Councilman Botelho Wants Special Meeting on Fire Hiring & Role of Manager, HR Director

In a Thursday morning, 2/16/17, press release, Ward Three councilman Joe Botelho is asking fellow council members to conduct an inquiry into the recent fire department hiring snafu. "I have requested that the City Council have a special meeting to review the policies, procedures and practices utilized by the City and the Fire Department in the manner in which it originally established the list for individuals to be admitted into the Fire Training Academy scheduled for March 2017," asked Botelho. Botelho, also seen as a critic of Acting City Manager Tim Chapman, wants an investigation into the involvement of Chapman and city HR Director, Kathleen Waterbury. Chapman, a former city solicitor, was named Acting Manager after the firing of former Manager Richard Kirby. Waterbury was fired by Kirby and then reinstated by a court hearing officer.

"This should include a thorough investigation of the role of the HR Director, and the Acting City Manager," added Botelho. Botelho outlined his concerns in his written statement:

There are a number of issues that I believe need to reviewed and evaluated, including the following:

1. The manner in which the recruitment process was conducted , and whether it was consistent with historical practice and procedure

2. The impact that abandonment of the current list has on the recruitment on minorities into the fire department

3. The manner in which the acting City Manager made representations to the Council on Tuesday evening, February 7th, and specifically, his invocation of Section 11.64( e) regarding the examination process, specifically the written test, as well as Section l 1.64(g), which establishes that one must obtain "70 as a total cumulative score" for the final examination, which includes a (1) written test; (2) oral test; (3) performance test; (4) physical test; and (5) a competitive evaluation. It is my understanding that these five (5) components make up what is called "the final score" for a candidate, and it is intended, (in accordance with section G of the ordinances) to be based on all tests and evaluations in the examination.

4. The manner in which the City decided to lower the written test scores by five (5) points, and whether the five (5) points have been applied to all candidates to ensure that no discrimination existed with respect to that. A subset of this issue is who made that determination, when the determination was made, why it was made, and whether it was consistent with the manner in which the City's HR office has operated.

5. Why the Personnel Hearing Board on January 10,2017 agreed to approve the list as originally proposed, and then without further inquiry or explanation, decided to "reverse itself ' on January 17, 2017? What prompted this switch? Who was involved in the decision making with respect to same? Who recommended this and why was it recommended?

6. What is the impact on the fire department's operating budget as a result of the delay of the fire academy as originally envisioned for March 2017? How much additional overtime will be required as a result of this delay?

7. Because of the mysterious manner in which the original list has been discarded, I would like to suggest that we hire an independent outside counsel to coordinate an immediate and thorough investigation of these issues in order to determine whether
there has been any "atypical" influence causing the HR Director and acting City Manager in proposing to abandon the original list for the Fire Academy.

"If we have any conscience left on this council we owe it to the aspirants for these positions. who were discarded like yesterday's newspaper, with no regard for their efforts. I'd like to think we're better than that," concluded Botelho.

In a separate statement earlier this week, Councilman Botelho has asked the council to discuss the possibility of bringing back former City Manager Richard Kirby to serve as City Manager again. Presumably this would take place until the City works on a process to change the form of government to an elected Mayor.

Contacted for a reaction, Ward One Councilman and Mayor Jim Briden would only say "No Comment."