The Tumwater Civil Service Commission approved the police officer entry-level eligibility list and confirmed the commission’s March 31 decision to retest candidates after commissioners said March 13 minutes had misstated whether retesting was authorized.

Chairman Blake Chart said the commission’s legal opinion concluded the March 13 minutes should record that the retest had not been approved because an earlier error created confusion and prompted a special meeting on March 31 to adopt a revised retest plan. Chart said the error led the commission to treat the March 31 action as necessary to ensure all candidates from the pool would be retested equally.

Secretary-examiner Michelle Sutherland provided the personnel details the commission relied on for the entry-level list, saying, “We had 5 withdraw, and we had 2 fail the chief’s interview.” Sutherland also gave the commission a May eligibility-list status update and confirmed that the eligibility update was informational and did not require a vote.

The commission took a series of formal votes. Commissioner Pat Schneider moved and Commissioner Wendy Mouty seconded approval of the March 13 minutes; the motion passed (aye: Blake Chart, Pat Schneider, Wendy Mouty). Chart moved and Mouty seconded approval of the March 31 special meeting minutes, which recorded adoption of the revised retest plan; the motion passed (aye: Chart, Schneider, Mouty). Schneider moved and Mouty seconded approval of the April 10 minutes; the motion passed (aye: Chart, Schneider, Mouty).

On the police entry-level list for May 2025, Sutherland notified the commission that five candidates had withdrawn and two had failed the chief’s interview; Schneider moved to approve the list and Mouty seconded. The commission approved the entry-level eligibility list (aye: Chart, Schneider, Mouty).

The commission also noted an administrative change to the agenda: Sutherland said item 9 would be struck from the agenda and returned revised for the June meeting. Chairman Chart concluded the meeting by confirming the next commission meeting is scheduled for June 12.

The actions formalize the eligibility lists and the procedural steps the commission took to ensure the candidate pool for police hiring is evaluated consistently after the March meeting’s procedural confusion.