Port Jervis civil service appointment process deficient
For Immediate release: December 22, 2009
A New York State Civil Service Commission review of the City of Port Jervis Civil Service Commission's administration of the appointment process has found the process generally not in compliance with the Civil Service Law and Rules.
The Port Jervis Commission's focus seems "primarily on ministerial process, with little attention paid to substantive evaluation of the information it receives with regard to proposed appointments," the report said. The sole staff member works just 15-18 hours per week due to budgetary restrictions.
Nancy G. Groenwegen, Commissioner of the State Department of Civil Service and President of the State Civil Service Commission, said, "Given the number and scope of the deficiencies and current limits on staff resources, it may prove difficult for the Port Jervis Commission to properly administer a local merit hiring and promotion system on a sustained basis. Unless more staff resources become available, the City of Port Jervis may need to explore other options available for merit system administration such as merger with other city commissions or turning over responsibilities to the county personnel officers."
The State Civil Service Commission periodically conducts reviews of local jurisdictions to ensure that the merit system is administered in accordance with Civil Service Law and Rules. The reviews are submitted to and adopted by the State Civil Service Commission. These reviews assess practices in one or more of the following areas:
- adopting and enforcing rules regarding employment
- properly allocating positions to a jurisdictional class
- classifying positions
- conducting an examination program
- administration of the appointment process
- maintenance of required records
- reviewing and certifying payrolls
The Port Jervis Commission has jurisdiction over a total of 392 employees-114 employed by the City, 256 by the School District, 18 by special districts and four by the Housing Authority. Of these, 122, or 31 percent, are in the competitive class and are selected by competitive examination.
The review, which covered the period from October 2005 to October 2008, found that the vast majority of competitive-class appointments lacked sufficient documentation to establish their compliance with Civil Service Law and Rules. Based on a possible score of 100, the Port Jervis operation received a score of 23.
"The majority of issues noted with regard to merit system administration appear to stem from the lack of a coherent process for the review of information received from appointing authorities with regard to appointments when they are proposed, lack of a meaningful process for clarifying instances of non-compliance and poor records maintenance procedures," the report said.
The State Commission did recognize the Port Jervis Commission's compliance with one of 17 recommendations for improvement cited in the report and its efforts to address the others. It directed the Port Jervis Commission to submit a plan for complying with all recommendations by December 31, 2009.
"The New York State Department of Civil Service is committed to ensuring that municipal civil service commissions are implementing the Civil Service Law and Rules in a credible, trustworthy, fair, and efficient manner," said Commissioner Groenwegen. "We are dedicated to assisting jurisdictions in accomplishing this goal."
Review the complete report:
Appointment Process Administration by the City of Port Jervis Civil Service Commission(
203KB)
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