51黑料

ST. LOUIS 鈥� A judge on Wednesday blocked Mayor Tishaura O. Jones鈥� administration from changing rules to allow the mayor to pick a leader of the powerful personnel department. The ruling marked the second time in two weeks the courts have thwarted City Hall鈥檚 attempt to bypass a former director who wants his old job back.

Former Personnel Director Rick Frank, who retired in 2021, says a rule change the Civil Service Commission was scheduled to hear Thursday was an attempt to get around a judge鈥檚 order blocking a rule change last month that he said would have stripped him of his civil service reemployment rights.

The latest rule proposal could have allowed Jones to skip over the longtime director to fill a vacancy created last month when the mayor fired Sonya Jenkins-Gray, the most recent head of the department. Jenkins-Gray was the first personnel director sacked by a mayor since the city鈥檚 civil service system was created in 1941. She was accused of having a subordinate use a city car to drive her to Jefferson City and then around 51黑料, putting him in the middle of an awkward family matter. She had the driver promoted soon after the July 3 trip.

In November, as Jenkins-Gray was facing termination hearings, she left behind a parting gift 鈥� she granted Frank鈥檚 2023 request for reemployment rights to his old job, which he retired from in December 2021 after 18 years.

Frank and his lawyer say that gives him a right to return as personnel director, one of the most powerful jobs in city government, with broad say over hiring, firing and promotions across the 5,000-employee bureaucracy.

Frank and the union representing 51黑料 firefighters sued the city last month to halt a rule change that would have allowed the Civil Service Commission to cancel Frank鈥檚 reemployment rights for the director position. 51黑料 Circuit Court Judge Christopher McGraugh agreed with them, calling the timing of the proposed rule change 鈥渟uspicious鈥� and temporarily blocking the commission from making that change.

On Wednesday, Judge Joan Moriarty, too, sided with Frank and the firefighters union, blocking an amendment to a different set of rules that would have had a similar effect to last month鈥檚 proposal. Her temporary restraining order lasts until April 17 鈥� after the April 15 inauguration date for mayor.

Jones trailed Alderwoman Cara Spencer in the March primary by 35 points. A close ally of the mayor leading the personnel department could help the administration install its people for a new term 鈥� or keep allies in city jobs should the mayor lose reelection Tuesday.

The department is currently being led by a longtime deputy in the department, John Unnerstall, whom the mayor appointed last week using an emergency rule. His emergency appointment expires April 18. Unnerstall is a longtime employee of the department, and he has pushed back at least once on a request from the administration to create a new position in the public safety department.

With the ruling, the mayor may have few options to choose a new director that could hold office for months into the next mayoral term. The existing rules 鈥渇orbid the mayor from making a provisional appointment for an interim Director of Personnel when candidates have been certified on an eligibility list for the position,鈥� Frank鈥檚 lawyer, Emily Perez, wrote in a court filing Friday. Frank is the only person on that list.

Perez alleged in the lawsuit that Jones has 鈥渁 personal grudge鈥� against Frank and wrote that the new proposed rule change 鈥渃learly seeks to subvert the intent鈥� of last month鈥檚 court order. Frank has alleged the mayor wants to install a 鈥渃rony鈥� to run the department.

Frank, while he was personnel director in the first year of Jones鈥� term, insisted that the search for a new police chief be conducted by his office, a departure from how former Mayor Lyda Krewson was allowed to choose a police chief. After Frank retired, Jones restarted the police chief search process.

The firefighters union, Frank鈥檚 co-plaintiff, has also been a thorn in the administration鈥檚 side. They backed Jones鈥� challenger, Alderwoman Cara Spencer, in the mayoral election.

In court Wednesday, the city鈥檚 lawyer, Inez Ross, pointed out the city firefighters union has spent much of Jones鈥� term fighting Civil Service Commission rule changes and the mayor鈥檚 past attempts to name personnel directors. Frank, she said, 鈥渨ould be their crony.鈥�

Perez countered that she had sat across the bargaining table from Frank representing the firefighters union and said the two of them had 鈥渄isagreed passionately鈥� about many things. Rather, she compared the administration鈥檚 attempt to keep Frank out as an attack on civil service rules akin to President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk鈥檚 extralegal moves to fire thousands of federal workers.

Ross, though, said the civil service commission has broad power to set rules for city hiring and Frank and the firefighters union are attempting 鈥渢o tell them when to make the rules and what the rules should be,鈥� a position she called 鈥渓udicrous.鈥�

鈥淪he seeks to compare this to some lawless takeover of the federal government, but that is not this at all,鈥� Ross said. 鈥淭hey have the right to amend their rules.鈥�

Frank does not have a right to return to his job, Ross argued. He has a right to be a candidate, she said, and the mayor鈥檚 office interviewed him and rejected him for the job last week.

In addition to Frank鈥檚 job, the proposed rule change could also affect a wide range of city positions, Frank said. The rule change would give department heads the ability to make temporary hires of anyone for open positions if there are not six eligible candidates who have been tested for the job. The rule now only allows temporary hires of any applicant when there are no eligible applicants who have been tested for the job.

In a city that has struggled to fill many positions, that could have given the administration a much freer hand in filling jobs without the usual civil service testing and certification requirements.

An interim appointment to the job could hold the position for over six months. The Civil Service Commission, currently made up of two Jones appointees, is in charge of vetting candidates for a permanent personnel director. Whoever the next mayor is will pick from three candidates chosen by the commission, a process that in the past has taken months. Once a director is hired, they are insulated from mayoral control. Most past personnel directors have served long terms across mayoral administrations.