Recording started, ready to begin.

We start with open session.

Is that anybody who cares to be in the all right?

Brandon?

Good.

All right.

Welcome to the civil service committee.

I am Commission Vice President Will Moore and presiding today in the absence of our uh Commission.

President Portillo.

We're gonna do a quick roll call to confirm commissioner attendance.

When I call your name, please say present.

Commissioner Freeman.

President.

Commissioner Merrill.

President.

Commissioner Pham.

Present.

I am present and President Portillo is absent.

Thank you.

Your attendance has been noted.

Also joining us today are personnel director, David Dallager, assistant personnel director Ann Lamin Aban, Senior Deputy City Attorney David Carlin, and assistant to the personnel director, Saber O'Neill.

There are seven items on this morning's closed session agenda.

And they are as follows public employment, employment disqualification pursuant to California Government Code 54957D1.

Brendan Burns appealing their conviction record disqualification for the position of safety representative two.

Kalina L.

Christensen appealing their conviction record disqualification for the position of therapeutic recreation leader, and Joseph A.

Meza, appealing their conviction record disqualification for the position of laborer.

The next items are public employments deliberation on disciplinary appeals pursuant to California Government Code Section 54957.

Eric Allen appealing their suspension from the position of firefighter two.

Michael Bauman appealing their demotion from position of lifeguard to Austin Kissinger appealing their termination from the position of fire engineer, and Brian Knapp appealing their termination from the position of collections investigator.

One public comment.

Is there anyone wishing to make a public comment on an item on the closed session agenda?

We will take in-person public comment first and move to public comments via Zoom.

Second, how many public countries do we have?

All right, we have three minutes.

Thank you, sir.

My name's Jim Cunningham.

I'm an attorney for Austin Kissinger.

I'm also general counsel for San Diego Firefighters Association.

Honored to be here this morning.

Before you go in close session on this particular uh matter, I think a few things are important to note.

One, of course, is an undisputed, and I don't think uh the city or the department would object uh to the notion that Mr.

Kissinger is one of the most respected uh firefighters uh in his 17-year career.

Uh we have witness after witness after witness, including the fire chief himself, uh, who said there is no question that he's a dedicated uh hardworking firefighter.

So we come down to uh his character, uh his ability to work unquestioned.

We come down to why he was terminated, and he was terminated for pleading guilty to a misdemeanor involving domestic violence.

He pled to a misdemeanor with a 75 fine.

No one, nowhere in the history of this department going back over 50 years has any firefighter ever been terminated for a misdemeanor.

No one over 50 years has any firefighter ever been terminated for pleading guilty to domestic violence misdemeanor.

Um this particular matter was not investigated.

Um he was never questioned by this by the city, uh, never interviewed by the city, and they never made an issue as to the facts surrounding the domestic violence.

The only issue was that he had pled guilty to a misdemeanor, domestic violence, which is crime of moral turpitude, and that was the extent of the investigation, as far as we knew.

But what really happened, it wasn't the misdemeanor, and it wasn't the 75 dollar fine.

It was the Skelly that took place that the Skelly officers reviewed a police report.

And they never revealed that they reviewed the police report.

And it was curious as to how incendiary or how upset the department was for this particular charge at this particular incident, yet the facts surrounding it were never brought up and never litigated in this courtroom.

Not one fact, not one witness was ever discussed or talked about in terms of what happened here.

And if you're just looking at a police report, we know a police report is a one-sided report that the that the that the uh defendant does not have the opportunity to review.

Reasons given for accepting the misdemeanor plea were given at the hearing in this matter, and we're undisputed.

No dispute as to as to his scientist or knowledge as to what he was doing and why he did it.

This is an extraordinary circumstance to terminate an employee after 17 years.

I would ask that in closed session, review just the facts as to why he was terminated.

He was terminated for a misdemeanor, domestic violence.

Do not continue the incendiary um notion that this crime that he played guilty to of misdemeanor was anything more than pleading guilty to a misdemeanor.

To do so perpetuates the issue in this matter.

We brought up another issue of a Skelly violation, Skelly versus State Personnel Board, which says I'm supposed to get everything you relied upon for purposes of terminating my claim.

They did not give me the police report.

They did not rely upon the police report.

People could say I could find the police report on my own.

Agreed.

But the question is if they relied upon their police report, they should have told us that they relied upon the police report, and I would have called witnesses at this hearing to refute the factual allegations against my client and tell you why he was offered a misdemeanor with a 75 fine.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Commissioner.

Thank you.

Any other public comment?

