AMENDS CHARTER: UPDATES AND CLARIFIES CIVIL SERVICE PROVISIONS
QUESTION : Shall City simplify civil service provisions, authorize Council to implement merit system, exclude certain policy-making employees from civil service?
SUMMARY : This measure maintains the City's Civil Service Board that is appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the City Council. The measure clarifies the merit system for civil service protected positions by replacing existing provisions with updated language and giving City Council power to establish, regulate and maintain the merit system and designate protected categories of persons. Details of implementation relating to job classification plans, recruitment, selection and promotions are removed from the Charter, allowing the Council more flexibility in implementing the merit-based system. The measure establishes a 21 day period for appeals to the Civil Service Board. The measure removes current provisions for temporary appointments.
The measure allows the Council, upon recommendation of the administrator for personnel issues, to determine that future employees in a classification with a major role in the formation of policy requiring exercise of independent judgment will be excluded from civil service protection. This measure will become effective January 1, 2008.
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
This measure is one of four recommendations by the 26 citizen-member Charter Review Commission.
It streamlines and modernizes the City's civil service requirements by eliminating outdated, conflicting and confusing language.
Background
In November 2005, Portland City Council appointed a panel of 26 Portlanders to take the first comprehensive look at the City Charter since 1913. This independent volunteer citizen committee – the Charter Review Commission – represented a wide range of ages, ethnicities, experiences and backgrounds.
To facilitate its work, the Commission held over 100 public meetings, collected information from a variety of sources including review of written reports, invited testimony from legal and academic experts, and public testimony, including:
- Testimony from current and former elected officials of Portland and other municipalities, City employees, community organizations, neighborhood associations and other stakeholder groups and individuals;
- Testimony of outside experts in government studies and public administration; and
- A survey of comparably-sized cities.
What does the measure do?
After 14 months of study the Charter Review Commission found the civil service requirements confusing, conflicting, and outdated. The most recent amendments to some of these civil service requirements were nearly twenty years ago.
The measure:
- Deletes or updates outdated language;
- Requires an annual report to City Council from the Civil Service Board;
- Requires the Civil Service Board to meet at least quarterly;
- Provides a more flexible and adaptable structure for a merit based personnel system;
- Standardizes the civil service appeals process; and
- Allows for certain top level employees to be removed based on non-performance. This only applies to certain future employees.
The measure provides the City workforce with more current, consistent, and predictable civil service requirements and protections.
If passed, the measure will become effective January 1, 2008.
Submitted by:
Mayor Tom Potter
City of Portland
Measure No. 26-90 | City of Portland
ARGUMENT IN FAVOR
PARENTS, TEACHERS, ACCOUNTANTS, RETIREES, COLLEGE STUDENTS, PARKS SUPPORTERS,
SCHOOL ADVOCATES, CONSER VAT IONISTS, GRANDPARENTS, AFFORDABLE ACCESSIBLE HOUSING ADVOCATES, SMALL BUSINESSES, PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS, PUBLIC ADMINISTRATORS, COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS, SENIORS……
WE ARE CITIZENS TO REFORM CITY HALL*
Kris Hudson
Sen. Margaret Carter
Steffeni Mendoza Gray
Lisa Naito
Barbara J. Trachtenberg
Bertha M. Ferran
William David Shepherd
Michaela Bancud
David Martinez
Clara Padilla Andrews
Kilong Ung
Linda Castillo
Vera Katz
John L. Trachtenberg
Jacqueline Mercer
Bernard V. Foster
Carole B. Von Schmidt
James A. Meyer
Kyle Harrington
Barbara Joan Hansen
Michaela Bancud
Elmer Bancud
Jackie Lowthian
Paul Meyer
Kyle Chown
Bruce Harder
Dana Estrada
Philip H. Lowthian
Herbert Hansen
Sarah Shepherd
Kevin Kohnstamm
Maren T. Walta
Kevin Litle
Debbie Kitchin
Jason Lim
Becky Bilyeu
Beverly Newton
Carolina Perkins
Grant L. Jones
Harold C. Williams
Karin Hansen
James Vukanovich
Scott Andrews
Melanie C. Davis
Rodney Page
Bob Ball
Madhusudan Ramachandran
Lauren Rhoades
Andrew S. Estrada
Scott Floyd
Namrata Singh
Shirley Minor
Vaughn De Lorean
Skye Bordcosh
Melissa Crawford
Tom Walsh
Claire Oliveros
Linda L. Martin
Brieanna Wilson
Gale Castillo
Harry L. Newton
Tom Potter
Marta Guembes
Mahhew Aasen
Jamey Hampton
Robert Schmaling
Janet Campbell
Patricia McCaig
Jaime Lim
Steve Oster
Jay Clark
Marie Lisa Johnson
Carol Bianusa
Ben Davis
Nichole J. Maher
Teresa M. Bliven
* a partial list.
