Someone over at thedailypage.com asked what ordinances might have been violated in the hiring of Jeanne Hoffman. It’s hard to say if there were violations as the information about the hiring is a little hard to come by. I think the Isthmus has had an open records request in for a couple weeks and they still haven’t gotten the info they asked for. At least, that was the case as of last Thursday. However, based on a review of the applications, the ordinances that I would be concerned about are as follows:
1. This is the major one that I would consider a problem.
3.35(7)(g) If there are any changes in the duties of a position that would affect the classification, compensation, or training and experience requirements of the position between the time of initial posting of the position opening and the time of selection, the position shall not be filled; rather, the position as changed shall be posted again and a new application and selection process will be started. (Cr. by ORD-06-00136)
2. Somehow, this job had 6 final applicants, which doesn’t seem to follow this procedure.
3.35(8)(b) Certification Procedure . Upon receiving written notice that a position in the civil service is to be filled, the Human Resources Director, or designee, shall forthwith certify the names and addresses of the four (4) highest ranking eligible candidates from the most appropriate eligible list, or of qualified candidates eligible through transfer, reinstatement, or demotion. In case of two (2) vacancies in the same classification, two (2) additional ranks shall be certified for each additional vacancy up to a maximum of twenty (20) ranks.
In situations where a position falls in a job family that is underutilized, the Human Resources Director, or designee, shall certify the names and addresses of the eight (8) highest ranking eligible candidates from the most appropriate eligible list as provided above. In case of two (2) vacancies in the same classification, two (2) additional ranks shall be certified for each additional vacancy up to a maximum of twenty (20) ranks. The Human Resources Director and Director of Affirmative Action shall annually update the job family utilization data. (Am. by Ord. 10,984, 9-14-94)
3. I don’t think this happens unless they post them in the Council Office, but I don’t think that I’ve ever seen these notices and I’m quite certain they are not distributed in any fashion.
3.35(11) Notice of Vacancies. (a) Upon receiving notice of a vacancy of any position in the civil service, the Human Resources Department shall forward written notice of such vacancy or vacancies to every member of the Common Council prior to the commencement of recruitment or the taking of any other action to fill such positions. (Am. by Ord. 10,052, Adopted 6-19-90)
(c) The filing of written notice of vacancies in the Office of the Secretary of the Common Council for posting and distribution pursuant to administrative directive shall fulfill the requirements of forwarding written notice of vacancies to every member of the Common Council as set forth above.
Additionally, there may be violations in procedure set out in a couple different Administrative Procedure Memoranda 2-8, and 2-29. I haven’t gotten any answers to if there are other written rules and procedures from the Human Resources Office (also a request from two weeks ago), so I only have what one of the City Attorney’s gave me. So, I’m still not apologizing. And instead, I’ve introduced this resolution (with Michael Schumacher, Satya Rhodes-Conway and Marsha Rummel) which we should be voting on tomorrow. Then hopefully we can get additional information and make sure that we don’t let this happen again.