No one is all right.

Thank you.

Seeing no further public comment, we will now adjourn the public session and go to closed session.

Uh we will clear the room.

The regular business meeting will begin at 1 p.m.

Ready to begin.

All right.

Welcome to the Civil Service Commission meeting.

I am a Commission Vice President Will Moore.

Um it's currently one uh 13 p.m.

We had a longer than usual uh and uh closed session, so thank you for bearing with us.

Um we're going to do a roll call to confirm commissioner attendance.

When I call your name, please say present.

Commissioner Freeman.

Present.

Commissioner Merrill.

Present.

Commissioner Pham.

Present.

Uh President Portillo is absent, so I advise President Pam uh presiding today.

Your attendance has all been noted.

Also joining us today are personnel director, David Gallagher, assistant personnel director and Laminavond, senior deputy city attorney David Carlin, and assistant to the personnel director, Saba O'Neal.

Uh item two is the report from closed session, and SAW who's read out the report.

These are the added from closed session.

Public employment, appeal of employment disqualifications pursuant to California government code section 54957 B1.

Number one, Brandon L.

Burns appealing their conviction record disqualification for the position of safety representative two.

There was a motion to grant the appeal with Commissioner Merrill and Commissioner Pham voting yes, and Commissioner Moore and Commissioner Freeman voting no.

The motion failed for lack of a majority, and the appeal is denied.

Commissioner Portillo was absent.

Number two, Colina L.

Christensen appealing their conviction record disqualification for the position of therapeutic recreation leader.

Motion to deny the appeal passed four to zero.

President Portillo was absent.

Number three, Joseph A.

Meza appealing their conviction record disqualification for the position of laborer.

Motion to grant the appeal passed four to zero.

President Portillo was absent.

Public employment deliberation on number four, Eric Allen appealing their suspension from the position of firefighter two.

Motion to overturn the suspension passed four to zero.

President Portillo was absent.

Number five, Michael Bauman appealing their demotion from the position of Life Guard 2.

Motion to uphold the demotion passed four to zero.

President Portillo was absent.

Number six, Austin Kissinger appealing their termination from the position of fire engineer.

Motion to uphold the termination passed four to zero.

President Portillo was absent.

Number seven, Brian Knapp appealing their termination from the position of collections investigator one.

Motion to uphold the termination passed four to zero.

President Portillo was absent.

Thank you.

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

Is there anyone who wishes to make a public comment on item that not on the agenda that is within the purview of the Civil Service Commission?

Seeing none anywhere online.

No public comment on Zoom.

Thank you.

Item 10 will be polled from the consent agenda and presented separately.

Would anyone like to make a motion to approve the consent agenda items three through nine and 11 and 12?

Which includes minutes from September 4th 2025 Commission meeting.

Commissioner Moore had a quick comment on number four.

They want to put it just quick comment.

Okay.

And a point of clarification.

This were the request for exceptionary increase.

Uh by Jason.

I just don't read the form, and it's um there's not a scratch out entries, they're scratched out, and then other entries are put inside their boxes here.

That's one comment, it's just like this.

It would be easier if it was cleaner to read.

And then my clarification is for total city service.

It says seven years and four months, which is which is scratched out, but there's a one in there.

So it should be one year, right?

That is correct.

Correct.

Okay.

All right.

So that was just for your edification.

We received the form from the department, so then we correct them.

And so that's what the scratching out is.

We'll see if we can do that in a cleaner way, but it's just correcting the information that's incorrect as far as the employees employment history and the record.

Okay.

Thank you.

All right.

Uh would anyone like to make a motion to approve the consent agenda items of three through nine and 11 through 12, which includes the minutes from the September 4th 2025 commission meeting.

Second we have a motion and motion from Commissioner Freeman and a motion, a second from Commissioner Fam.

Um is there any discussion?

Move to a vote.

Commissioner Freeman.

Yes.

Commissioner Merrill.

Yes.

Commissioner Fam.

Yes.

And my vote is yes.

Motion passes four to zero.

We will now move on to our discussion items.

We will take uh item 10.

First, uh here from staff.

Oh, well, actually can staff.

You may present the item.

Good afternoon, Commissioners.

Carissa Rosemore for staff.

Item 10 is a request from Dion Moore Jr.

plant operator operator trainee for a five-month specially without pay ending September 26, 2025 with this job to be saved.

Mr.

Moore is requesting to change the end date to October 10th, 2025, which is the reason this item has been pulled from the consent agenda.

Mr.

Morris requesting this leave for medical reasons.

