Tomorrow evening (Tues 9/23) the City Council Committee of the Whole will be meeting at 7:15pm in the Council Chambers (City Hall, 2nd floor) RE: Home Rule Petition to Legislature to remove position of City Marshall (Police Chief) from civil service, Special Election be scheduled by the City Clerk for Nov. 4, 2014 for a binding ballot question to petition the legislature for a special act to remove City Marshall from civil service requirement, Ordinance Amending Ch. 32 Sec. 46, Qualifications, Selection & Appointment of the City Marshall (Chief) At this meeting the Council will consider removing the position from Civil Service. If this does not pass, we will then vote whether or not to allow the question to appear on the ballot for the November 4 election. If both measures fail, then signatures could be gathered to have the question put on the ballot. Artificially limiting leadership selection for a department that includes 90 plus employees and a total budget of almost 9.5 million dollars isn’t the healthier option for our city. Over the last few months I have read up on Civil Service, have spoken with residents and members of the department, have also spoken with members of other departments that have removed the position from Civil Service, and have researched the makeup of our own department, read our current contracts and job descriptions, and looked at the organizational structure. At the end of the day, removing the position of chief from Civil Service is just one piece we need to examine. Another (which I put an Order in for) is to look at the language of the ordinance we have – We still refer to the Police Chief as “City Marshall” in the majority of our ordinances that involve the chief. Yet, we haven’t had a City Marshall in over two decades. It’s time for us to reexamine policies and procedures that have been in place and determine what is best for us now and in the future. This is how weve always done it isnt a good argument for most things. Part of that review is ensuring that we have the best possible candidate in place for our department. Ultimately, this is is a decision that will determine how our department is led forward, as well as how we hire our future chiefs. When the issue was raised months ago I was a proponent of removing the position from Civil Service and am still in favor of removing it. I will vote to first remove the position from Civil Service, and if that doesn’t pass, I will be voting to at least put it on the ballot for all registered voters to have their say.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 20:55:25 +0000
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