As Hamilton County commissioners mull a resolution they passed last week to switch employees to a civil service system, two heads of the human resources department have warned the transition could make personnel decisions complicated and cumbersome.
"I'm extremely concerned about civil service," Sandra Ellis, the county's administrator of human resources, told commissioners during a committee meeting Wednesday. "I have a lot of concerns."
Citing issues he had heard about a "hostile" workplace at the county, Commissioner David Sharpe, D-Red Bank, introduced a resolution last Wednesday directing the county attorney and human resources staff to begin the process of implementing a civil service system in general government. The county attorney, administrators and employees in the mayor's office would be exempt.
The resolution was one of five that commissioners unanimously approved last week following a legal meeting with an outside attorney. The panel also reaffirmed their contract with County Attorney Rheubin Taylor, after Mayor Weston Wamp attempted to fire him earlier this month.
The mayor has not signed the resolutions. Wamp has 10 days to sign or veto them, and if he doesn't, they automatically go into effect.
In a letter to commissioners, Ellis and Human Resources Director Jenny Godwin said the county's employee handbook already addresses the terms and procedures under which employees are hired, promoted, disciplined and dismissed.
The main difference with civil service, they said, is that those regulations would be handled by a third party committee, which is usually composed of employees affected by the program or citizens appointed by the governing body.
Ellis and Godwin also raised concerns about the effect on the hiring process, noting that switching to a civil service system could require applicants to take written exams to qualify for positions. They said candidates would be judged on their test-taking abilities rather than their capacity to perform the job.
The county is already seeing a decrease in the number applicants for open positions, Ellis and Godwin wrote, which could be made worse by that change.
"Hamilton County government always seeks to select the most qualified individual for the position," the letter states. "If civil service is implemented, it would require the top test scorer to be hired, not necessarily the best candidate for the position."
Civil service would also dramatically slow down the disciplinary process, the letter said, leaving management decisions at the mercy of a third party board.
"Managers may deem the process too cumbersome and lengthy," Ellis and Goodwin wrote. "This would result in management avoiding taking the necessary disciplinary steps to correct employee issues and would cause retention of unproductive employees."
Additionally, the system would require a rewrite of the employee handbook and complete retraining of all 1,800 employees on new policies and procedures.
"This endeavor is not something that could be done quickly," the letter states. "It would require a great deal of time and preparation before it could be fully implemented. It could also require additional manpower to handle the many additional duties civil service would require of Hamilton County."
Sharpe said Wednesday that in the weeks before passage of the resolution, he had "a collection of individuals present to me a laundry list of concerns that they have within their department."
It's in the best interest of the county, he said, for the attorney's office to work with human resources to create a process that treats people more fairly.
"I would like for these groups to get together and start working towards a goal of producing a system that creates an environment that will help us recruit and retain the best talent that we possibly can, right?" he said. "Reduce anxiety within the ranks for unfair termination or political spoils."
Ellis said the county can always improve its existing processes and is open to some adjustments in handbook policies.
"I don't think we have to go through a full gamut of a complete 100% new civil service policy," she said. "I think we can look at our policies and determine what about those policies can we tweak to make them better."
Commissioner Jeff Eversole, R-Ooltewah, said in a phone call Thursday that the county could implement aspects of a civil service system without a full-blown transition. He wants to ensure employees aren't left wondering about the fate of their positions.
Right now, officials are addressing a lot of questions, he said: One, whether the county needs a civil service system. Two, if the county needs it, what form should it take. And three, could the county address issues with department heads directly without the need to implement the system, which is the option Eversole prefers.
Contact David Floyd at dfloyd@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249. Follow him on Twitter @flavid_doyd.