San Diego Civil Service Commission Meeting - April 3, 2026
San Diego Civil Service Commission Meeting - April 3, 2026
The Civil Service Commission met on April 3, 2026, at 1:00 PM following a closed session. The meeting covered reports from closed session, a consent agenda, and several discussion items including an EEO report update, the internal fact-finding process, and personnel department updates. Commissioners voted on disciplinary appeals and a request for special leave.
Consent Calendar
- Approved items 3 through 13, including the March 5, 2026 commission meeting minutes, by a unanimous vote.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were made on non-agenda items or via Zoom.
Report from Closed Session
- Stephen Glover appealed termination from Sanitation Driver 2. Motion to suspend without pay for March 18, 2024, and reinstate pending medical clearance and verification of minimum qualifications passed 3-2 (Commissioners Freeman and Merrill voting no).
- Derek Whip appealed termination from Associate Human Resource Analyst. Motion to uphold termination passed 3-2 (Commissioners Freeman and Merrill voting no).
Discussion Items
- Item 14 – Special Leave Request: Nicholas Minx, Police Sergeant, requested one-year special leave without pay for child care and outside employment at Flock Safety. The Police Department recommended modification to remain on an eligible list. After discussion, the commission unanimously approved the one-year leave with job to be saved.
- Item 15 – EEO Report Update: Staff presented an update on the 2025 Civil Service EEO report. A new demographic category, Middle Eastern or North African, will be added to future reports. Data for the past five years shows applicants and new hires are representative of city population availability in almost all categories. The department has selected NeoGov for an applicant tracking system and will expand modules. Commissioner Merrill noted a positive trend in fewer departments receiving underrepresentation memos (from 67% in 2020 to 44% in 2024) and requested more granular analysis and involvement from the Division of Race and Equity. Staff agreed to invite that division to a future meeting and to send job links to council district representatives weekly.
- Item 16 – Internal Fact-Finding Process: Personnel Director David Gallagher explained that the commission is typically not directly involved unless the director is the subject of an investigation or serves on a panel, in which case the commission president receives the report. Commissioner Merrill raised concerns about the director chairing a fact-finding panel in his own department, citing a potential conflict of interest if the matter later comes before the commission. The director acknowledged the issue, stated it was his first such case, and offered to accept the commission’s direction to never sit on a personnel department fact-finding panel again. Commissioners agreed this should be avoided and requested a written guideline from the City Attorney.
- Item 17 – Personnel Department Updates: Gallagher reported on three initiatives: (1) piloting electronic SAP workflows for organizational reassignments and pay changes to reduce manual processing; (2) electronic receipt of pre-employment medical results, replacing mailed documents to speed hiring; (3) a pilot update to the Appointing Authority Interview Packet, reducing required documents from 27 to under 10 and simplifying evaluations. These changes will be presented for commission approval at the next meeting. Commissioner Merrill asked about secondary contacts for workflows and about formalizing informal second interview processes; staff acknowledged concerns and noted that guidelines exist but were not reviewed in this update.
Key Outcomes
- Approved one-year special leave without pay for Nicholas Minx (unanimous).
- Directed personnel to bring the Appointing Authority Interview Packet changes to the next meeting for consideration.
- Agreed to request a written guideline from the City Attorney separating commissioner roles from fact-finding panels.
- Personnel will coordinate with the Division of Race and Equity for a future presentation to the commission.
- Personnel will begin sending weekly job links to all council district offices.
- The commission will receive an update on the pilot electronic workflows and pre-employment medical results at a future meeting.
Meeting Transcript
Reporting started right at the beginning. All right. Welcome to the Civil Service Commission meeting. I am Commissioner President Nico Porcillo. We are going to do roll call to confirm commissioner attendance. When I call your name, please say present. Commissioner Freeman. Present. Commissioner Mayor. Commissioner Moore. Present. And Commissioner Phan. Present. Right. Thank you. Also joining us today. Our personnel director. Damn Dallagar, Assistant Personnel Director and Lamin Avan. Deputy City Attorney Valerie Silverman Nassi and assistant to the personnel director, Saba O'Neal. There are two items on this afternoon's closest set closed section agenda. Public employment appeal of disciplinary appeal pursuant to the California government code section uh 54957 v1. Stephen Glover appealing their termination from the position of San State Sanitation Driver 2 and Derek Whip appealing their termination from the position of associate department human resource analyst. Is there anyone who wishes to make 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 seconds. Anything on Zoom? No public comment on Zoom. All right, we will now adjourn the public session and go into closed session. The regular business meeting will begin at 1 p.m. Thank you. Like three degrees off. Okay. Okay. All right, Brandon. Are we recording? Recording started, ready to begin. All right. Welcome to the Civil Service Commission meeting. I am Commissioner President Nico Portillo. We are going to do a quick roll call to confirm commissioner attendance. When I call your name, please state present. Commissioner Freeman. Commissioner Merrill. Brandon. Commissioner Moore. Pardon. Commissioner Pan. Present. Thank you. Your attendance has been noticed, been noted. Also joining us today our personnel director David Dallagar, Assistant Personnel Director and Mamena Man, Deputy City Attorney Valerie Silverman Massey, and assistant assistant to the personnel director, Saban Leal.
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