08/17/94 Special Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

CASE # 1 PROCESS FOR FILLING POSITION OF FIRE CHIEF By: Ryan Schroeder, City Administrator and Kay McAloney, Administrative Services Manager Background: On Deceml~r 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. This raises the issue for us as to how the position will be filled. On August 14, 1990 the Fire Board met to discuss the appointment of Fire Chief. At that time the Fire Department and members of the Fire Board interviewed two applicants for the position and forwarded their recommendation to the City Council. Since that time, laws such as Veteran's Preference have been enacted making hiring practices subject to more scrutiny. This has relegated the City of Ramsey to a position of having to change its processes even if past procedures have been effective. All vacant positions - volunteer, temporary, part-time and full-time - are now filled using a set and legal standard by establishing minimum hiring criteria prior to the posting of a position. Presenters at the Annual League of Minnesota Cities 1994 Workshop stressed that law in this area has not yet been tested, but they urged personnel professionals to be extremely careful in the area Fire Department hiring and veteran's preference law. Recommendation: Given the above, it is recommended that the position of Fire Chief be filled in the same manner as all other positions at the City of Ramsey. The following is the suggested 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. 2. 3. 4. e 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. Nan'owed down applications would be reviewed by City Administrator Schroeder, Personnel and Fire Department designee(s) to arrive at the candidate list. Applicants meeting minimum qualifications would be interviewed by City Administrator Schroeder, 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 City Council. City Council will make a hiring/promotion decision. There has been a concern stated that the Fire Department membership would like to have more involvement in the decision-making process. Staff believes that the above suggested process would allow them involvement, eliminate the potential legal issues that will now otherwise exist, and maintain the current integrity of Ramsey's hiring process.