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Committee reviews proposal to raise veteran preference points in FPC hiring rules
Summary
Committee members discussed a proposal to increase veterans' preference points in FPC hiring rules (proposed alignment with City Service Commission and state statute), and debated raising the aggregate cap on preference points; staff will bring more history and analysis to the full board.
The FPC Testing and Recruitment Committee on March 11 considered a staff communication proposing an amendment to FPC Rule 8, Section 6(a), to increase preference points for veterans on entry‑level and lateral police and fire hiring.
Committee members were told the proposal, requested by city personnel advocates, would increase veterans' preference from the current three points to a scale tied to veterans' status (10 points for qualifying veterans, higher for certain disabled‑veteran categories), aligning FPC practice with the City Service Commission and state statute. "This would bring FPC rules in line with current CSC rules regarding the number of preference points that veterans receive," a staff member said during committee discussion.
Staff also flagged a related procedural issue: the commission's current aggregate cap on preference points is 10. Under the proposed veteran point levels, commissioners discussed whether to raise the maximum aggregate cap — staff suggested a cap of at least 20 to allow combinations of veteran, residency and education preferences without exceeding the ceiling.
Commissioner Horowitz asked whether testing experts had reviewed potential unintended consequences of heavier veteran preference weighting on eligibility lists. Molly Keither Steele, staffing services manager, said that some candidates already receive 10 preference points in the current system (e.g., residency plus education) and that the city is not currently in a position where an eligible list lasts more than one recruit class for police officer: "There is not we aren't in a situation where some people are gonna be hired before others because we're hiring every single person that makes it through the process," she said.
Committee members asked staff to bring more historical context on why veteran points had previously been reduced to three and to provide a full review of preference-point categories and caps. No formal committee vote occurred; staff said the proposal will be converted to a resolution file for the full FPC to consider.
