Spokane civil service hearing on Kelly Long job survey continued after employee challenges reclassification

Kelly Long, an executive assistant in the Spokane Facilities Department, asked the Civil Service Commission on April 15 to nullify a job survey that found her duties align with an Office Clerk Specialist rather than an Administrative Manager.

Long said she was hired from an administrative specialist hire list in May 2022 and that her daily responsibilities still include processing contracts, running bid and RFQ steps, tracking payments and supporting multiple trades and project staff. "I am the Executive Assistant for the Facilities Department," Long told the commission, saying the reclassification would be "a slap in my face" and would cause severe financial harm to her family.

Chief Examiner Kelsey Pearson summarized the survey process and the internal review that followed Long's administrative complaint. Pearson said analyst Lisa Olsen compared Long's position against multiple classifications and concluded that only about 10% of Long's work fit the Executive Assistant classification. Pearson said that, if the managerial duties were assigned to the facilities director, the preponderance of Long's tasks would match the Office Clerk Specialist classification and that civil service recommended reclassification with a resurvey in one year.

Alex Scott, city administrator, appeared for management and said management had discussed the matter with Facilities Director Jeff Teal and chose the specialist classification. Scott told the commission that Teal "has reiterated what it is that he views as his role versus support staff." He also said management expects to make or has made changes to Teal's distribution of duties but acknowledged those changes have not been finalized because the complaint placed the survey on hold.

Commissioners pressed Long and civil service staff on whether Long had seen the compiled survey results and whether supervisors had been interviewed; Long said she had not seen the compiled determinations and said neither she nor her supervisor had been directly contacted by the analyst for clarifying follow-up. When asked whether the duties she performs could justify an Administrative Manager classification, Long said she was not supervising staff and could not say "yes 100%" to that determination.

The commission said it needed testimony from Facilities Director Jeff Teal to resolve conflicting accounts about whether management had removed managerial duties from Long's workload. The commission voted to continue the hearing so Teal can appear; the new date set was June 17, 2025.

The commission did not take a final determination on the survey at the April meeting; the reclassification, and any down- or up-grade, remains on hold pending the continued hearing.