Shawnee County CIVIL SERVICE BOARD

Charles Nicolay, Chairperson C. Patrick Woods, Vice-Chairperson David Valdivia, Secretary

200 SE 7th Room B-28 Topeka, Kansas 66603 785-233-8200, Extension 4144 Fax 291-4901

SHAWNEE COUNTY CIVIL SERVICE MINUTES

OCTOBER 9, 2007 4:00-5:15 P.M.

COMMISSION CHAMBERS Courthouse, Room B-11

Members Present: Charles Nicolay, Patrick Woods, David Valdivia

Others Present: Joelee Luscombe, Richard Davis, Undersheriff Holladay, Michael George, Sgt. Caleb Acree, Sgt. Brad Metz, Deputy Timothy Kampsen

I. Call To Order By Chairman.

Mr. Nicolay called the meeting to order at 4:08 p.m. and thanked everyone for attending. He stated the last meeting was too long and in the interest of time for future meetings, there would be a time limit for those providing comments. The Board would welcome comments on any issue. If a large number wanted to provide comments, there would be a five-minute time limit. In the future, those wanting to provide comments should contact Ms. Luscombe before the Agenda was prepared so she could make a list of speakers. At the beginning of each meeting, the Board would then decide how much time each speaker would have. If someone has not notified Ms. Luscombe of their intention to speak prior to the Agenda being prepared, they should notify her before the beginning of the meeting.

II. Roll Call.

Roll call as reflected above.

III. Reading, Corrections and Approval of Minutes.

September 11, 2007, Minutes

Mr. Nicolay stated the Sept. 11 Minutes were lengthy and suggested waiving the reading of the Minutes. Mr. Woods made the motion to waive the reading of the Minutes. Mr. Nicolay seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Woods made the motion to approve the minutes. Mr. Valdivia seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.

IV. Receive Correspondence and Reports.

Received correspondence (08/14/07) dated August 14, 2007, from Sheriff Barta notifying all officers of an opening on the S.W.A.T. Team with an August 28, 2007, deadline to submit their interest memos. Interest memos were received from the following Deputies: Kelly Jordan, John McHatton, Jason Mills, Nick Pipkin, Kiley Rice, Jared Underwood and Scott Wanamaker. Received correspondence reflecting the final selection dated Sept. 17, 2007, from Sheriff Barta notifying Deputy Rice that he was selected for the position.

Received correspondence (09/25/07) dated Sept. 4, 2007, from Undersheriff Holladay notifying all Deputies of an opening for a Victim Assistance and Offender Registration Deputy with a Sept. 18, 2007, deadline to submit their interest memos. Interest memos were received from the following Deputies: Emily Adams, Kevin Kasl, Errin Mahan, John McHatton, Nick Pipkin, Reanne Pfannenstiel, Aaron Rivera and Jared Underwood. Received correspondence reflecting the final selection dated Sept. 24, 2007, from Sheriff Barta notifying Deputy Adams that she was selected for the position.

Received correspondence (09/05/07) dated Sept. 4, 2007, from Undersheriff Holladay notifying all eligible Lieutenants of an opening for Captain with a Sept. 7, 2007, deadline to submit their interest memos. An interest memo was received from Lt. Phil Blume. Received correspondence from Sheriff Barta notifying Lt. Blume that he was selected for promotion to Captain effective Sept. 15, 2007.

Received correspondence (09/11/07) dated Sept. 6, 2007, from Sheriff Barta confirming and congratulating Captain Holladay of his appointment to Undersheriff effective Sept. 1, 2007.

Shawnee County Civil Service Boar d Minutes October 9, 2007 Page 2

IV. Receive Correspondence and Reports (Continued). Received correspondence (09/11/07) dated Sept. 10, 2007, from Undersheriff Holladay notifying all Deputies

of three openings in the Patrol Division with a Sept. 24, 2007, deadline to submit their interest memos. Received correspondence (09/13/07) dated Sept. 13, 2007, from Undersheriff Holladay notifying all eligible

personnel of a Sergeant opening in the Community Services Division and a Sergeant opening in the Professional Standards Unit with a Sept. 27, 2007, deadline to submit their interest memos. Interest memos for the Sergeant in the Community Services Division were received from the following: Sgt. Caleb Acree, Cpl. Rob Child, Det. James Mummey, Deputy Brian Rhodd, Deputy Jay Simecka, Deputy Erin Thompson, Cpl. Justin Vest and Cpl. Thad Winkelman. Interest memos for the Sergeant in the Professional Standards Unit were received from the following: Sgt. Caleb Acree, Sgt. Scott Askew, Sgt. John Ostenson, Deputy Brian Rhodd, Cpl. Justin Vest and Cpl. Thad Winkelman.

Received correspondence (09/24/07) dated Sept. 21, 2007, from Undersheriff Holladay notifying the Civil Service Board of the resignation of Deputy Michael Schadegg effective Oct. 9, 2007.

Received correspondence (09/24/07) dated Sept. 21, 2007, from Undersheriff Holladay notifying the Civil Service Board of the resignation of Deputy Carey Jordan effective Oct. 4, 2007.

