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

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ity of Ramsey r" ~ 1~153 NOW'THEN BOULEVARD N.W., RAMSEY, MINNESOTA 55303 PHONE 1612) 427.~41( FAX 1612) 427-5542 TTD (612) 427-8591 August 25, 1994 l.~aguc of Minnesota Cities Ellen Longfcl~)ow, 1.~ague of Minneso~ Cities Anomcy 3490 LexingtOn Avcnu~ North St. Paul, MN 55126 D~ E~n: Afttr att~ndirg thc 1994 L~aguc of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust Saf~W and Loss Conmo] Work~hop this spring I mcomm~n&~ to th~ Cffy Council thai thc hiring pro~ss for thc F~c D~p~mcnt bc consismm with thc hiring pro~css for other dcpmmcnts in thc CID', ~n~ two~ssucs that ] would l~c yo~ opinion on is: (1) thc hiring proccss D~p~ent, ~d (2) m~ li~m of officer positions in th~ Fire During thc workshop entitled 'New ~d Improv~ Ways ~o ~ol]ow thc Law in Hiring Fighters' wc w~re told that "Many volunm=r flrc dcp~m~nts have by-laws which provid~ for stlccfion ~d t~ination of fir~figh~rs by membership yom, ohcn ~hrough s~crc~ ballot. Th~ t{plos]on of ~mploym~m law ~d cas~ d~ciS~ons mak~ this situation wry risky, On6cr ~isfing discrimination ~c law, a s~ b'Mlo~ creams a "no-win" situation for thc CID'. ~c pimntiff mcm]y ne~s to show ~at hc/shc is in a promct~ class and was d~n~ employment. ~ b~d~n ~cn shifts to ~¢ employer to show that ~crc w~r~ v~lid, non-discfim]nm~ow r~asons for tht d~cis]on. How can you prow this when you do ~ow what wa~ in ~h~ minds of ~h~ d~cision-m~rs? There is no accountability wi~ a s~crc~ bJlot. ~so, them is a high risk ~at fir~ d~pmmcnts using secret bal]ots wou]d not comply with du~ process rcquff~m~n~s in tt~inations. To thc cxmm tha~ f~asiblc, byqa~s should b~ ch~g~ (or ~]]mina~), and tmploym~m dtcis]ons should mad~ by ~ ChiBf or City Manag~r/Ad~nismmoz." Up to this point ~osifions in thc Ramscy Fire D~p~cnt havc bccn fill~ by voting of thc fire dcpartm~nf m~mb~rsh]p. ThC positions of Fire CMcf, Assistant Fir~ Chief, 2 Lieumn~m, 2 C~p~ns, Training Officer and S~t~, haw ~ach ~n for ~wo Not each of ~h~ change yc~, but stagger so that if all of ~c positions change there is not new pcop]e in ~a~h of the positions. Th~ chest I ha~c proposed to th~ Fire Dcp~m~nI ~d C~t>, Council has b~n hifin~ in ~he dcp~ment consistent with hifino~ practices throughout, thc rest of thc C~ry. C~m~a is se~ pfi~r to postings, applications ~c completed ~d s~nt ~o P~rsonnel, veteran's preference points arc used for applicable hiring, applicants arc inmrviewcd by an int~,~wing p~l ~d Personnel, finaIists ~¢ inm~icw~ by Ciw Council. City Council m~cs ~ht final d~cision. Thc conccm of thc Fire Dcp~mcJ~, as~c11 as C{D, Council, ~ha~ the F~c ~p~m~nt should sdll have input. To ad,ess thc~ concerp~ I have proposed