Comment: Vote NO on move to eliminate Civil Service in Belleville

By Don Bluhm
Belleville Resident and Civil Service Commissioner (18-year period)
Belleville residents: Beware! Beware!
Protect city employees. Vote NO to eliminate Civil Service from the charter.
The city mayor and council want to eliminate the check and balance agenda mandated by the City Charter Commission in 1982 and eliminate the Civil Service Commission section of the charter.
In the June 19, 2014 issue of the Belleville Independent, it stated a proposal to change the City Charter to eliminate the Civil Service Commission was to be voted on Nov. 4, 2014. Further, it stated that the ballot language would read there are currently three positions. (There were only four created in 1982) that are not covered by collective bargaining agreements that are covered by the provisions of the Civil Service system, those being Police Chief, Dir. of Public Works/Building Official, and City Clerk.
Shall Chapter 16, entitled Civil Service of the Belleville City Charter be repealed to eliminate the system of civil service in the City of Belleville? yes __ or no __ (Vote NO. Please read on.)
Council resolution said, “It is determined that due to the low number of employees that are not covered by the collective bargaining agreement and the cost of maintaining a civil service system, it would be in the best interest of the city to eliminate the Civil Service Commission.”
For the record, there is no cost. Commissioners are not taking any payment for serving. The positions are non-union and according to Chapter 8.1 of the charter listing the: Administrative Officers – The administrative officers of the city shall be the City Manager, Clerk, Treasurer, City Attorney, Assessor, Police Chief, Fire Chief, and Superintendent of Public Works.
The employees are directed by the Civil Service Commission for raises, evaluations, pensions, health care, then approved by both the commission and council these four positions – Police Chief, Director of DPW, City Clerk, and Treasurer – were established by the charter commission in 1982 and require no union collective bargaining by the city council.
When the treasurer crisis arose and failure of work both by the city manager and treasurer, council asked the commission if outside financial help could be added. Civil Service Commission temporarily relinquished this position and Plante Moran was employed. Due to the lack of financial experience by the present city manager, Plante Moran has been kept on contract.
Origin
Belleville was a village through the ‘30s, ‘40s and continued after World War II. The governmental unit consisted of a mayor and council members who also each held an assigned job such as Fire Commissioner, Police Commissioner, DPW Commissioner, etc. This form of government continued after Belleville became a 5th Class city. In the middle and late ‘70s, the trend was … go to the city manager system of government.
It was the modern thing to do. Has it been the panacea as it was touted to be? It has been stated that the City of Belleville has had 10-14 city managers since our first one.
With the exception of one or two managers, the majority were not excelling in their capacity and basically Belleville was used as a stepping stone to find the next city manager job that would pay more money.
Charter
A special Charter Commission of the City of Belleville was established to inaugurate the development and the writing of a charter to operate the government for the city under charter rules and regulations.
This committee, identified as the Charter Commission of the City of Belleville, consisted of many prominent and elite citizens and residents of Belleville. The commission consisted of Richard Smith as chairman; Jack Ferret, vice chairman; and Dale Frisch, James Graham, Jay Hartford, Sandra Lauth, Cynthia Talaga, Andrew Thom, and James White. Clerk for this Charter Commission was Agnes Frisch.
This committee was assigned the duty to prepare a charter for the city of Belleville that would be used by the elected and other administration officers as a legal document to conduct the business of the city.
It was evident that this committee worked many hours diligently and went over every item, complicated as it may have been, to prevent dishevel. Further, to produce a document that engulfed strategy so as to act as a check and balance system charter that prevented any one section of this government to be able to run rampant and do actions on their own regardless of their assigned duties!
Again, the committee created a check and balance accountable charter to be followed. It was to prevent constraint and prevent mass confusion, loss of right for appeals, prevent unsanctioned acts from any assigned committee or the elected administration. The committee created 18.5 different sections of the charter including section 17.6 Penalties for Violation of Charter.
Any person found guilty of an act constituting a violation of this charter may be punished by a fine not exceeding $500 or by imprisonment not to exceed 90 days or both and is ineligible for appointments to city service for five years.
The City of Belleville Charter
Section 16.1 Civil Service
There is hereby created a system of CIVIL SERVICE in the city applicable to all employees of said city, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.
Section 16.2 Purpose
The purpose of this charter is to establish a civil service system based on MERIT principles and scientific methods, to afford all interested persons a FAIR and EQUAL opportunity for public service; to ESTABLISH conditions of SERVICE, which will attract employees of character and capacity and to increase the efficiency of the city departments by the improvements of methods of personnel administration.
Section 16.3
The Civil Service Commission shall consist of three members appointed by the mayor for staggered terms of six years commencing on the first of June.