Received correspondence (09/25/07) dated Sept. 24, 2007, from Undersheriff Holladay notifying all eligible Deputies of an opening in the Warrants Division with an Oct. 8, 2007, deadline to submit their interest memos.

Received correspondence (09/25/07) dated Sept. 24, 2007, from Sheriff Barta congratulating the following Deputies: John Culver, Henry Harmon and Justin Roberts on the successful completion of their probationary periods and granting them permanent status.

Mr. Nicolay acknowledged the Board’s receipt of the correspondence. V. Executive Session.

An executive session was not needed. VI. Civil Service Specialist’s Report.

Ms. Luscombe stated a Civil Service Board website was being created by the IT staff. It would include the Minutes, Agendas, the recordings of the meetings, the Rules and Regulations and any other information pertinent to the Civil Service Board. The Board will be notified when it is ready so they can review/approve it. Three officers submitted their requests to provide comments. She received an e-mail from an officer asking if the Board would be conducting Captain interviews. Interviews have not been conducted for some time and two names remain on the Captain’s list. One officer would be eligible Oct. 15 due to time in grade. There are no vacancies. Ms. Luscombe stated she would contact the eligible officers to see if they are interested in being interviewed. She also received a call from an officer asking if the Board would be adding another name to the Sergeant promotion list. One officer was promoted recently and removed from the list. Sixteen names remain on the list. The Board Members reviewed the request and decided not to address the issue until they have finalized the Rule changes. Mr. Nicolay suggested that all interested parties from the Sheriff’s Office and FOP should form a consensus on the changes to the Rules including the testing procedures and eligibility. Mr. Davis offered to help coordinate setting up groups to work outside the Board’s meeting time and come up with some ideas for the Board to consider.

VII. Attorney’s Report. No report was available.

VIII. Old Business. Certification Of Lieutenant Promotion List

Sgt. Acree stated he was not eligible to promote to Lieutenant for nine months and was not eligible to interview with the Board since he was not within the six-month time frame. In the promotions for the higher ranks there was less opportunity since there was less turnover. For example, in 11 months he would not be considered since he wouldn’t be on the list. He requested the Board conduct interviews twice a year as opposed to once a year so officers who were within six months could be interviewed. Or interview all candidates who were within one year so everyone was afforded the opportunity. Mr. Nicolay stated it was important to consider the request as the Board wanted to be fair and not eliminate anyone from the opportunity for consideration. Also, it would be something for the

Shawnee County Civil Service Boar d Minutes October 9, 2007 Page 3

consensus group to discuss. Undersheriff Holladay, speaking on behalf of Sheriff Barta, requested the Board certify the entire list of eight candidates for the Lieutenant’s promotion list. Currently, there is one opening. Lieutenants are a very important part of the Sheriff’s command staff and would like to see the most candidates for any given position. Mr. Nicolay stated he agreed with Undersheriff Holladay since it was a small list and, until the Board changes the Rules, he would like to see the entire list certified and the Board would need to act since there was one vacancy. Mr. Woods stated he had previously stated his beliefs in the progressive civil service system and, until the Board resolved the issues, he would not be opposed to certifying the entire list and looked forward to discussion on the other two Agenda items. Mr. Valdivia stated he agreed with Mr. Woods as long as the Board discussed what they were going to do in the future. Mr. Woods stated the Board was created for the purpose of protecting employees from arbitrary and capricious management decisions so consistency would be a good thing to work for. Mr. Nicolay requested a motion and suggested to approve the whole list until a new system could be put together based on the consensus of the people. Mr. Woods made the motion to approve and certify the entire Lieutenant list of eight. Mr. Valdivia seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.

Discussion-Proposed Article 4 Language Changes – Copy Attached Mr. Woods stated he had thought about the comments made from the last meeting. The Board compromised and decided to submit four candidates thinking it would be acceptable; however, it wasn’t. As reflected in the Minutes, Mr. George stated at the last meeting that five names would be a compromise they could accept. After much reflection since the last meeting, Mr. Woods stated he wanted to amend his original proposal in Article 4 from four names to five. The Board Members then discussed the procedure for placing an item on the Agenda and how and when it would be approved. Mr. Woods made the motion to amend the original proposal in Article 4 to replace the number from four to five. Mr. Valdivia seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.

