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HomeMy WebLinkAbout3. Fire Questions CITY OF SHAKOPEE Memorandum TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Mark McNeill, City Administrator SUBJECT: Fire Questions DATE: May 5, 2008 Comment: At a special workshop on May 6th, the City Council will be meeting with members of the Shakopee Fire Department and interested citizens to address questions which arose recently from the Fire Chief background investigation, and to talk about the fire department going forward from this point. I have grouped the questions that have been received or are anticipated into four general areas: • Process • Personnel Decisions Inc. role • Background investigations • Allegations against employees/precedents PROCESS What was the process for hiring afull-time Fire Chief and who was involved? The selection of a department head involves a number of people both inside and outside the organization. In this case, because this is to be the first full-time Chief position, the process was more involved than other "replacement" department head selections have been recently. The request for afull-time chief position was first brought forward by the ire department more than two years ago; budget considerations were a major concern. Working with fire officers, the City Administrator's office and City Council, a job description was approved in 2007, and funding for this position to begin January 1St, 2008 was approved. Why was the Fire Chief process different from the other two department heads? The Fire Chief selection was treated the same as that of the Police Chief, as these are public safety department heads. There is the highest level of need to ensure that candidates who are filling these positions are of utmost character and trust. They both oversee the provision of life safety operations, which is unique to these departments of the City. Personnel Decision, Inc. What was PDI's role? In November, 2007, the City Council approved a contract with Personnel Decisions Inc. (PDI) of Minneapolis to facilitate the selection process. PDI is a professional recruitment agency which has had a long relationship with the City. They proposed a nearly identical selection process for the Shakopee Fire Chief as had been done when the Police Chief was hired in 1998. PDI has also been involved with psychological testing for two other department head positions which have been hired since 1998 (the previous Assistant City Administrator, and more recently the Park, Recreation t and Natural Resources Director). PDI is also used for the selection of Police Supervisors. PDI was one of several tools which were used in determining who the Fire Chief would be. PDI facilitated the following: a. Understanding Position Requirements. What are the desired criteria for the ideal Fire Chief--what combination of education, experience, and personality traits were needed? In addition to reviewing the job description, PDI met with the City Council, city staff, the Fire Department general membership, and Fire Officers to gather desirable characteristics. The parties involved were asked what challenges were facing the department and the organization, and what should the key priorities be for the individual who is appointed Chief? b. Recruitment-PDI conducted a nationwide search, although the focus was on Minnesota. They placed ads in trade publications, and sent direct letters to Fire Chiefs in Minnesota to get the word out. This supplemented the normal newspaper and website advertisement. c. Screening-96 applicants were received; PDI narrowed that to 40. Of those 40, PDI sent requests for additional information and received back responses for most of those. They narrowed that down to 17 "quarter-finalists". Along with Administration, seven candidates were selected for the first round of interviews. Those seven were from Minnesota. d. Onsite Interviewing-PDI assisted with formulating a wide variety of interview panels and suggested appropriate questions for each of those. Those panels included: 1. Fire officers 2. Fire fighter representatives 3. Blue ribbon panel - 3 Metro area Fire Chiefs, and 1 City Manager 4. A panel consisting of the City Administrator, Assistant City Administrator and Police Chief The seven candidates were interviewed, and four semi-finalists were identified. They were brought in fora 2"d set of interviews with: 5. City Department Heads 6. The City Administrator 7. Mayor, one individual Councilmember, and written questions from a second Councilmember. e. Finalist Assessments-The four semi-finalists were given a day long series of tests at PDI. This consisted of in basket exercises, interviews and other psychological profiling. f. Follow up- PDI was made available to each of the four semi-finalists for feedback on their testing, and will also be available to visit the successful candidate and City staff for feedback after the first six months on the job. What was the cost of PDI? The City was billed $20,500 for PDI's assessment. Originally this was to be $18,000, but an additional $2,500 was incurred when a fourth finalist was added to the process. In addition, reimbursable expenses such as advertising, recruitment mailing, and shipping added $893.83. Therefore, the total expended was $21,393.83. Will all future Department Heads go through the same process to be hired? Again, public safety department heads are scrutinized at a different level than non-public safety department heads. Shakopee has had a relatively low turnover of its Department Head staff. PDI will continue to be involved, but probably at different levels. If PDI didn't make the decision, who did? Again, PDI was an important component of the process, but ultimately the recommendation for who would be considered for the City Council for hire falls to the City Administrator. One of the most important things that PDI does is the psychological profiling. It is not their job to eliminate or push particular candidates; instead, the