Minutes 06/12/1962 - Laserfiche WebLink

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25O Effective May 1, 1961 Messrs. Paul Murphy and R. Stevens Gibbs resigned ss members of the Con~ission. Judge Robert F. McMurran appointed Messrs. Vincent T. Cherry and T. McDowell Williams to succeed them. Mr. Murphy had served on the Colmmission for seventeen years and for a num- ber of years was its chairman. His integrity and dedicated service to the spirit of the Civil Service System in the City of Portsmouth will long be remembered by those with whom he came in contact. Mr. Gibbs' service was also outstanding particularly in upgrading the standards of the promotion examinations given the men. At the first meeting in May 1961, R. E. B Stewart, Jr. was elected Chair- man for the yesr 1961-62. At that time a rotation system of the Chairmanship was adopted and Mr. Vincent T. Cherry became Chairman on May 1, 1962. The Commission has held 25 meetings during the year. The Commission gave examinations to and corrected the papers of 173 men. The statistics on these are given below: Total Applicants Ineligible Examined Failed Certified Police Entrance 62 27 35 15 20 Promotional 61 4 54 7 47 Promotional 90 2 84 16 68 The Commission was particularly gratified with the large number of members of the Police and Fire Department who passed the promotional examinations. The examinations have been up- graded over the past few years. The results showed that the men were well informed and interested in their accomplishments. Due to the requirements of the City Charter, considerable processing and investigation is necessary before an applicant can be certified to take the examination Much clerical work is involved on the part of the-secretary. In addition to processing the 213 applications, 60 written requests were received and answered inquiring about and notifying applicants when examinations were To be held. To assist applicants to make up their application forms to comply with Charter provisions, the Commission for the past two years has held meetings with the applicants, explaining the Charter provisions, the Commission ru~es and how to properly complete their applications. Despite t~is, many are improperly completed and the applicant is not permitted to take the examination. The Commission also hears cases appealed from the City Manager. During the year 1961, the following cases were appealed and heard by the Commission: 1-3-61 (T E Engram) CASES APPEALED Upheld City Manager. Case appealed in Court of Hustings. Appeal dismissed December 12, 1961. 1-18-61 (C H Harrell) Upheld City Manager on part 41) and reversed par~ (2). Case appealed in Court of Hustings. Appeal dismissed. 3-9-61 (A P Brockwell) Upheld City Manager. Case appealed in Court of Hustings. Decision reversed. 10-18-61 (J P Outland) Upheld City Manager. No appeal 10-18-61 (V S Howard) Upheld City Manager. No appeal 2-20-61 (Walker) COURT ACTION Judge McMurran sustained the joint demurrer in case of Walker v. City Manager, Civil Service~Commission and others without leave to amend. 4-6-61 (C E McCoy) Appeal dismissed. 7-13-61 (A P Brock~velt) Court ruled against City Manager and Commission 8-15-61 (C H Harrell) Appeal dismissed. 12-12-61 (T E Engram) Appeal dismissed. Several meetings were held with the City Manager, City Attorney and Chief of Police in connection with Civil Service ru~es. In compliance with the Charter and Civil Service rules nearly one hundred letters were received from the City Manager and City Attorney all~of which were processed and filed. The Commission intends in the near future 'to revise some of its '~ules and regulations. The City Manager, City Attorney, the Chief of the Police and the Chief of the Fire Departments along with members of the departments have been asked for constructive suggestions, ~o be considered by the Commission for the improvemenz of the system. The original Civil Service Act was written in 19g6. Several amendments have been made Eo the Charter since that time. In some respects the Act is outmoded and some changes should be made in it a~ the next session of the legislature.