ST. LOUIS 鈥 A city panel voted to give the mayor authority to appoint an interim personnel director, a move that could bolster the mayor鈥檚 influence on the city鈥檚 employment system, including hiring, firing and salaries. The vote passed despite objections from several of the city鈥檚 most powerful unions.
The 50度灰视频 Civil Service Commission voted 3-0 Friday afternoon to change how vacancies are filled for the personnel director, a low-profile, yet powerful city post that does not answer directly to the mayor鈥檚 office. The Personnel Department oversees standards for hiring, firing, payment and promotion of the city鈥檚 more than 5,000 civil service employees and also handles union negotiations.
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The vote on Friday will allow the mayor to appoint an interim personnel director of his or her choice when there is a vacancy, as there is now. Previously, the commission, a three-member panel that oversees the Personnel Department and the city鈥檚 merit system, was required to appoint a current department employee as interim director.
In December, the commission appointed Sylvia Donaldson, a longtime Personnel Department human resources manager, as interim director to replace Richard Frank. He retired after serving in the role since 2004 and was only the fourth person to hold the job since 1942.
Some Personnel Department employees were briefly locked out of their offices while documents were secured amid a whistleblower investigation.
Commission member Steve Barney argued Friday that the vote could help make the Personnel Department less insulated from the agenda of the rest of city government.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a most unusual organization in the city to have one department head ... have literally no accountability to the mayor once the mayor has appointed that person,鈥 said Barney, a commission member for more than 12 years. Barney added that he鈥檚 watched as three mayors, including current Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, struggled to get cooperation from the department on their agendas.
Several major union representatives argued Friday that the vote could allow mayors to keep interim directors on indefinitely, making a job that has often served as a check on mayors more political.
Jeff Haantz, a representative of the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council, argued that the move could make the Personnel Department 鈥渂eholden to political influence鈥 with impacts for years to come.
Emily Perez, an attorney for the International Association of Firefighters Local 73, representing many of the city鈥檚 fire and EMS workers, said before the vote that the union would pursue legal action if it passed.
鈥淚 understand you all might view this as: 鈥極h it鈥檚 just a temporary appointment; it doesn鈥檛 really matter,鈥欌 Perez said. 鈥淏ut the reality is that these sort of appointments never happen on the schedules or time frames that are contemplated.鈥
Jeff Roorda, business manager of the 50度灰视频 Police Officers Association, the police department鈥檚 bargaining unit, also argued against the change, citing concerns that city jobs may become patronage positions.
鈥淚 know the urge to comply with the mayor鈥檚 desires is strong,鈥 Roorda said. 鈥淎nd the mayor wishes to have expanded control over the department of personnel and the civil service commission, but that鈥檚 not a good thing.鈥
Two unions representing the interests of Black and minority members of the police and fire departments, the Ethical Society of Police and the Firefighters Institute for Racial Equality, spoke in favor of the change.
鈥淲e鈥檝e seen the effects of past directors and things that have been questionable,鈥 said ESOP president Sgt. Donnell Walters.
The vote comes as the Personnel Department is in the midst of trying to manage a widespread labor shortage, and is also heading up the selection of finalists for the role of city police chief.
Jones鈥 administration has clashed with the department, including over the chief search. Jones said the department鈥檚 application process needs to 鈥渟tart over鈥 after it eliminated all but two internal candidates.
The Personnel Department has a degree of insulation from the mayor鈥檚 office 鈥 a vestige of a 1941 reform effort to reduce employee churn from patronage and machine politics.
Unlike most other city department heads, whoever fills the permanent director role can鈥檛 be ousted by the mayor without formal charges of malfeasance.
The mayor will pick a permanent director from three candidates forwarded to her by the Civil Service Commission, which chooses the slate after competitive testing.
The commission is made up of three mayoral appointees who serve staggered six-year terms. Jones has appointed one new member, Dean Kpere-Daibo, an attorney at Constangy Brooks, Smith & Prophete; and reappointed Barney to the panel. Chair Bettye Battle-Turner was appointed by Mayor Lyda Krewson.
Barney said Friday that the city has other measures in place to prevent city employment from become a patronage system.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a stretch,鈥 Barney said, adding that he didn鈥檛 think the rule change would upend the city鈥檚 civil service system. 鈥淚 think if they were speaking in 1941 when the initial charter was cast, they were against the background of a very different world.鈥
Battle-Turner said commissioners were not voting as they did simply to comply with the mayor鈥檚 request.
鈥淵ou need to know that each of us on this board have a sense of our own independence,鈥 Battle-Turner said, adding: 鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to let anyone shove something down on us if it鈥檚 not in the best interest of the city.鈥