Organization, Terms, Compensation, Appointments
The members of the commission shall be persons in sympathy with the application of merit principles to public employment, and shall be residents of the city. The members of the commission shall receive for their services such compensation as shall be determined by the council. (Compensation has never been taken by commissioners.)
Section 16.5 Powers and Duties of the Civil Service Commission
In order to carry out and make effective the purpose and intent of all the provisions of this charter in establishing a civil service and merit program in the city. The Civil Service Commission shall:
1. Establish and administer a position classification plan and examination program, a schedule of compensation, and rules and regulations governing the terms and conditions of employment and service.
2. Establish and administer rules and regulations governing residency requirements, probation periods, service records, seniority, hours of service, work week, vacations, leaves, time off, promotions, demotions, suspensions, removals, reinstatement, resignations, and layoffs.
3. Make such rules and regulations not inconsistent with this charter as it deems necessary and advisable for the administration of the civil service program.
4. Investigate and enforce by itself or otherwise the provisions of this section of the charter. The commission, or authorized representative, shall have the power to administer oaths, subpoenas, and compel this attendance of witnesses and the production of records in connection with any matter properly before it.
5. Makes annual or special reports of its activities to the mayor and council and made reports on any matter requested by the mayor or council.
6. Here is an example of the check and balance provisions that the City Charter Commission installed in the charter. Annual or special reports of the civil service commission activities were to be made to the mayor and council and further reports on any matter requested by either the mayor or council.
Section 16.6 Approval of Payrolls by Commission
All payrolls or vouchers for personnel service shall be approved by the Civil Service Commission, or its authorized representative, before payment shall be made.
(Again, the Charter Commission provided a check and balance system. The commission, on a yearly basis, has authorized a representative – city clerk, etc. – to approve payroll, etc. Cannot recall the Civil Service Commission taking any such action during the past two years. Does this represent a violation of the charter?)
Section 16.7 The Unclassified and Classified Services
The Civil Service of the city shall be divided into the unclassified and classified services. The unclassified services shall specifically include an exempt from the provisions of this chapter, for the following:
Elected officers, deputies or assistance in each of the elected offices, city manager, city attorney, city engineer, members of appointed board and commissions persons employed in a professional or scientific capacity.
The classified service shall comprise all other positions in the city. (The charter commission provided for all employees the protection and availability to appeal to the Civil Service Commission any action against them, and an opportunity to report illegal acts, matters and confidential information that they could not report to their supervisor who may be involved or the employee working for him/her. (This has occurred more than once.)
Section 16.7 Persons Serving or Temporary Appointments, Not to Exceed 90 Days
Again, currently there has been a violation of the charter as neither a Director of Public Works nor a Police Chief has been hired and the temporary appointments have exceeded 90 days.
Section 16.8 Approval by the Council of Civil Service Commission Actions
Once again, the Charter Commission Committee installed as part of the charter, the following check and balance statement.
Actions of the Civil Service Commission in establishing a classification of positions plan, or a compensation plan, shall be approved by the council before any of such plans may become effective. When any of such plans have been once approved, amendments thereto shall not become effective until approved by both the Civil Service Commission and the council.
(Again, was this charter directive followed by council on Nov. 4, 2013? No. Again is this a violation of the charter? The charter commission had the foresight to also set up a check and balance system on removal procedures and appeals. This is covered under Section 16.12.)
Section 16.12 Removal Procedures and Appeals
Any person in the Classified Civil Service may be removed, suspended, or demoted by the appointing authority for cause, as shall be established by the Civil Service Commission, by an order in writing stating specifically the reasons therefore. A copy of such order shall be filed with the commission. Such employee may, within 10 days after presentation of such order to him, appeal from such order to the Civil Service Commission. The commission shall, within two weeks from the filing of such appeal, commence the hearing thereon. And, shall thereupon fully hear and determine the matter, and either affirm, modify or revoke such order the appellant shall be entitled to appear personally, produce evidence, have counsel and a public hearing. The findings and the decision of the commission shall be certified to the official, from whose order the appeal is taken and shall forthwith be enforced and followed by him.
(Has this been done by the council and city manager? No. Violation of the charter?)
Several years ago, John Barr was our city attorney and was asked to facilitate the duties of the Civil Service Commission, particularly on a matter of appeals. Barr indicated that the commission had been given the authority by the charter to investigate, subpoena persons, and have records produced in any manner that was before the commission. Likewise, Mr. Barr stated that the Civil Service Commission was the appeal judge on matters where the city produced their case, the employee produced their case, and the commission either affirmed, modified, or revoked the findings and the decision of the commission shall be certified as official and shall forthwith be enforced and followed by the person responsible.