The public utilities department recommends approval of this request.

Mr.

Moore has been employed with the city since August 5th, 2004, 2024.

His most recent performance valuation was meet standards.

The department is present to answer any questions you may have.

Right.

Um, we will take uh do we have any public comment on that?

Can you online?

No public comments online.

Seeing none, um I will first note that I uh am not related to this person and don't overcome.

Um a motion, uh any discussion on this item.

I would make a motion to uh grant the special leave without pay ending, and what was that date?

October 10th.

October 10th with job to be saved.

Uh is there a second?

Commissioner Fam, we'll move to a vote.

Commissioner Freeman.

Yes, Commissioner Merrill.

Yes, Commissioner Fam.

Yes.

My vote is yes, motion passes four to zero.

Moving on to item 13, legal absence without pay uh discussion.

Uh staff.

Item 13 is a request for Mario Ramon, laborer for a one-year specially without pay ending September 11th, 2026 with this job to be saved.

Mr.

Ramon is requesting this lead to obtain their commercial driver license and grade two D2 certification.

The public utilities department recommends modification of this request to name on eligible list.

Mr.

Ramon has been employed at the city since February 16th, 2022.

His most recent performance evaluation was to meet standards.

Mr.

Ramon and the department are present to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you.

Do we have any public comment on this matter?

Any on not in person, any online?

Mr.

Ramon, if you're online, can you please raise your hand?

Yes.

So Mr.

Roman?

Yes, yes.

Hello.

I can be a two minutes.

Um is there as yes.

So does that mean from PUD for labor conditions throughout the city?

It means you will be maintain eligibility to interview and reselected if your name is placed on the list.

If they were the commission were to choose to job saved, then you would maintain your job until you return back to the public utilities department or until that time frame.

So the modification they are requesting is to put you on the eligible list where you can interview and be selected by PUD or another department in the future for up to one year from the date of being on that list.

Okay.

Okay.

Commissioners.

Yeah, how much time is allowed for the grade two?

Could obtain the grade two.

How much time is allowed?

Well, stuff has changed since I've been there, so I do see we have Deputy Director Rachel Davenport in the back.

Maybe she can come up and speak up for the questions.

I used to know, but I forgot.

Hello, I'm Rachel Davenport, Deputy Director, Water Meter Services.

At the time that Mario was hired, uh, there was a three-year time limit to obtain the D2.

The current limit is one year.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Discussion.

Is there a motion?

I will make a motion to uh grant the one-year special leave without pay ending September 11, 2026 with uh name on eligible list.

Second, uh we will move to a vote.

Uh Commissioner Freeman.

Yes.

Commissioner Merrill.

Yes.

Commissioner FAM.

Yes.

And my vote is yes.

The motion passes four to none.

Now we have policy items.

Item 14, request from the council administration office to exempt a council representative one position from the classified service.

Good afternoon, commissioners.

Jennifer Lamas VNO staff.

Item 14 is a request from the council administration office to exempt a council representative one position from the classified service.

The council representative one position will support priorities, concerns, and opportunities for district nine neighborhoods, and track and advance neighborhood identified improvements to include infrastructure, public space, traffic, and community development efforts.

This position will serve as a council member's representative at community group meetings, town halls, cultural events, and neighborhood planning groups.

Communicate with the council members' legislative priorities, budget initiatives, and city policies.

Lead and support community engagement campaigns and respond to and resolve constituent concerns and service requests.

Staff has reviewed this request and finds that the duties and responsibilities of the position meet the intent of city charter section 117.

Staff recommends approval of this request.

I am also not aware of any opposition to this request.

Mary Ann Wallace, Director of Council Administration is present to answer any questions you may have for the department.

She may be online.

Questions from the commissioners?

We have a motion to uh approve the request from council administration to exempt uh a council representative one position from the classified service.

Second, uh we move to a vote.

Commissioner Freeman.

Yes.

Commissioner Merrill.

Yes.

Commissioner Fan.

Yes.

And I vote yes.

The motion passes for zero.

We'll move on to item 15.

Staff recommendations on classification deletions for the fiscal year 2027 salary ordinance.

We have a list published in the agenda of items recommended for deletion and two items recommended not recommended for deletion.

Yes, item 15 is staff's first set of recommendations on special salary adjustments, title changes, and the creation of new classifications and classification deletions.

As we articulated in our memo to you, staff reviewed these requests based on the criteria described in charter section 130.

The Civil Service Commission directed staff to review and evaluate proposals for classification deletions for the fiscal year 2027 salary ordinance.

