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The civil service of the city is divided into the unclassified and the classified service. The unclassified service shall include elected officers; directors of departments; members of all boards or commissions appointed by the mayor and council; the clerk of council and the secretary of the civil service commission; and unskilled labor and hourly personnel. The classified service shall comprise all positions not specifically included in the unclassified service.
(a) The commission shall make, promulgate, prescribe and enforce rules for the appointment, promotion, transfer, layoff, reinstatement, suspension and removal of employees in the classified service, and other rules necessary for the enforcement of the merit system of pay and promotion and for the commission's procedure. The commission shall keep a permanent, public record of its proceedings.
(b) Any member of the commission may subpoena and require the attendance of witnesses, cause the administration of oaths and compel testimony and the production of books, papers and other evidence pertinent to any issue before the commission. If any applicant fails to respond to these requests, the commission may take that failure into account when deciding the applicant's matter.
With written explanation to council and the commission, filed with the clerk of council and the secretary of the commission, the mayor may at any time for cause suspend any commissioner for up to 30 days. Cause may include but need not be limited to neglect of duty or misfeasance or malfeasance in office. The president of council shall call a hearing of council within 30 days of the filing of the mayor's writing. At the hearing the mayor may further explain the cause for the commissioner's suspension, and the suspended commissioner may appear with, without or by counsel in response. At the conclusion of the hearing, council shall by a majority vote of councilmembers present either remove or reinstate the commissioner. For good cause, council may continue the hearing for up to 30 days.
On or before July 1 of each year in which a presidential general election is held, the civil service commission shall review and make a written report to council, which report shall be filed with the clerk of council and the office of the mayor, setting forth the commission's recommendations for the salary and other compensation for the offices of mayor and members of council. Council shall place that report on the next docket at a regularly scheduled council meeting. If council takes no action or fails to decline to follow the suggestions within 90 days, the recommendations shall take effect as if council had adopted them by ordinance approved by the mayor. However, no increase in salary under this section shall exceed 10 percent of the salary for the office of mayor or council, unless there has been no increase in salary for that office in the preceding 10 years.