Allege Abuses by Agencies
Unions: Amend 1-in-3 Law

By REUVEN BLAU

A Department of Citywide Administrative Services report released last week showed that while overall provisional hiring has decreased, the agency established fewer promotion exams and more candidates were kicked off of eligible lists in 2005.

The Chief-Leader/Reuven Blau 'AGENCIES COMPLYING': Mitchell Paluszek, left, Deputy General Counsel for Personnel Legal Matters at the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, tells the City Council that the increase in candidates kicked off of lists last year was a result of agencies making greater use of rosters. Looking on is Stephen Dobrowsky, DCAS's director of certification.

Discussing the report at a Nov. 9 City Council hearing, DCAS officials noted that the agency administered 108 exams, three more than in Fiscal Year 2004. Despite that increase, they testified that fewer lists were established because many of those exams didn't result in multiple agency promotion rosters as in FY 2004.

Urge 1-in-3 Amendment

Union leaders and civil service advocates, however, renewed their calls for the city to amend its 1-and-3 rule, which allows agencies to choose from among the three highest-scoring eligibles on a list when making appointments.

An addendum to the rule allows agencies to remove candidates from further consideration after they have been considered but not selected (CNS-ed) three consecutive times. Candidates who are knocked off the list by one agency can still be appointed by another.

Notably, the DCAS report revealed that the number of eligibles who had been "CNS-ed" by city agencies under that rule increased to 1,240 from 709 in FY 2004.

DCAS officials contended that was a result of agencies making greater use of eligible lists last year. "That means agencies called more people in for interviews," said DCAS spokesman Mark Daly after the hearing. "That means more people had the opportunity to either decline a job or fail to appear for an interview."

The annual report also noted that there was a significant reduction in the number of provisional appointments made last year, to 5,361 from 7,037 in 2004. Also, provisional promotions dropped in 2005 to 1,447 from 1,861 over the previous year. Overall, however, there are roughly 30,000 provisional employees working for the city.

Provisionals 'Targeted'

"We do target titles where there are a number of provisionals serving," testified Stephen Dobrowsky, DCAS's Director of Certification. "And we happen to have hit it on the head this year." The report was the result of legislation passed in October 2004 requiring DCAS to each year detail the number of eligible lists established, exams held, and appointments and promotions.

The Chief-Leader/Reuven Blau SAILING BY LISTS?: Mike O'Toole, left, a consultant for the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association, charged that the Department of Citywide Administrative Services has ignored candidates on the Ferry Captains list and routinely violates a litany of other civil service regulations. Michael Brandon, a shop steward for United Marine Division Local 333, questioned how DCAS notifies Deckhand candidates who are out at sea for long stretches.

 

 

 

Council Civil Service and Labor Chair Joseph P. Addabbo joked that he needed a "decoder ring" to analyze the figures, which he showed were compiled on "1970s computer paper." He asked the agency to expand its executive summary section next year.

Won't Name Names

"Maybe even do comparisons of the previous years," he added. "This report was kind of difficult to go through, but the executive summary was very helpful."

Mr. Dobrowsky repeatedly refused to name a specific agency that had to be asked to correct its hiring procedures, despite prodding from Mr. Addabbo. "We find for the most part, agencies do tend to comply with the civil service law and use the eligible lists," Mr. Dobrowsky testified.

DCAS traditionally calls departments if there is a problem, he said. "Most of the phone calls tend to be over very specific technical issues," he testified, noting that DCAS does not track the calls.

Mr. Addabbo, however, said that he was concerned that the calls aren't monitored. "DCAS may not be in a position to see if there are any trends, or any particular agency having a problem, or even reluctant to use a list," he remarked. "I've heard complaints, but if you're not tracking them, it's kind of hard to discuss this."

Mr. Dobrowsky replied that DCAS staff has an "institutional" knowledge of those test issues.

Promo Lists Decline

The DCAS report noted that the number of open-competitive lists established last year rose slightly to 56 from 55 in 2004. But it also showed that the number of promotion lists established dropped to 127 last year from 154 in 2004.

"It's hard to really make a direct comparison in terms of how productive we are, because of the types of lists that we create from the exams," Mr. Dobrowsky testified, noting that some rosters can be used for various agencies. The report also pointed out that there were 202 instances where individuals who were CNS-ed three times were restored to a list at the request of an agency. The figure was a large increase from the 87 such instances in 2004.

"I think what happened this year is we've seen much more activity by agencies using lists," Mr. Dobrowsky told the Council. "So the more appointments we have, the more people who can be CNS-ed grew also."

Unions' Complaints

Robert J. Croghan, the chairperson of the Organization of Staff Analysts, testified at the hearing in support of additional funding for DCAS, which he called the "watchdog over city government."

Following his testimony, union officials representing Staten Island Ferry workers including Deckhands and Marine Engineers questioned how new lists for those titles have been used.

They charged the Department of Transportation has unfairly promoted inexperienced Deckhands who have less sea time experience than the majority of their veteran members. The union officials also pointed out that there are several promotion exams for marine titles that haven't been administered in over 10 years.

Michael Brandon, a shop steward for United Marine Division Local 333, noted that some of his members working on tugboats are away at sea for long stretches. That complicates how they are contacted by DCAS to set up an interview, he said.

'What's the Criteria?'

"Do they have to be notified with certified mail?" he asked. "If they don't show up for the interview, they just pass them up or they don't consider them. I don't know what the criteria is. It seems like there are a lot of people left on that [Deckhand] list who weren't hired."

District Council 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts submitted testimony urging the Council to look into amending the 1-and-3 rule, which was created by then- Mayor Abraham D. Beame in 1974.

She contended that the statute allows managers to "bypass merit and fitness provisions that are required by law and allow those same managers to apply favoritism among employees." Under the current setup, she argued, many qualified people who take and pass exams are not given a fair opportunity. "Over the years, we have received many complaints from hard-working members who have taken civil service exams and have been passed over based on what they perceive as a system of discrimination and favoritism," she said.

No Right to Appeal

Her testimony noted that until the mid-1980s, city employees were not even told that they were removed from civil service lists. Presently, workers are typically not informed why they have been taken off a roster and they do not have the ability to appeal that decision, she continued.

Mr. Addabbo said that he would prefer that DCAS handle notifying all employees taken off lists, instead of leaving it up to independent agencies. "I would have more faith in DCAS," he said. "A growing concern that I have is that people are being removed from the list and not being notified."

After the hearing he added, "We still have to digest this report. I needed DCAS to explain this report and compare it to last year, at least to kick us off."