Current Situation
The present situation has arisen because of economic conditions. In the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s, it was difficulty to hire employees and harder yet to keep them as the auto industry jobs were available. The auto industry offered many perks that the city could not provide and keep their employees. As a result, in 1968 the city of Belleville produced a booklet for all new employees. It covered many of the perks and advantages to stay with the city. As the years proceeded, the city raised the benefits to the employees from vacation to longevity bonuses, increased medical care and payment to the employee if medical care was carried by the spouse.
In addition, through the years, the charter that we operate our form of government in Belleville mandates and requires that the Civil Service Commission establishes rules and regulations covering the terms and conditions of employment and service. Contained in the rules and regulations are written phases of employment, including the benefits of such employee.
Under Section 12.2 of the Rules and Regulations is a paragraph titled Insurance for Retirees. It states: The city shall provide medical insurance for an employee who retires after the date of policy, who has had at least 10 years of service with the city and is an active member of the city retirement system in accordance with the following conditions.
1. The city shall pay a percentage of the premium for the retiree and a spouse who meets the requirements of sub section 2. Based on 4% for each year of service with the city, on the basis if the retiree had 25 years or more of service with the city, the city shall pay 100% of the premium.
This was a perk offered by the city that did not cost anything at the time it made this provision look very attractive and gave peace of mind to the employee. Everything went along for years until Nov. 4, 2013 when the council was alerted that the Director of Public Works was going to retire.
Council went into a closed session and passed Resolution 13-101 which was titled Resolution to approve Civil Service Commission Retirees Health Care Premium Cost Share.
“Now, therefore, be it resolved that the council for the city of Belleville hereby establishes that CSC employees, who retired after Nov. 4, 2013, shall contribute to same premium cost share for health care as the active employees.”
Mr. Boc, the Director of the DPW, presented an appeal to the Civil Service Commission that council was in violation of Section 16.8, which states a classification of position plan or a compensation plan shall be approved by the council before any such plans may become effective. When any of such have been approved, amendments thereto shall not become effective until approved by both the Civil Service Commission and the council. The mayor and council were IN VIOLATION by-passing Section 16.8 of the rules mandated by the charter and ramrodding their resolution through so they would not have to honor the promise to pay the premiums on any retiree who qualified with 25 years of service.
Working throughout the years with many mayors and council people, the civil Service Commission has screened hundreds of applications, conducted background searches and oral interviews for police officers, laborers, secretarial work, police chief, etc. In addition, the Civil Service Commission has conducted investigations of dishonesty, illegal use of public funds, falsified applications, misuse of city equipment and subsequent supplies which led to several discharges. All information was treated in total confidence to prevent any forms of retaliation towards an employee.
In conclusion, I would like to say I have enjoyed being part of the Civil Service Commission for 18 years. I have worked for different mayors and advised each one that I would feel honored to serve on the Civil Service Commission, but that I would not be a yes man, and I will have to take the facts into consideration to do a job.
I bear no malice, but am deeply concerned on how the work that the commission does for the city will be completed if there is no Civil Service Commission. There was a statement made that this would save the city money if there was no Civil Service.
For the record, I wish to state that for serving on the Civil Service Commission during an 18-year period, I have never taken one cent nor do I know of any other commissioner that has ever taken any money for serving on the commission.
Consequently, I do not know how this statement can be made that they would save money if there was no Civil Service Commission.
Councilman Fielder stated he felt there should be a public meeting to discuss this proposal. However, the proposal wording has already been established and is printed on the absentee ballots, so it does appear as if the council wants to ramrod the proposal through to have the public vote on this matter based that Civil Service Commission does nothing but three employees report to them, also to the taxpayers that one or two members of the administration think are dumb enough to fall for this political ploy that is a falsehood being presented!
Mr. Fielder was a teacher in our Belleville High School and can recall that history shows that when an autocratic form or dictatorship, example Hitler Germany form of government, convenes to remove all opposition, the first item that is always abolished is the check and balance contribution to running the government.
It would seem that we have experienced this as well as the Wayne County form of government with Mr. Ficano and the Kilpatrick form of government in the city of Detroit that led to cronyism, appointment of whoever you wanted to do the job whether or not you are qualified, and further, you could get rid of anyone you wanted to who you felt might be a danger.
The Belleville City Charter Commission was correct in formulating a check and balance charter document.
Some of the things Civil Service Commission currently does formulates the tests and oral interviews for all employees that are hired, as well as maintaining a rules and regulations document for employees, conducts investigations when necessary, on any matter that comes before it.
The Civil Service Commission also handles appeals for employees who have been disciplined or to share confidential information of illegal acts and not be afraid of repercussions from their supervisors. The city of Belleville needs this positive form of government and not the revengeful retaliation form that I was told came about because of the last two decisions ruled upon by the Civil Service Commission, following the guidelines mandated by the charter committee, were in favor of the employee.
So, you have the administration trying to get rid of civil service – destroy the check and balance system – and be able to have tyrannical control.