testing provides valuable information when making the selection so that there are no "surprises" when the individual assumes the job. We were fortunate to have four qualified semi-finalist candidates, each with strengths, and areas upon which they would need to work in order to be successful as a Fire Chief. Because PDI was involved, we have information on all four of the semi-finalist candidates. This allows us to go immediately to the number two candidate, and have information that is allowing us to proceed with the background investigation on him. For that reason, it is our hoe that the recommendation for hire could come to the City Council at the May 20t meeting. There is no need to "restart" the process. Background Investigations: Why did the City have a Shakopee Investigator conduct the background investigation, instead of an outside agency? The initial consideration was to have PDI do the investigation, but it was a cost savings to have it done in-house. When the investigation expanded from a routine employment background check, we did consider going to outside agencies, but determined that because of added time involved (an additional ten days to start the process from one city), or the desire of another not to be involved in anon-criminal investigation, it was kept in- house. As an aside, it was also the request of the former fire chief and his attorney to have the investigation done in-house. Were there other people who oversaw the steps taken by the detective to make sure the investigation was done properly and objectively? The City assigned its top investigator to this situation. He is highly trained and experienced in conducting sensitive investigations. A second police sergeant sat in with the employee and his attorney when interviewed by the investigator.Additionally, the two Police Captains and Police Chief were involved and reviewed the process. They were very careful to make certain that the investigation was conducted properly. Does the City do a background check on all prospective employees? The City conducts some form of background check on all prospective employees, including part-time and seasonal employees. Who conducts background checks for other prospective City employees? All background checks are conducted by the Shakopee Police Department. When in the hiring process is a background check done? Background checks are conducted after the interview process is complete. For public safety personnel, they are conducted prior to Council approval of the hire. For other full- time employees, investigations have been conducted after Council approves a conditional offer of employment; however, that timing was recently changed by the Council. Occasionally multiple candidates for the same position will be put through the background check process simultaneously, but it is most common to narrow the field of applicants to a single candidate and just run a background check on that one person. How detailed is the background check? For. prospective part-time and seasonal employees, including paid-on-call firefighters, the City requires the applicant to sign a Consent for Release of Information and provide a photocopy of their driver's license. Staff at the police department then performs a check on the applicant using various law enforcement databases and reports the results back to the Assistant City Administrator. For prospective full-time employees in non-public safety positions (including clerical, inspections, public works, parks and rec, etc.), the police department does the same check of criminal records; the Assistant City Administrator conducts reference checks and employment verifications by phone. In cases where the employee is being considered for a position that involves handling money, a credit check is also run. For prospective full-time employees in the public safety field, as well as those that have access to public safety records such as our police records, IT and custodial staff, a much more detailed background check is completed. 'This detailed background check is done on each and every prospective public safety employee, including rookie police officers, officers looking to move here from another police department, and CSO candidates. All are conducted by the Shakopee Police Department and it serves as a both the background check and the reference checks for the applicant. This is the process that was done for the full-time fire chief position. This is the first time this detailed background check has been applied to an employee of the Fire Department because it is the first time we have hired afull-time (non-clerical) Fire Department employee, but the policy and approach would apply to any future full- time positions in the Fire Department as well. What areas does the detailed background check for public safety personnel cover? The detailed background check covers a broad range of data. To start the process the applicant completes a 40 page questionnaire and signs several consent forms for the release of private data. The. questionnaire and the resulting background check examine the applicant's employment history, educational record, and military record, if applicable; using phone calls and in person interviews to verify that the information provided by the applicant is true. The applicant is asked to list references, who are interviewed, but the background investigator also interviews additional individuals who know the applicant. The applicant is also fingerprinted in order to gather information from a broader range of law enforcement databases. The background investigation is designed to uncover information on everything from technical skills and abilities to personality traits and work or management style. Individuals who are interviewed as part of a background check are routinely asked about the applicant's use of drugs and alcohol; how the applicant responds when angry, frustrated or disciplined; and whether there are any problems or situations in the applicant's