Discussion-The Civil Service Board Rules Mr. Nicolay asked the FOP representation if the previous suggestion of getting a group of people together to arrive at a consensus was worthwhile. Sgt. Metz stated he thought it would be a lengthy process and would involve quite a bit of negotiation but he wasn’t opposed to it. He thought the Board existed to make some third-party unbiased decisions without the influence of the FOP and the Sheriff’s administration. He thought the discussions would be difficult. Mr. Nicolay stated the reason why he suggested the groups was because he had not heard from anyone from the FOP. He didn’t know what their opinion was and thought it was important to hear from everyone. Mr. Valdivia stated he thought some people might feel he was making accusations of wrongdoing and stated he didn’t mean to offend anyone. He felt people were not comfortable with standing up and making statements on rule changes in front of superiors. It is difficult to get people to support and make changes. Their lack of input didn’t mean they were not in support of making changes or changes not being made. Mr. Woods stated he was in agreement with Mr. Valdivia’s statements. He thought the Board was created to make these decisions. Mr. Nicolay said the reason for his suggestion was so the Board would have some guidelines to make some decisions. Ms. Luscombe stated she received a lot of questions in regard to changes and encouraged officers to come to meetings so they could express their opinions. Mr. Nicolay stated that was his reasoning for requesting feedback. Sgt. Metz felt that some officers would be intimidated in expressing their opinion and that may be the reluctance of some officers to come to the Board. It’s easier for them to contact Ms. Luscombe on a one-on-one basis to provide some input or an opinion rather than in a forum where they felt uncomfortable as well as voicing an opinion in front of their superiors. Mr. Nicolay stated under the current Rules, the candidates could not fail the test since there was no passing grade. And if the Board interviewed ten people they all should have an opportunity to be interviewed for promotion. He asked Sgt. Metz what he thought if the Board took those ten and then made a list of a set number and denied the remaining the opportunity to be interviewed for promotion. Sgt. Metz stated the Board provides an important checks and balances system. He didn’t feel, under the current administration, there would ever be any issue with the selection process but knows there have been issues in the past. He felt that five was a good compromise. He said the majority of the membership he talked to, but couldn’t speak for everybody,

Shawnee County Civil Service Boar d Minutes October 9, 2007 Page 4

said that five would be a good compromise. Mr. Woods stated he did not agree with the initial part of Mr. Nicolay’s statement and was not in support of changing the pass/fail portion of the written exam. He said if you looked at how HR/public personnel management had evolved over the years and when they are hiring professionals or highly skilled positions, such as law enforcement officers, they didn’t seem to base the majority of their hiring decision on the test scores. They typically included the education, experience and the interview performance. Mr. Nicolay stated the Board’s interview did not have much weight on the overall establishment of the list. He thought there should be a passing grade when a candidate took a test. It would be an incentive for the people who took the test to prepare more so they could pass the test. Mr. Woods stated he didn’t think placing additional weight on the test alone would accomplish what Mr. Nicolay wanted. Mr. Nicolay stated he just wasn’t talking about the written exam but it was a large part of it. Mr. Woods questioned whether the formula should be changed so the test would have additional weight. Mr. Nicolay didn’t necessarily think so. He couldn’t come up with a proper procedure to establish a passing grade and that’s why he was requesting input from everyone. Sgt. Metz stated, for comparison, at the Topeka Police Department the number one candidate on the list is the only one considered for a position. If the number one candidate turns the position down, then it is offered to the second candidate. He thought giving the Sheriff the top five names based on all the set criteria was perfectly acceptable. Cpl. Kampsen said he had sent an e-mail after the Corporal and Sergeant lists were posted when the Board chose only a certain number of candidates for consideration. His concern with only certifying a certain number was that everyone had met the obligations required and the remaining were not given the opportunity to interview with the Sheriff for promotion. He would like to see the whole list certified especially since there is a time frame. He felt a consensus board would take an extreme amount of time and felt comfortable with the Board making the Rules. When officers had issues or concerns then they would approach the Board with those and ask for changes or discussion at that point. He felt the Board completed an important job and it would take an extreme amount of time for a consensus to be reached. Mr. Nicolay said until there was a passing grade everyone who took the test would have an opportunity. Mr. Valdivia said just because the Board certified the whole list didn’t mean that everybody didn’t strive to do their best but they automatically knew they were going to be on it. If you limit the number of candidates to be certified, then you are going to have the ones that really want it. Officers are going to work much harder knowing that they have to meet even more stringent criteria. By trying to achieve a higher standard you are picking out more qualified candidates than what you originally had. It will make them try harder and make the process more competitive. Cpl. Kampsen stated he would like to see everyone have the opportunity to interview with the Sheriff. Mr. Woods explained the proposal said the five candidates who were interested would be eligible to interview. With the larger lists, there might be a number of candidates who were not interested so the top five highest on the list would be interviewed by the Sheriff. Mr. Valdivia stated there was always going to be someone who fell below the cutoff and it didn’t seem fair but the line had to be drawn somewhere. Mr. Nicolay asked Cpl. Kampsen if there should be a passing grade established for the written exam. Cpl. Kampsen stated he didn’t think the current test applied to their job function. It didn’t cover any of the Sheriff’s Office policies, procedures or practices. He would like to see the exam changed. As far as a passing score, he felt a passing score was important but he thought there was some variance in how it was all weighted. A work in progress. Mr. Nicolay expressed he appreciated everyone’s comments. He hoped to hear more opinions in the future. He stated the Board was in a rather uncomfortable position when every decision made by the Board was going to be arbitrary until a set of Rules were established that gave them some guidelines.

IX. New Business. There was no new business. The Board Members scheduled the next meeting for Tuesday, Nov. 6, at 4:00 p.m.

X. Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 5:05 p.m.

THE ABOVE ARE THE MINUTES FOR THE MEETING OF THE SHAWNEE COUNTY CIVIL SERVICE BOARD FOR THE DATE OF 10/9/07 AND DO NOT PURPORT TO BE A TRANSCRIPT OF SAID MEETING.