Employee Services outlines appointed-official hiring process to Rules Committee

Employee Services gave Rules Committee members an overview of the appointed-official hiring process used by the City of Jacksonville, explaining legal authority, screening steps and interview practices.

The presentation matters because appointed officials are mayoral appointments that serve at the appointing authority's pleasure yet perform high-level city functions; the committee sought clarity about how candidates are screened and how subjectivity is limited in the process.

Hayes, an Employee Services representative, told the committee that "according to the municipal code, appointed official appointments are made by the mayor and confirmed by city council" and that these appointed positions are full-time at-will roles that receive benefits similar to civil-service employees but are not covered by civil-service protections. Hayes said the office verifies degree requirements, applies veterans' preference laws at every step and develops supplemental application questions to assess eligibility.

Hayes described the operational steps: reviewing and updating job descriptions, deciding on internal or external posting venues (City of Jacksonville website and professional outlets such as the Florida League of Cities), screening applications against stated qualifications, verifying degrees from accredited institutions and using structured interview panels that include senior leadership, an Employee Services representative and a subject-matter expert. She said the city focuses interviews on 11 core competencies (including leadership, business acumen and emotional intelligence) and uses behavioral and situational questions. "We use a structured interview process with both behavioral and situational questions for our appointed officials," Hayes said.

On post-interview procedure, Hayes described same-day debriefs in which panelists discuss strengths, concerns and red flags and then tier candidates into "strongly recommend," "consider" and "do not recommend" groups to share with administration. She said Employee Services sometimes compiles a matrix summarizing education, experience and responses to supplemental questions to aid comparison and that high-level numeric scoring for executives is uncommon in the office because scoring can overshadow qualitative judgment on soft skills.

Committee members asked clarifying questions. Chair Garrett Dennis and others pressed Hayes about whether numeric scoring might reduce subjectivity; Dennis said that in his experience objective scoring reduced bias. Councilmember Ken Amaro asked how the city's approach compares with private-sector practices; Hayes said practices vary across local employers and agencies (she cited JEA, JSO and Jacksonville Housing Authority as using scoring in some cases and other agencies not). Hayes said Employee Services has used structured interviews for many years and that staff strive for consistency and due diligence.

Committee members requested follow-up materials including the Employee Services handout Hayes referenced and confirmation of the municipal-code citation Hayes used in the presentation. Hayes also confirmed that the hiring process aligns with guidance from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and noted that degree verification and veterans' preference are applied as required. The committee took no formal action on policy changes during the meeting; Hayes' presentation was informational.

The committee chair thanked Hayes for the overview and said the Rules Committee may request additional briefings, including an Inspector General update on related matters in the future.