Monday's Internet Edition, October 06, 2008.
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News editor -
City Secretary Pamela Russell addressed a letter to committee members late Friday stating that the petition to put Civil Service on a special election ballot this fall was denied.
Russell stated that the reasons were due to lack of registered voters signatures on the petition, lack of dates next to the signatures, as well as lack of proposed ordinance for civil service attached to the petition..
Also noted in the letter was that not all signatures were verified by the committee members themselves.
The letter was addressed to the committee of five, including James Myers, Steve Wright, Kellie Mozek, Michael Loven and John Oster.
Calls to Myers were not immediately returned.
The committee filed an affadavit with the city on June 14 stating their intent on circulating the petition.
On June 22, over 150 signatures of the 100 needed were turned in to the City.
Myers, Wright and Mozek were representative of the fire department while Loven and Oster were from the police department.
They were circulating the petition to ask voters to approve the adoption of civil service in Copperas Cove.
“We are trying to give officers and firefighters an incentive to come and stay in Copperas Cove,” Myers, who is also a member of the Copperas Cove Texas State Association of Fire Fighters, said in an earlier interview. “We lose a lot of our officers because they do not feel secure enough about their jobs.”
In the petition, committee members were asking council to put the proposition on a ballot for a special election.
According to Texas Local Government Code, municipal civil service is to secure efficient fire and police departments composed of capable personnel who are free from political influence and who have permanent employment tenure as public servants.
According to a publication circulated by the committee, Civil Service is a process which was designed to establish a system under which appointments to public employees jobs are made on the basis of fitness and determined by open and competitive examination rather than personal preference, political considerations or prejudice.
“We are trying to get the word out to the citizens that this is something that will benefit the city,” Myers said. “This does not mean that taxes will have to go up. This will just help up retain our police and firefighters from moving to other departments.”
If civil service is implemented into action for the city, Myers said that taxes shouldn’t go up because the law does not require that new personnel be hired to administer the law.
According to the publication from committee members, the statute does not mandate a pay increase for firefighters, police officers or anyone else.
The Director of Civil Service is usually an existing city employee whose duties are expanded to include being the Director of Civil Service.
Members of the commission usually serve at no cost to the community.
If Civil Service is passed in Copperas Cove, a commission of three members selected by the mayor will be formed.
The commission will provide a classification for all firefighters and police officers. They will also establish requirements for all applicants for beginning and promotional positions.
Civil service law also sets the minimum standards for sick leave and vacation leave for officers.
“If this passes, then the way it is now could be the way it will be in five to ten years,” Myers said. “This will allow for us to have a list of steadfast rules that must be followed.”
Guidelines for the petition are close to that of a referendum petition, which is the one circulating for the non-smoking ordinance.
In order for the petition to be submitted, a petition of five committee members had to file an affidavit with the city secretary stating they will witness each signature placed on the petition.
In the letter submitted by Russell, not all committee members circulated the petition, and some of those who did were not registered voters themselves.
The signatures for the petition had to be gathered within 45 days of the filing.
After it is turned into the city secretary, an additional ten days are required to make sure that all signatures are from registered voters. They also have to be residents of Copperas Cove.
Since the petition is found not to have all correct signatures, committee members will have 10 additional days to correct the petition.
After the ten days, providing the petition is complete, the City Secretary will again certify the petition and if whole, present it to City Council.
Myers had hoped to have the petition on the September 11 ballot.