LIMA — It has been the subject of much debate throughout 2015, and at Monday’s Lima City Council meeting, that debate concerning how civil service job candidates are evaluated was brought back to the fore.
In January, a letter was submitted to City Council by Mayor David Berger calling for the end to the current “rule of 10,” in which for every open position, the candidates with the top 10 test scores on the Civil Service exam would be interviewed. Berger called for a “pass/fail” or “complete list” approach, in which every candidate who passed the exam would be interviewed. During Monday’s meeting, 6th Ward Councilman Derry Glenn submitted the results of a public survey he conducted, in which 74 percent of the 525 respondents preferred the complete list rule.
“I was glad the folks took part in the survey,” Glenn said. “A lot of folks want to see something different. This is something we can hopefully look at, and if it doesn’t work, we can look at another solution.”
As discussion continued, it was emphasized that, according to the city’s charter, any change to the Civil Service process must originate from the Civil Service Board, with City Council having the final vote to approve or reject.
“I’m telling folks that this doesn’t mean that we’ll be doing something right away with this,” Glenn said. “I will submit this to council clerk Sally Clemens, who will then submit it to the Civil Service Board.”
One of the most vocal proponents for the current evaluation structure is 3rd Ward Councilman Jesse Lowe II, who took exception with the survey, concerned that not everyone who took the test may have been fully informed.
“I had no part in the survey, and I never knew the survey was going to take place, and I do not feel that the people got the full information to make a sound decision,” he said. “I hope there was a question on the test asking if people took the test.”
Glenn reiterated that the survey was conducted openly and that many of the respondents already had an informed opinion on the matter.
“A lot of those folks knew what the rule of 10 means and they knew what pass/fail means,” he said. “They’ve been watching about this and seeing it in the newspaper.”
The Civil Service Board will meet on Thursday to create a draft recommendation to submit to City Council.
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}