We hope you'll join us….
For more supporters go to www.ReformCityHall.com
(This information furnished by Kyle Chisek, Citizens to Reform City Hall )
The printing of this argument does not constitute an endorsement by Multnomah County, nor does the county warrant the accuracy or truth of any statements made in the argument.
Measure No. 26-90 | City of Portland
ARGUMENT IN FAVOR
Extensive Public Input
In November, 2005 a unanimous City Council appointed a panel of 26 Portlanders to take the first comprehensive look since 1913 at how the City was working. This independent volunteer committee spent 15 months developing their recommendations and held more than 100 public meetings .
These volunteers listened to over 2000 hours of testimony from:
• Current and former elected officials;
• Neighborhood organizations;
• Senior organizations;
• Minority media representatives;
• Youth organizations;
• City workers;
• Bureau directors;
• Academic and legal experts;
• Public administrators;
• Community organizations;
• Labor representatives;
• Auditors;
• Professional managers; and
• Community members.
The panel developed draft recommendations and presented them to more than 30 diverse community and neighborhood organizations for review and discussion .
All of the panel's meetings were open to the public and televised. The panel reported formally to the City Council 3 times throughout the 15 months in addition to meeting individually with City Commissioners. The panel's final recommendations were submitted to the City Council in January 2007 and referred to the voters.
Portlanders will have been discussing the need for these reforms for many years by the time they vote May 15 th .
And, these reforms are long overdue!
They are the first to be submitted to the voters in 94 years that include more citizen oversight, streamlined government, and increased accountability.
(This information furnished by Kyle Chisek, Citizens to Reform City Hall)
The printing of this argument does not constitute an endorsement by Multnomah County, nor does the county warrant the accuracy or truth of any statements made in the argument.
Measure No. 26-90 | City of Portland
ARGUMENT IN FAVOR
A MESSAGE FROM TOM POTTER
Real Reform at City Hall
Dear Neighbors,
Two years ago I campaigned for Mayor by asking for your help in changing how City Hall works. You told me about the problems you had in accessing City services. We've made a good start together, bringing a renewed sense of openness and transparency, and making City Hall more welcoming to everyone.
Now it's time to finish the job.
We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to adopt four reforms proposed by an independent committee of Portlanders that will increase accountability, achieve more efficient use of tax dollars, and bring more community oversight to City Hall.
I'm proud to support this volunteer commission's recommendations for real reform at City Hall. Their reforms include some of the most significant changes to our City since 1913. And, it's about time!
- 89: Provide you the opportunity to review city government every ten years and allows the public to vote on community recommendations;
- 90: Streamline and modernize public employee provisions – eliminate outdated, confusing and conflicting rules;
- 91: Eliminate duplication of City services and improve communication and coordination between City bureaus by allowing managers to run City bureaus, and hold them accountable; and
- 92: Give the City Auditor more authority to conduct financial and performance audits on the Portland Development Commission;
Reforming City Hall will take hard work, but that's what you've elected me to do.
I need your help.
I hope you'll help me bring more accountability and citizen oversight to City Hall by supporting Reforms 89, 90, 91 & 92.
Take care and thank you,
Tom Potter
Mayor
(This information furnished by Kyle Chisek, Citizens to Reform City Hall)
The printing of this argument does not constitute an endorsement by Multnomah County, nor does the county warrant the accuracy or truth of any statements made in the argument.
Measure No. 26-90 | City of Portland
ARGUMENT IN FAVOR
Clean up Outdated, Confusing & Conflicting Regulations
Bring more accountability to Performance
In November 2005, Portland City Council charged a group of 26 independent volunteers to comprehensively review the City Charter.
After meeting for 14 months, holding over 100 public hearings and listening to more than 2,000 hours of testimony, a majority of the 26 members of the commission came up with four reforms designed to increase the efficiency and accountability of city government.
Streamline and Modernize the City's Civil Service Requirements
One of these reforms – Reform 90 – will streamline and modernize outdated language found in the City Charter's civil service language.
Establish a Flexible, Merit-based Personnel System
The measure will provide a more flexible and adaptable structure for a merit-based personnel system, rewarding more employees for their performance, not their tenure.
Require Annual Reports
Require the City's Civil Service Board to report to City Council yearly; meet at least quarterly; and review any administrative rules adopted or set to go before Council –helping reduce the use of confusing or conflicting language.
Increase Accountability
Provide greater accountability by increasing the number of top level employees that can be fired if they do not perform.
Vote Yes on 89, 90, 91 & 92.
