

The council shall appoint a personnel board of nine members who shall designate one member as chairman. Members shall serve without compensation. This board shall be an independent agency deriving its power from the council. Members of the board shall be qualified voters of the city and shall have resided in the city for at least two years immediately prior to their appointment; they shall be required to take the oath prescribed for city officers, including a statement therein that they are firm believers in the merit system for city employment. Official political party committeemen shall be ineligible to serve as members of the board.

Approved by vote of the people June 11, 1974.

Section 6.4. Same - Powers and duties

The board shall have power and shall be required to:

1. Advise the council, the city manager, and the director on problems concerning personnel administration.
2. Make any investigation which it may consider desirable concerning the administration of personnel in the municipal service, and report to the council at least once a year its findings, conclusions and recommendations.
3. Approve merit system rules.
4. Hear appeals from disciplinary action.
5. Perform such other duties with reference to personnel administration not inconsistent with this Charter, as the council may require by ordinance.

Section 6.5. Classification of personnel

The administrative service of the city is hereby divided into classified and unclassified services as follows:

1. The unclassified service shall include the City Manager, administrative assistants, all directors of departments, members of appointive commissions and boards, municipal court judge, city attorneys and assistants, City Clerk, executive assistant to the City Manager, probationary employees, financial, research, legal, and other technical personnel employed on special occasions and those who may be employed in an advisory capacity.
2. The classified service shall comprise all positions not specifically included by this Charter in the unclassified service. All positions in the classified service, except for temporary emergency appointments, shall be filled only in accordance with the merit system rules provided for in this article.
3. Managerial positions within the classified service immediately beneath an unclassified department director may be changed to the unclassified service upon the written petition of all of the employees currently holding such positions within the department and the agreement of the City Manager. Following such change, the formerly classified service positions shall thereafter be included within the unclassified service as to all current and future employees holding the position. A list of positions so changed from the classified to the unclassified service shall be kept on file with the City Clerk.

Approved by vote of the people April 5, 2005.

Section 6.6. Merit system rules

The personnel board shall hold a public hearing on the rules recommended by the personnel director. After such hearing, the board shall approve or reject the rules wholly or in part, or may modify them and approve them as so modified. The rules approved by the board shall then be submitted to the council and shall become effective when approved by the council. The rules shall include provisions for:

1. Open competitive tests to ascertain the relative fitness of all applicants for appointments in the classified service, which tests shall be practical, shall relate to matters which fairly measure the relative fitness of applicants to discharge the duties of the positions which they seek, and shall take into account character, training and experience.
2. Standardization and classification of all positions in the classified service made on the basis of duties and responsibility, and so ordered as to promote the filling of the higher grades, so far as practicable, through promotion.
3. Certification to the appointing authority of eligible persons in order or rank for the purpose of filling vacancies.
4. Temporary appointments to meet emergencies, in the absence of an eligible list.
5. Cause of discharge from the city service.
6. A credit of five points in favor of applicants for appointment to the classified service who can submit documentary proof of having served in the armed forces of the United States in time of war, or in any expedition of the armed forces of the United States, and who have been honorably discharged therefrom. This credit shall apply to entrance examinations of those applicants who have received passing grades.