CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
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AN ORDINANCE relating to the civil service; transferring the function of the Fire and Police Exams Unit from the Seattle Department of Human Resources to the Civil Service Commissions Department; and amending Sections 4.04.030, 4.04.040, 4.08.070, and 4.08.110 of the Seattle Municipal Code.
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WHEREAS, since 1896, the Seattle City Charter required a civil service system to ensure that employment is predicated on applicants' qualifications to perform the work and is insulated from political pressures. The Public Safety Civil Service Commission (PSCSC) has overseen the public safety portion of the system as an independent body for uniformed police officers and fire fighters since 1978 and is currently housed in the Civil Service Commissions Department; and
WHEREAS, the Fire and Police Exams Unit in the Seattle Department of Human Resources (SDHR) develops and administers entry level and promotional exams and compiles hiring eligibility lists for members of the uniformed public safety civil service, under the authority of and overseen by the PSCSC and pursuant to Washington State law, the City Charter, and the Seattle Municipal Code; and
WHEREAS, in 2001, the City Council passed Ordinance 120658, transferring substantive powers, including authority over the Fire and Police Exams Unit and its function from the PSCSC to the Personnel Department, now called SDHR; and
WHEREAS, after passage of Ordinance 120658, the Seattle Police Officers' Guild (SPOG) sued The City of Seattle, alleging that transferring the PSCSC's substantive powers, including authority over the Fire and Police Exams Unit under the direction of the Personnel Director, infringed on the independence of the PSCSC as required under chapter 41.12 of the Revised Code of Washington; and
WHEREAS, in 2004 in Seattle Police Officers' Guild v. City of Seattle, 121 Wn. App. 453 (2004), the Washington Court of Appeals ruled in fa...
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