Staff conducted a thorough review of each proposed classification deletion and has prepared recommendations based on this analysis.

Staff is recommending that the following 16 classifications be deleted.

The first one being ARJIS Administrator, Assistant Facility Manager, Building Code and Noise Abatement Supervisor, Deputy Noise Abatement Super Officer, Editor Proofreader, Equipment Service Supervisor, Firearms Tech, Forensics Alcohol Analyst, Investigation Support Manager, Micrographics Clerk, Noise Abatement Officer, Photographer, Senior Stable Attendant, Stable Attendant, Tank Service Technician One, and Tank Service Technician Two.

Staff is recommending that the following two classifications not be deleted.

Agricultural lease manager and fitness specialist.

Thank you.

Is anybody left attending these stables?

No, there's just horses in the street.

Um questions, comments from the additional background on the two that were not recommended for deletion.

I mean I read it, but I can give you some additional backgrounds.

Sorry, Jennifer came in late on this one.

Apologies for that.

So when we did our initial analysis, we were looking for classifications that hadn't been filled in a long time, over a decade.

And then we also looked for classifications within a series that didn't have field classifications either, right?

So they hadn't been filled in over a decade, but they still had another classification that series that had been filled or it's currently filled.

We removed that from the analysis.

We then reached out to the REOs and state administration and asked them, hey, do you mind if we get rid of these?

Um so this initial list was probably about 40 classifications, and so it's cut down to about this uh 18, I believe we have right here today.

Um as we after we presented to the commission, we did get some more feedback from the departments on these two, and so through their recommendation, we've decided to not delete them as they may indeed use them again in the future.

Okay.

If I'm getting on getting that right, that means we put them on the list and move on on this list and figure it out later that they didn't know it.

So we put them on.

Correct.

Okay, correct.

All right, they may be on next year.

And these were a proactive study, something that we did proactively, just trying to clean up our old classifications.

And just to clarify for the budget and public, uh, these are all jobs that are done under the things that sound like these jobs might be done by other people.

Correct.

An example is tank service technicians.

So back in the day before the water treatment uh systems technician series came along, tank service technician, plant tech, and another classification all combined to do the duties back in the early 2000s, the water systems technician because of new requirements, regulatory requirements.

Uh that came online, and those duties were moved to that classification.

And we no longer have our horse unit.

We do not worry about the horse.

We will entertain a motion.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Have we do public comment?

Yeah, I'm not sure we did.

Um any public comment.

Uh seeing no public comments, uh, we will um entertain a motion.

Move to a move to approval.

Recommendation of classification deletions for fiscal year 2027 salary ordinance.

Uh Commissioner Freeman.

Yes.

Commissioner Merrill.

Yes.

Commissioner Van.

Yes.

And my vote is yes, the motion passes for zero.

The next item is item 16.

Staff, please present the item.

Yes, item 16 is a proposed revision to personnel manual index code D3, career advancement addendum.

Specifically, staff is recommending index code D3 be revised to incorporate the classification of parking enforcement officer one as a career advancement opportunity for the special event traffic control controller one classification.

I'm available to answer any questions.

Do we have any public comment on the time?

Do you have any online?

No public comment on Jim.

Seeing none, uh during discussion or questions from the commission.

Saying none, we will entertain a motion.

Motion to approve.

We have a motion from Commissioner Merrill and a second from Commissioner FAM to approve the recommendation.

I would proceed to vote.

Commissioner Free, yes.

Commissioner Merrill.

Yes.

Commissioner FAM.

Yes.

And my vote is yes.

The item passes for nothing.

Next, we have our final item, informational item from work from the personnel director.

Well, good afternoon, commissioners.

David Daliger for staff.

Item 17 is request for me to update the commission on various personnel department related items.

Today I'm going to provide an update on the personnel department's progress in managing the citywide reduction of course process for the classified employees and the impacts we will have in our own department.

The city's RIF process has officially begun with the closure of meeting FER.

And I want I want to talk about where we started and where we are now.

As I previously reported to this commission, during the last budget process, the city reduced more than 200 positions in order to meet the charter mandate for a balanced budget.

After accounting for vacancy holds, attrition and reclassifications, the current number of impacted classified employees has been reduced to about 30.

Throughout this process, we've been working very closely with NEA and the impacted departments, and that partnership remains central as we move forward.

Of those 30 employees, only 12 do not currently have a vacancy in their same classification.

These individuals will either need to participate in the courtesy interview for a placement in a different classification or assert their bump rights to a classification they previously held.

