Agenda - Council - 09/27/1994 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

CASE # I PROCESS FOR FILLING POSITION OF FIRE CHIEF By: Ryan Schroeder, City Administrator and Kay McAIoney, Administrative Services Manager Background: On December 31, 1994 Fire Chief Dave Griffin intends to complete his tenure as the Ramsey Fire Chief. He will continue, however, as a Ramsey Fire Fighter. At the August 17, 1994 Fire Board meeting there were concerns raised about the proposed procedure. The Board requested that additional infom-mtion be brought before the Board to support the need for such changes. On September 14, 1994 the Fire Board met again to review the process after reviewing the additional information. Attached are: 1. A section of Minnesota Statute 197.46 - Veteran's Preference Act 2. "Avoiding the Legal Quicksand of Selecting and Ten'ninating Public. Employees" - Minnesota Cities, February 1991 3. "New and Improved Ways to Follow the Law in Hiring Fire Fighters" - 1994 LMCIT Safety and Loss Control Workshop 4. August 25, 1994 Letter to LMCIT Attorneys 5. August 31, 1994 Response Letter from LMCIT Attorney Carla Heyl Recommendation: Staff recommends that the position of Fire Chief be filled in the same manner as alt other positions at the City of Ramsey. The following is the sugg.ested process. This is the same process followed for the hiring or promotion of any department head position. The inclusion of the Fire Board has been inserted as typically departmental staff input would be solicited for similar situations elsewhere in the organization. A posting would be created and posted in various places at City Hall. interested applicants would fill out an application and return to Personnel by a set deadline. Personnel will review applications based on set criteria and narrow applications down to a reasonable number. Narrowed down applications would be reviewed by the Git3, Administrator, Personnel-and two people chosen by either the Fire Board or Fire Department to arrive at the candidate list. Applicants meeting minimum qualifications would be interviewed by the City Administrator, Personnel and a Committee organized by the Fire Board. Finalists (one to three) will be interviewed by the Personnel Committee. Personnel Committee will make recommendation(s) to the Git3, Council. City Council will make a hirin~promotion decision. There had been a concern stated that the Fire Department n'~embership wished to have more involvement in the decision-making process than in the original proposaI. Given these comments and those by the Fire Board, modifications occurred in the process to address these concerns, h also has been stated that there is a preference and intent to provide a promotional opportunity in placing the next Fire Chief. Staff believes that the above