Warren — Warren Mayor Lori Stone and the city council are at odds again, this time over an ordinance to update the city’s Civil Service Ordinance, which Stone contends would remove the Civil Service Commission’s “core functions and responsibilities.”
The Civil Service Commission, which consists of several members appointed by the mayor, administers the merit system for civil servants not in a union, according to the city’s website and the City Council attorney.
Warren City Council passed an ordinance on April 14 updating the Civil Service Ordinance, but Stone vetoed it because she was concerned about its impact on the city’s civil service system and its “misalignment” with Warren’s city charter.
“Council’s changes would weaken fairness, transparency, and accountability in how full-time city employees are hired, promoted, and disciplined,” she said in a statement.
But City Council officials say the mayor didn’t file the veto on time.
City Council attorney Jeffrey Schroder said the council last June directed a “full rewrite” of the Civil Service Ordinance after spending some time looking at the ordinance and realizing that it’s “out of date.” He said in a letter to the council in March that the proposed revisions represent “the most significant update” to the city’s civil service framework since its adoption in 1967. He added that the update is “long overdue.”
“For nearly six decades, the City’s workforce, legal requirements, collective bargaining landscape, and human resources practices have transformed dramatically, yet the ordinance has remained virtually unchanged since the Johnson administration,” he wrote.
The veto is another example of disagreement between Warren’s City Council and mayor. They’ve also clashed over the creation of a land bank authority and the mayor’s decision to not appoint members to the city’s Elected Officer Compensation Commission.
Schroder said Stone sent the veto by email on Saturday, but it wasn’t stamped and received by the city clerk until Monday.
“It was not filed to meet the deadline,” said City Council Secretary Mindy Moore, referring to the Saturday deadline.
Stone’s concerns
Stone said that for many years, the city’s Civil Service Commission has ensured that city jobs are filled “based on merit, not favoritism” and that there are “clear, consistent rules” in place for employees and taxpayers.
“The proposed ordinance would remove the Civil Service Commission’s core functions and responsibilities including testing, hiring, demotions, transfers, and classification decisions, effectively stripping the Commission of its ability to carry out the role it was established to perform,” she said.
She said she is also concerned about the City Council’s decision-making process and noted that the council has “failed to consult” the Civil Service Commission on the matter.
“Changes to the civil service system established in our City Charter must be done so thoroughly, thoughtfully, and transparently with input from the people it impacts,” she stated.
Stone also said the ordinance creates “uncertainty” for the city’s union workforce because collective bargaining agreements refer to civil service rules to “guide personnel management processes and appeals.”
The council backs its changes
Schroder said in his letter that the council made several changes that reflect the city’s “commitment to being pro-labor and pro-union.” New language clarifies that when a collective bargaining agreement provides “an alternative procedure,” the CBA governs, he said. That applies to hiring, promotion, discipline, layoff and grievance handling.
“These changes elevate the role of collective bargaining, ensure compliance with binding labor contracts, eliminate conflicts between ordinance language and negotiated procedures, and reflect modern labor relations practices that respect the union-management relationship,” he said.
The revisions clarify that the Civil Service Commission applies primarily to classified, non-union employees, Schroder said. He told The News that he doesn’t know who that would be.
“I don’t have the employee roster,” he said. “We’re just creating sort of the policy here.”
The commission also doesn’t apply to mayoral appointees.
Schroder said the ordinance passed last week also officially creates the city’s Human Resources Department, though one has existed for years.
“Although the adopted city budget has included a Human Resources Department for over 10 years, the ordinance has never been updated to reflect this,” he wrote. “The creation of the Department was necessary, but it should have been done by ordinance (in addition to being reflected in the budget).”
He said the ordinance updates the responsibilities of the department.
asnabes@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Warren mayor, council clash over updating city’s civil service ordinance
Reporting by Anne Snabes, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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