We've already begun working with a majority of employees.

A number of courtesy interviews have already been scheduled for next week.

We are also holding off on a few of the impacted positions to allow time for retirements and promotion opportunities that could further reduce the number of impacted employees.

The remaining 20 or so employees do have vacancies in their classification, though not within their current department.

This may change, however, as some may ultimately be able to remain in the current department if new vacancies occur in the impact of classifications.

In the meantime, we're coordinating closely with both the impacted and receiving departments as well as MEA to make these transitions as smooth and efficient as possible.

I do want to emphasize that the situation does remain fluid.

Where retirements or promotional opportunities are pending, we are holding off on movements in order to minimize the number of employees ultimately of fact.

As we move forward, adjustments will continue to be necessary.

The RIP implementation deadline is December 2nd.

This is the date by which the process must be fully complete.

However, we had already begun moving impacted employees, and I will keep the commission up to date as the process progresses.

Additionally, today I would like to update provide a brief update to the commission on the RIF process and the impacts to the personnel department and our staff.

First, a quick recap of where we started following our discussion at the May 2025 Civil Service Commission meeting.

At that time, we were given a target efficiency reduction of 20%, which would have required eliminating between 20 and 30 personnel staff positions.

In the adopted budget, the reduction was limited to six positions, four of which were already holding vacant.

This left two staff members, both unclassified program coordinators directly impacted by the reductions.

Of those two employees, one has already transitioned to a new role at the public utilities department, and the other is scheduled to start their new role again in public utilities next week.

As we restructure to adapt to these budget-driven changes, you may notice some staff taking on new responsibilities or see new faces providing presenting before you at civil service.

While their departure is a lot for our team, it's also a game for PUD, and I look forward to seeing them continue to do great work and drive process improvements from the customer side of the organization.

And I will say I may have opine for a second.

I've worked uh almost a decade with both these people.

Uh we were analysts together.

Uh they treated, I was a customer of theirs, now I'm the director.

Uh amazing people, hard working.

This is 100% budget related.

I wish them all the best, and I think they're gonna make the department better from the outside, and maybe do some of the stuff I did and rub us the wrong way in a good way.

So we look forward to that.

We hope they get a comeback, but as much as I'm gonna miss some measurements, gonna miss them.

I know their staff's doing this more.

So I just I want to thank them, and with that, I will uh open up to any questions or comments.

Fine, that's the that's the tough part about the rif, is it's inherently not based on how you're doing.

Um so we so good people get end up getting affected.

That's unfortunate that's the way it is.

Um thank you very much for any questions.

Did the two people that kept the same classification?

Great, they're not.

Oh, what did it go down to?

Uh well, there's gonna be a supervising department HR analyst, it won't be an associate department HR analyst.

Oh, we I believe those will be transitionary positions uh to the next step.

So um, it is a way to maintain full benefits and pay and move forward because they will not last their long in those roles.

I agree with Commissioner or Vice President more in the sense of I definitely think they'll be valued somewhere in it as a consequence of RIF an unfortunate consequence because I do know um recruitment is being impacted, and I have an expectation, so we'll have to figure this out somehow.

But I have I've seen the visibility of recruitment, whether it's on social media and in the community.

I still expect to see that presence in order to maintain and continue our numbers and continue the great work personnel is doing.

So I think the division, I think recruitment impacts are concerning for me, the individuals that were impacted.

It is concerning for me.

I think they'll be great elsewhere, but we have to figure out how as we look to shift those duties.

How does that look and to for recruitment not to become as prioritized as it was before?

And the visibility to still be there in the community.

Absolutely.

Yeah, we'll definitely lean on the commissioners as well to give us ideas and keep us going and let us know when there are things in the community.

We'll continue keeping our ties with council districts and the community partners as well.

But you know, to your point, uh Commissioner Freeman, it's gonna be tough.

It's gonna be tough, but it's it's good work and it's very important work.

So we'll definitely do all we can.

I've got two follow-up questions, different subject, real quick.

Uh at the last meeting, commission meeting that we had, we had questions about the EEOB point.

So just make sure that's on your radar still be back in the future.

Absolutely.

Okay.

The second one was the status of the evaluating committee that's in progress, I think.

Yeah, um, just the end of committee that is in progress, but generously, we're still working.

All right, got it.

We're kind of constructing a um constructing a process that is understand gone for regular station before.

So yeah, build it.

Thank you.

Any further comments?

Go back.

And uh with that, this meeting is adjourned.

We've moved our agenda.