personal life that may impact their ability to do the job. It is the Investigator's job to determine both the good, and potentially negative aspects of a candidate. That involves asking tough questions, and talking to people who may not be the references given by the candidate. The investigator then determines which facts or scenarios are accurate. It is put into a report, which is then considered by the City Administrator or other responsible positions when making employment recommendations to the City Council. What happens to the results of a background check? If hired, the final report on the background check becomes part of the individual's personnel file. For those not hired, the report is categorized as private data about the individual and is retained according to records retention laws. Allegations/ Precedent What does the City do to support and protect employees who have allegations brought against them? How is it assured that there is not a bias and that the City will help the employee through a situation until proven guilty? The City walks a fine line between protecting the rights of and supporting its employees, with that of protecting the public. It is standard procedure of the City of Shakopee, and nearly universal amongst all public employers, to place an employee with allegations against him or her on paid administrative leave while the situation is reviewed. This allows time for an investigation to be completed while not penalizing the employee financially. To do otherwise would pose a large and unacceptable liability risk. Why was the ice arena manager situation handled differently? Why could people testify on his behalf, and not here? The difference is that Mr. Barrick chose to make his information public. When he did that, the discussion became record, and the City Council could take input from people on this situation. Because Mr. Schwaesdall chose to resign, the information is to remain confidential, and the matter was closed. No testimony could be considered. Mark McNeill City Administrator MM: cn CITY OF SHAKOPEE Memorandum TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Mark McNeill, City Administrator SUBJECT: Fire Question Supplement DATE: May 6, 2008 Attached is a response to additional questions which were received from the Fire Department this morning: Based on the Fire Department status as on-ca1124/7, and that it responds to fire calls and other activities based on our policies, how does City Administration define off- duty time? The Fire Department has grown, and needs and expectations have changed. During the past year, the Departmental By-Laws have been modified and replaced with written administrative policies. However, further discussion regarding off-duty time is needed. That is one of the things that we look to for guidance from the full-time Chief. We will ask him to work with the Department, and Administrative Staff, to define expectations. We fully understand that the firefighters' job description and expectations are unique and being "ready to go" at a moment's notice is a responsibility -and an imposition. A readily defined "Code of Conduct" is should assist in defining expectations. . Explain the extent to which off-duty activities (outside of criminal activities) on our personal time can affect our Fire Department part-time job/employment? It is important to note that there are things that an employee does - in any organization - which may not be considered acceptable behavior, but would not qualify as "criminal". Actions which are unethical, or which otherwise discredit the Department or the City, shouldn't happen, whether "on the clock" or on your own time. There are also different levels of expectations depending on where one is within the organization. For example, a DWI violation by an entry-level employee will probably be dealt with privately; on the other hand, a DWI arrest of the City Administrator is likely to be front page news. Again, establishing a defined Code of Conduct will help to better define what is and what is not acceptable behavior. In the meantime, the City's Personnel Handbook (which has some items that are not applicable to part-time Fire Department personnel) is a guide. In the case of allegations presented to City Administration with no criminal charges covering our personal off-duty time, what care is taken to prevent actions by the City regarding the incidents to spill over and affect our full time jobs and careers? As employees in the public sector, there are certain things which, according to State law, must be made public. Conversely, there are other seemingly similar situations which cannot be discussed due to data privacy laws. The City never seeks to make internal personnel matters front page news, but there are often times when members of the public or the media ask for data and the City maybe legally obligated to provide it. Because Fire Department employees are considered part-time in the City Personnel Handbook, are they entitled to benefits other part-time employees receive? In some ways, part-time firefighters are different than other part-time employees; in othe ways, they are treated the same. When looking at part-time employee benefits, we recognize that there maybe some things that are not currently received by the Fire Department that might be considered. On the other hand, there are some benefits afforded the Fire Department employees which other part-time employees do not receive. How employees are paid for time worked (actual time, vs. hours that are "rounded up"), and pensions are two examples. Currently the City has a single Personnel Handbook that attempts to define policies and procedures for employees in a wide range of positions. The Assistant City Administrator is currently in the process of compiling a handbook which would be specifically applicable to part-time, temporary and seasonal employees. A similar document can be developed for paid-on-call firefighters. Mark McNeill City Administrator