The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Local News

June 25, 2012

City asks council to abolish Civil Service Commission

By Amanda Dyslin Free Press Staff Writer

MANKATO — The Mankato City Council was presented with a written report on the Joint Civil Service Commission at a work session Monday night with a request that the council abolish it.

The commission is a three-member body that interviews police and fire candidates. Public Safety Director Todd Miller asked the council at a recent meeting to consider doing away with the commission because the process prevents the department from hiring when it wants to because job candidates have to be on the commission-approved list first.

The commission is the only city committee that has power entirely independent of the elected City Council. Other committees, such as the planning commission, can vote to deny permits but their decisions must be approved by the council.

The report, by City Attorney Eileen Wells and Krista Amos, director of Human Resources, stipulates that multiple police vacancies coinciding with medical leaves made clear the need of quicker and more efficient hiring.

“The civil service process is antiquated as well as redundant,” the report reads. “City government management practices along with employment regulations and policies have evolved dramatically since the inception of the civil service concept, which was conceived in the late 1800s with the aim of ensuring that government hiring be based on merit rather than favoritism and patronage.”

The council didn’t discuss the report Monday.

The abolition of the commission requires a unanimous vote of the council. A date has not been set.

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