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League of Minnesota[ Cities <br /> <br />3490 Lexington Avenue North <br />St. Paul, MN 55126-8044 <br /> <br />August 31, 1994 <br /> <br />Ms. Kay McA10ney <br />Administrative Services Manager <br />City of Ramsey <br />15153 Nowthen,Blvd. NW <br />Ramsey, MN 55303 <br /> <br />RE: Firefighter Hiring Process <br /> <br />Dear Ms. McA10ney: <br /> <br />This letter is in response to your August 25, 1994, letter to Ellen Longfellow. In that letter <br />you described yciur recommendations for new hiring procedures for firefighters. These <br />recommendations were based on my recommendations given at a Loss Control Workshop <br />which you attended. I am glad to see that your city is co. psidering changes as a result of <br />suggestions made at the Loss Control Workshops. <br /> <br />You are correct [hat secret ballots are not a proper method for determining positions in the <br />fire department._ Rather, positions should be based on objective criteria including the 100 <br />point hiring sysmm. It is a good idea to have input from the fire department during the <br />hiring process to: ensure that your department's needs are met. After the veterans preference <br />points are app!ie~l and finalists chosen .for interview, the city is free to hire any of the <br />interviewees based upon the city's needs and the applicant's particular qualifications. It seems <br />your proposed system would meet the requirements of all applicable laws and still maintain <br />the necessary input from the fire department. <br /> <br />You are also correct in your desire to list the administrative or supervisory positions in the <br />fire department as "temporary work assignments." I believe other cities have also used <br />temporary work assignments in both their fire and police departments. It should be made <br />clear to all those;involved that these are in fact temporary, work assignments for a limited <br />time period and that another person may be chosen for the .next term. <br /> <br />The fire chief is ~imilar to a department head of any other department within the city. They <br />are not separate and autonomous from the review and discretion of the city council. If the <br />fire chief is, in fact, equivalent to other department heads within the city based on their <br /> <br />(612)490-5600 <br /> <br />AN EQUAL OPPORT[YNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EMPLOYER <br /> <br />1-{~00-925-1122 plus your city code <br /> <br />TDD(612)490-9038 <br /> <br />Fax(612)490-0072 <br /> <br /> <br />