(This information furnished by Kyle Chisek, Citizens to Reform City Hall)
The printing of this argument does not constitute an endorsement by Multnomah County, nor does the county warrant the accuracy or truth of any statements made in the argument.
Measure No. 26-90 | City of Portland
ARGUMENT IN FAVOR
Streamline work rules that are too often outdated and cost the City time and money
Portland's Charter, which hasn't had a comprehensive review since 1913, is filled with Civil Service language that is old, outdated and often confusing.
It's time to modernize and streamline our Civil Service rules while maintaining protections for our rank and file workers. These changes will:
- strengthen the reporting requirements of the Civil Service Board;
- standardize the civil service appeals process; and
- delete or update, outdated, confusing and inconsistent regulations.
Reform 90 also increases accountability by increasing the number of top level employees that can be fired if the do not perform.
A YES vote on Reforms 89, 90, 91 & 92 will:
- update and streamline government;
- provide more coordination among bureaus;
- hold managers accountable; and
- provide more citizen oversight.
Give citizens a voice in improving City Hall.
(This information furnished by Kyle Chisek, Citizens to Reform City Hall)
The printing of this argument does not constitute an endorsement by Multnomah County, nor does the county warrant the accuracy or truth of any statements made in the argument.
Measure No. 26-90 | City of Portland
ARGUMENT IN OPPOSITION
VOTE NO ON MEASURE 26-90
What they say is NOT what you will get!
To read the Explanatory Statement of Measure 26-90, it seems like it might be a modest "housekeeping" measure. They say the measure just "streamlines and modernizes the City's civil service" system.
Unfortunately, Measure 26-90 is another example of a measure that says one thing, and then does another. This measure's flawed language will harm the City government and the dedicated people who serve the public every day. What's worse, it locks these flaws into the City Charter.
According to a study of the measure conducted by the respected Portland law firm of Bennett, Hartman, Morris and Kaplan, Measure 26-90 is riddled with flaws – flaws with serious consequences.
Here are just two of them:
- The most important element of a civil service system is fairness and public accountability. It is the regulations of the system that ensure that accountability. But Measure 26-90 REMOVES current public notice, comment and hearing requirements before adoption, amendment or repeal of rules and regulations. This change significantly weakens the public safeguards that ensure hiring and promotional processes are publicly accountable.
- Measure 26-90 removes the current requirement that the City seek diversity in hiring. One way to prevent cronyism and provide better service is to have a workforce that looks like the public it serves. Removing this provision would be a step backwards – and one that doesn't respect Portland's values.
The Charter is Portland's constitution. It should not be changed lightly. And it certainly shouldn't have flawed language inserted into it.
It isn't possible to know whether these flaws are intentional or simply mistakes. But even if you would like to see changes to the civil service system, it is clear that these flaws have no place in our Charter.
VOTE NO ON MEASURE 26-90
See the next Voters Pamphlet Statement for more of Measure 26-90's flaws!
(This information furnished by Mark Wiener, Portlanders for Accountability)
The printing of this argument does not constitute an endorsement by Multnomah County, nor does the county warrant the accuracy or truth of any statements made in the argument.
Measure No. 26-90 | City of Portland
ARGUMENT IN OPPOSITION
EVEN MORE FLAWS OF MEASURE 26-90
Measure 26-90 – which claims to simply "streamline" Portland's civil service system – has so many serious flaws they could not fit in a single Voters Pamphlet Statement.
Here are some of the other problems with Measure 26-90, as outlined by the respected Portland law firm of Bennett, Hartman, Morris and Kaplan:
- Measure 26-90 changes the definition of "at-will" employees, creating a much lower standard for taking away someone's job. The Explanatory Statement claims to only affect "certain top level employees." But the new definitions are so poorly drafted and vague, that they could impact far more employees – making it more difficult to get the best qualified people for jobs that have a real impact on our quality of life.
- Measure 26-90 removes the requirement that union-covered city employees choose between a union grievance procedure or a civil service appeal when they have a dispute with the city. That may sound boring and technical, but this flaw could cost taxpayers time and money by creating a confusing system that could create duplicated defense costs and conflicting remedies.
- Measure 26-90 removes the requirement that temporary employees be hired on emergency, non-recurring basis, for a maximum of 5 months. This means that city managers could reclassify current permanent positions as temporary. What would that mean? Perhaps city managers could save some money by taking away people's health care or other benefits. But the services we rely on to keep us safe and Portland livable could be provided by temp workers instead of a skilled, stable workforce. That's not smart or safe. And in the long run, it would prove to be very expensive to all of us.
Don't put a flawed measure into our Charter!
VOTE NO ON 26-90
(This information furnished by Mark Wiener, Portlanders for Accountability)
The printing of this argument does not constitute an endorsement by Multnomah County, nor does the county warrant the accuracy or truth of any statements made in the argument.