I'm Commission President Sending Over.

We're going to do a quick roll call to confirm Commissioner attendance.

When I call your name, please say present.

Commissioner Merrill.

Commissioner Ward.

Present.

Commissioner Fam.

Present.

Commissioner Fortier.

Thank you.

Your attendance is noted.

Also joining us today, personnel director, David Dowager.

Assistant personnel director and Lovanda on Senior Deputy City Attorney David Carlin and assistant to the personnel director, Saba U.

For item two, I will call and Saber to report on the Commission's actions in closed session.

Lewis T.

Bannister, appealing their conviction record disqualification for the position of labor.

Motion to deny the appeal, pass 4 to 0.

Commissioner Fan was added.

Brandon L.

Burns, appealing their conviction record disqualification for the position of trainer.

Motion to deny the appeal, pass a 4 to 1 for the Commissioner Merrill voted no.

Motion to grant the appeal passed 401 with Commissioner Moore voting no.

Motion to deny the appeal passed 5 to 0.

Richard B.

Shield appealing their conviction record disqualification for the position of labor.

Motion to grant the appeal passed 5 to 0.6 Jacob A.

Zamora appealing their conviction record disqualification for the position of labor.

Motion to grant the appeal, task 5 and 0.

Public employment deliberation on disciplinary appeal pursuant California government code section 54957.

Steve Choi appealed midtermination from the position of fire engineer has been continued.

Number eight, Kirk Moment, appealing their termination from the position of area recruits collection supervisor.

Motion to uphold the termination, passed four to one when Commissioner Merrill voting no.

We will now move on to non-agenda public comment.

Is there anyone who wishes to make a public comment on the item?

The agenda that's within the purview, the civil service commission.

We will take in personal public comment first and then do it to public comments via Zoom Senate.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Commissioners.

Nick Wright, labor relations manager with MEA.

I'll try to make this as short as possible so I may edit some of what you've already received from us in our email to Mr.

Dowager last week.

Last year in April, MEA came before you to raise the alarm regarding the incredible growth rate in the city's unclassified program manager and program coordinator positions, which have increased now to approximately 400 in number.

These 400 are in addition to another 250 unclassified employees in positions variously titled, some iteration of director.

And this total of roughly 650 unclassified employees does not include numerous other unclassified positions identified in the city budget just as managers without one of the aforementioned titles.

The story of how and why the number of unclassified program manager and coordinator positions and other managerial employees has ballooned within the city workforce is a very troubling one, which is not of your making as current commissioners, but necessitated that MEA come before you again with a call to action.

The absurd proliferation of the unclassified service has impaired the health of the city's civil service system and has its origins in 1979 when city charter section 117 was amended.

I'll explain this shortly.

But it is important to note that the city's abuse of this charter language really began in earnest during the period when the city's unlawful Prop B was in effect.

Mayor Gloria has, of course, unequivocally condemned the passage of Prop B and has praised its elimination.

Um defined uh excuse me, has uh command of passage of Prop B and has praised its elimination by order of the courts.

However, while in effect, Prop B froze all pensionable pay, in addition to eliminating defied benefit petitions for most city employees.

During this pay freeze, the city found that by creating new unclassified positions, it could give raises to specific employees without running a foul of Prop B's concerns and constraints.

Your predecessor commissioners were hamstrung by the overbroad charter language and became powerless to stop the abuse, and thus the spoil system began.

To your credit, you as commissioners have taken note and done what you can in response to recent requests to add more unclassified positions, but you are constrained by the overbroad charter language, which unleashed the abuses over the past decade.

It is time to change the charter and restore the important civil service principles to this body is committed to uphold, and that's why we're here to ask for a call to action.

Under Charter Section 117 is currently written, the Commission's critical role in protecting and defending the city's civil service against evasion and abuse is severely restrained.

Because the existing charter languages overbroad, the personnel department who you rely on to vet the unclassified request being made is essentially forced to rubber stamp any and every self-serving description which it has served for yet another proposed unclassified position.

Once the proposed new unclassified position is approved, the commission has no subsequent role or authority to determine if the duties actually assigned to an incumbent in the position have any relationship to the brief description provided in support of creating the unclassified position using often loosely the buzzwords of Charter Section 117.

Now there are 400 just in the bottom layers or sub basement, if you will, of unclassified hierarchy, which are filled in a manner which is outside the protective parameters of the civil service, and there will be no end insight without an amendment to Charter Section 117 to conform its language to the legal constraints and practical realities of who is actually performing managerial duties, which would be properly outside the protective reach of the city's civil service commission.

In 1979, Proposition E went to the ballot as proposed, amendment to Charter Section 117.