Tumwater commission asks staff to rewrite job description for proposed executive assistant reclassification

The Tumwater Civil Service Commission voted to request a revised job description for a proposed reclassification of one Fire Department administrative assistant to an executive assistant rather than approve the reclassification at Monday’s meeting.

Commissioners spent roughly an hour debating how the city had mapped existing job-class specifications onto a Fire Department position that now includes confidential contract and labor‑negotiation support. The commission’s request directs staff to update the executive assistant specification to better reflect the confidential duties and supervisory expectations cited by the Fire Department.

The issue surfaced after the Fire Chief described how the employee’s responsibilities have shifted toward “strategic support” and confidential work related to labor negotiations and contracts with partners including Thurston County Medic 1. The chief said the position now performs data analysis and supports confidential bargaining and contract preparation — duties the department says go beyond a traditional administrative assistant role.

Commissioner Pat Schneider said an AI comparison he ran suggested the existing administrative assistant specification encompassed a broader span of supervisory control and higher educational requirements than the executive assistant specification. Schneider said he worried that approving the reclassification without a clearer job description could set a citywide precedent and create pressure from other administrative staff for similar reclassifications.

“Everyone who’s an admin assistant is going to want this,” Schneider said, expressing concern about the fiscal and personnel precedent.

Staff and the Fire Chief told the commission the reclassification request applies only to the single civil‑service position in the Fire Department and does not automatically change classifications for administrative assistants in other departments. The commission was also told the pay impact for this one position was included in the city’s 2025 budget and that the reclassification would move the position two pay bands higher, roughly a 10% increase — approximately $7,000 annually, or about $600 per month.

Commissioner Blake Chard and others said the executive assistant title captures the confidentiality and higher‑level support responsibilities the Fire Department said it needs, including participation on negotiation teams (not as lead negotiators, staff said) and handling confidential contract documents. But commissioners agreed the job specification should be revised to make those distinctions explicit.

Commissioner Schneider moved that staff prepare a revised job description clarifying the confidential and supervisory duties and distinguishing the executive assistant role from the administrative assistant. Commissioner Blake Chard seconded the motion. The commission approved the motion by voice vote.

The commission did not approve the reclassification itself at the meeting; instead, members requested the revised specification be returned for consideration at a future meeting. Staff noted the request will be incorporated into the citywide 2025 workforce‑planning review of class specifications.

The commission also recorded for the minutes that the City Council, the city administrator and the mayor had already included the pay accommodation for this position in the 2025 city budget, per staff statements at the meeting.

The commission asked staff to return with the revised job description at its next meeting so the members could review clearer language about confidentiality, supervisory scope and the role’s duties before any final action.