Civil Service Merit Board approves two temporary civil‑service exemptions; staff reports on recruiting, benchmarking and rule updates

The Civil Service Merit Board on Aug. 18 approved two temporary exemptions that will allow grant‑funded positions to be filled outside the civil‑service hiring process and received staff reports on recruitment, benchmarking and proposed administrative‑rule updates.

Board members approved a request from KPD to exempt an administrative specialist position from civil‑service coverage through Sept. 30, 2026, and a separate request to exempt a victim‑services advocate position through June 30, 2026. Both exemptions were approved by voice vote after motions and seconds; meeting minutes and roll‑call tallies were not recorded in the transcript beyond members indicating “aye.”

The exemptions matter because they allow departments that rely on time‑limited grant funding to hire staff outside the usual civil‑service classification and hiring procedures for the duration of the grant. The board moved quickly through the two items after hearing brief staff background that the requests were grant extensions.

Foster, a staff member who delivered the meeting’s report, gave several operational updates. Foster said the city’s Oracle recruiting conversion has been postponed until January and that the department will begin a third test session soon. Foster reported one active grievance and two disciplinary appeals on the department’s docket. Foster also announced that Laura Peck has been promoted to deputy secretary of civil service (Peck was not present) and that the civil‑service analyst position posted attracted 65 applications with the posting closing that day.

Civil‑service staff and HR staff member Miss Kelly outlined personnel‑service activities and administrative‑rule work. Kelly said the civil‑service department and the HR department are coordinating a joint activity and that a city council workshop on employment recruitment, retention and development is scheduled for Aug. 28 and that staff will attend and report back. She said the department received 32 benchmarking requests; staff are reviewing those requests and will respond to departments in the coming weeks. Kelly described the department’s approach to benchmarking as prioritizing positions with significant turnover or positions not previously studied and noted that departments seeking benchmarking for positions reviewed within the last two years “probably will not meet that requirement.”

Kelly also described a modified job fair being run later in the week to help departments fill roughly 20 open positions; staff were conducting interviews, prescreens and making offers that week. She said administrative rule 14 was recently revised to conform to state OSHA/TOSHA requirements; administrative rule 2 is under consideration and will require public notice before any change; and administrative rules 3 and 5 are being updated to allow a planned day‑of‑service for full‑time employees.

After completing the business‑meeting items, the board voted to adjourn the business session and proceed to a rules workshop.

Votes at a glance: minutes approval (July 9) — approved by voice vote; Item 4 (KPD exemption through 09/30/2026) — approved by voice vote; Item 5 (exempt victim services advocate through 06/30/2026) — approved by voice vote. The transcript records members saying “aye” on each motion; no roll‑call vote counts or individual yea/nay records were provided in the transcript.