Civil Service rules - THE RIDGEWOOD BLOG.

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Just watched the UStream. I count four titles for this one job. 1. senior Personnel Assistant. 2. director of Human Resources. 3. Senior Human Resources Professional. 4. confidential Secretary to the Village Manager. The way they were getting testy with Bernie really gave the appearance that they were hiding something. Roberta was tap dancing all around, Albert went onto his high horse and said he was not in a deposition. Susan stayed the course and asked them what the name of the job is as of that moment. Roberta actually asked her “do,you mean as of today?” This whole thing does not pass the smell test.

Thank you Bernie. Just watched the UStream. Fascinating. The hired this person through a non-competitive position (confidential secretary) but then promoted her to a competitived position (Director) . . . what the heck is going on? Sure sounds like someone is playing very loose in Village Hall and we, the residents, are going to pay for it when the Village gets sued.

And thank you Susan for asking the difficult questions . . . “What is the name of this position as of today”? I almost died laughing when you asked that and Roberta couldn’t answer.

This really smacks of something underhanded. The position was created through unofficial channels. The person was hired before the job actually existed. Roberta defended her actions by saying this was all just a cleanup of an existing condition. Wrong. It did not exist until she created it last year. She tried to act like this was a long standing contradiction and it is not. She made this Jo and then she got the law changed. This was not an emergency. Why. Pinot follow official channels and get the Code changed before posting the job opening? Seems that this was slipped though under the radar, but thanks to Mike, Susan, Bernie and a couple of others, the radar detectors started squawking.

Make this right Ms. Sonenfeld. better yet, make it right Mr. mayor. This is outright government corruption as it stands now.

Clash Over Changes in Civil Service Rules Isn’t Civil at All

When Gov. Chris Christie called Democrats’ bluff on a key labor issue last week – as the state Civil Service Commission followed through on its promise to relax promotion standards for most state jobs — the only surprise was that opponents of the changes were not ready with a coordinated response.

But they hope to agree this week on a counter-strategy to undo the unilateral moves by the Christie-appointed commission, which thumbed its collective nose at organized labor and Democratic legislators with its vote on Wednesday.

The commission’s action was the latest move in a cat-and-mouse game that began early last year between the governor, who is seeking more freedom for managers to reassign workers, and labor unions trying to preserve protections against political patronage in state jobs.

Traditionally, Civil Service job applicants and employees have been required to pass tests to be hired or to advance.

As part of a package first presented early last year to streamline regulations, the commission proposed lowering the requirements by grouping job classes into larger “bands,” allowing managers to shift some workers around without passing qualifying tests for their new positions.

In January, both chambers passed concurrent resolutions establishing the Legislature’s stance that the commission’s plan would violate the law and the state constitution.

Acting as though those votes never happened, the commission adopted the governor’s plan with some modest changes. The new version clarifies that the rules apply to state, not municipal, employees, exempts law-enforcement and public-safety positions, and states its intent to preserve a job preference for veterans. The commission also gave dissatisfied employees the right to appeal, albeit to the commission.

Those amendments would not affect the majority of the state’s Civil Service workers, who still would work with less job security and a more fluid promotion system under the new regulations. (Tyrrell/NJSpotlight)

https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/14/05/12/clash-over-changes-in-civil-service-rules-isn-t-civil-at-all/