(a) Appointment. The Civil Service Commission shall consist of three (3) electors of the City not holding other Municipal office or appointment in this City, to be appointed by the Mayor, with the concurrence of a majority of the members of Council, for terms of six (6) years each, following the expiration of the existing Civil Service Commissioners' terms of office. A vacancy occurring during the term of any member of the Civil Service Commission shall be filled for the unexpired term in the manner authorized for an original appointment.
The Commission shall designate one of its members as Chairman and may appoint a Secretary who need not be a member of the Commission and may hold other Municipal office or appointment.
(b) Classification of Service. Officers, appointees and employees of the City are hereby divided into the unclassified and classified service. The unclassified service shall include:
(1) All officers and councilmen elected by the people.
(2) All directors of departments and division heads except Chief of Police and Fire Chief.
(3) The members of all boards or commissions appointed by the Mayor, with or without the approval of Council.
(4) All officers and employees appointed by the Mayor and/or Council, the Finance Director, or the Law Director.
(5) All unskilled labor and persons who, in accordance with rules established by the Civil Service Commission, constitute temporary employees.
(6) Firemen and Policemen serving on a part-time or volunteer basis.
The classified service shall include:
(1) All other positions not specifically included in the unclassified service.
(c) Duties. The Commission shall provide by rule for ascertainment of merit and fitness as the basis for appointment and promotion in the classified services of the City, in the manner provided by the Constitution of the State of Ohio with respect to municipalities, and for appeals from the action of the Mayor in any case of transfer, reduction or removal except as otherwise provided in this Charter, and the action of the Commission on any such appeal shall be final. The Commission shall keep a record of its proceedings and examinations, which shall be open to the public inspection and, in all matters not in conflict with the Charter, shall conduct its affairs in accordance with the provisions of the general law.
(d) Removal. The Mayor may at any time suspend any Commissioner for inefficiency, neglect of duty, malfeasance, misfeasance, or nonfeasance in office, incapacity or incompetency provided, however, that such suspension shall not become final without the concurrence of five (5) of the members of Council.
(e) Funds. A sufficient sum shall be appropriated by Council each year to carry out the Civil Service provisions of this Charter.
(Adopted 10-18-66)
(f) Fire Department Appointments.
(1) For the purposes of this section, a full-time Fire Department shall be defined as that full-time department which may be established by the City of Seven Hills to provide the services of fire fighting, victim care, and victim rescue for all people in the City of Seven Hills.
(2) At such time as a full-time Fire Department is established, the then duly appointed part-time Chief of the City of Seven Hills Fire Department will forthwith become the full-time Chief of the Division of Fire.
(3) At such time as the full-time Fire Department is established and at such time as full-time employees are to be appointed as members of the full-time Fire Department, the following procedure shall govern such appointment or hiring:
A. An eligibility list shall be compiled which shall consist solely of all present members of the City of Seven Hills Fire Department as of one (1) year prior to the date of the final decision to appoint full- time members to the Fire Department.
B. In compiling the eligibility list, the order of eligibility shall correspond with the number of years of service with the Seven Hills Fire Department, with the member having the most years of service being placed first on the eligibility list and all other members being named to the eligibility list in an order which corresponds to their decreasing years of service.
C. No member whose name appears on the eligibility list shall be required to take a Civil Service test or any other type of test in order to be appointed to the full-time Fire Department.
D. Members shall be appointed to the full-time Fire Department from the eligibility list in accord with their order of eligibility. If a member shall refuse or decline any appointment to the full-time Fire Department, his/her name shall be placed at the bottom of the eligibility list.
E. All appointments to the full-time Fire Department, except for those specifically referred to in item F. below, will be made from the eligibility list for a period of five years from the date the full-time Fire Department is established. Five years after the establishment of the full-time Fire Department, the eligibility list shall expire and all subsequent appointments shall be made by competitive Civil Service examination as prescribed by the Civil Service laws of Ohio.
F. In the event that all members whose names appear on the eligibility list refuse appointment, manpower needs for any single appointment will be filled by competitive Civil Service examinations as prescribed by the Civil Service Laws of Ohio. At the time the eligibility list becomes completely exhausted with no names remaining on the list or the eligibility list expires, subsequent appointments to the full-time Fire Department will be filled by competitive Civil Service examinations as prescribed by the Civil Service Laws of Ohio. Upon appointment to the full-time Fire Department, all members will be classified employees under the Civil Service laws of Ohio.
(Amended 11-7-39)