Yakima commissions re-elect chair, approve Nov. minutes and temporarily suspend sergeant’s probation

The Yakima City Charter Civil Service and Police and Fire Civil Service Commissions held a joint meeting March 10 and approved several procedural items by voice vote.

Commissioners re-elected Sean Worley as chair of both commissions; the nomination was made and approved by voice vote with no opposition. The commissions also approved the minutes from the Nov. 4, 2024 civil service meeting by voice vote.

Separately, the commissions approved a temporary suspension of a police sergeant’s probationary period. Staff reported the sergeant was promoted in June and is serving a 12-month probation; the officer applied for and received protected leave from HR, and commissioners voted to extend or suspend the probation for the duration of that leave. A staff member summarized: "We have a sergeant that promoted last June, which comes with a 12 month probationary period. During this 12 months, he has applied and been approved for a protected leave status from HR. So we would just like to extend the probationary period the same amount that he'll be gone on that leave." The motion to temporarily suspend probation passed by voice vote with no opposition.

Commissioners also acknowledged status reports from the fire and police departments and had no substantive comments. During closing, staff proposed moving the next scheduled meeting from April 7 to April 14 due to conflicts; commissioners agreed to the date and staff asked that any agenda items be submitted by March 29 so packets can be finalized the week before.

Actions were procedural and taken by unanimous voice votes; no roll-call tallies were recorded in the meeting transcript.