Questions linger as Aurora hiring measure goes to voters
Foes of shift in how police, fire jobs filled say process unclear
By Ivan Moreno, Rocky Mountain News
November 1, 2006
A week before Aurora voters decide if the city should change the way it hires police officers and firefighters, it's unclear how the new system would work.
If voters approve the change, then the responsibility for screening and hiring would shift from the city's five-member Civil Service Commission to the its Human Resources Department.
Police Chief Daniel Oates and other supporters of the change say it will provide more flexibility in hiring and make it easier to recruit minorities and women to the public safety ranks.
But opponents say voters are being asked to make a leap of faith.
"They haven't defined the process," said Terry Kulbe, administrator for the Civil Service Commission. "They haven't said how they're going to do this."
Oates said Deputy City Manager Frank Ragan and Human Resources Director Kin Shuman drafted a detailed plan in July when the City Council voted to put the measure on the ballot, but objections from the police and fire unions prevented further discussion of it.
"I think it's fairly clear that despite best efforts to reach some sort of consensus before council voted on these things, it wasn't reached," Oates said. As a result, he said, "the conversation never got down to the details of the alternative way" to hire police and firefighters.
The Civil Service Commission would still set the minimum standards for applicants but, beginning April 1, the Human Resources Department would do the screening and hiring.
Under the current system, promotions within the police department from lieutenant to captain is based on who scores highest on a civil service test. That would change to give Oates the flexibility to choose from a pool of those scoring in the top 5 percent.
The plan's detractors have mounted a tough campaign.
"Taking hiring out of civil service is removing checks and balances," said Don James, spokesman for the Aurora Police Association, which has spent $120,000 to defeat the measure.
The Aurora Fire Fighters Protective Association has contributed $300,000 to convince voters to preserve the status quo.
The police and fire unions side with the civil service commissioners' argument that the Human Resources Department will not do as thorough of a job screening applicants.
In a recent letter to the media, Commissioner Michael Knight expressed doubts that the "Human Resources Department can devote the time and effort to maintain the quality of the current selection process."
Knight also pointed out that a council member has questioned why it costs $35 for human resources personnel to process an application compared with $700 for the Civil Service Commission.
"You won't find any registered sex offenders getting past the Civil Service Commission's watchful eyes," he said, alluding to the city's hiring of Jermaine Vaden, a temporary parks employee accused of molesting a 15-year-old boy he met while at work.
Vaden was hired without undergoing a background check because of his temporary status.
Oates said when he and other city leaders were lobbying council members to put the measure on the ballot, they "committed to the council that standards would not be lessened, that we would only hire the best."
Civil service commissioners say there are still too many unanswered questions.
"They say they're going to, but will they develop a plan in April?" said Robert Brewer, chairman of the commission. "I kind of look at this as asking the public to vote and trusting the city to do the right thing."
