Spokane civil service commission upholds reclassification of facilities employee after complaint

The Spokane Civil Service Commission on June 17 upheld a classification determination that reclassified Kelly Long, a facilities department employee, to administrative manager after hearing Long’s administrative complaint and reviewing the job survey in executive session.

Long, an executive assistant in the Building Maintenance Department, told the commission she was not given adequate notice about who requested the job survey or why and said she would have answered the questionnaire differently if she had known the requester. "I should have been informed of the changes of the job description prior to approval by commission in March of 20 24," Long said during her testimony.

The dispute centered on whether the job-survey process and internal communications met the commission’s merit-system rules and whether Long’s duties had substantively changed. Long told the commission she believed the survey was a routine review and that notice lacked specific information about the requester. She also said she has a medical condition, aphasia, which can affect how she expresses duties when nervous.

Mr. Teal, director of facilities for the City of Spokane, testified he had reviewed Long’s completed survey responses and said Long’s answers could be read as gathering payment documentation rather than independently approving payments. "She wasn't actually approving payments. She was getting everything together for me to approve the payments," he said.

Commission staff materials included an internal review finding that about 10% of Long’s work aligned with the executive assistant classification used in the survey and that other duties were determined to be managerial and retained by management. Commissioners questioned whether the survey notice, dated in the packet, provided sufficient transparency about who requested the survey and why, and whether Long or her supervisor had an opportunity to clarify contested items before the classification recommendation was finalized.

After an executive session to consider the matter, Chair Stevens read the commission’s determination into the record: "Ms. Long's classification should be upgraded to administrative manager. The burden was on Ms. Long to show that this determination was incorrect as per Rule 3 Section 4(b) of the civil service rules. Ms. Long did not meet her burden in this instance." The commission then moved, seconded, and approved the determination by voice vote.

The commission’s action leaves the classification change in place. Commissioners also recorded that Commissioner Stratton had recused herself from the proceeding. The record shows notice and questionnaire dates (survey notice referenced July 8, 2024, with a deadline of Aug. 5, 2024) and that Long estimated the change could reduce her pay by about $600 and affect benefits, a consequence she cited as part of her complaint.

The decision resolves the administrative complaint by affirming the survey-based reclassification; commissioners did not state additional follow-up tasks during the open session. The commission adjourned after approving the determination.