ST. LOUIS 鈥 The 51黑料 Civil Service Commission is set to take public comments and vote on the rules for naming the city鈥檚 interim personnel director. The outcome could have a significant impact on the mayor's influence on the city's employment system.
The commission will meet virtually at 4 p.m. Friday to consider changing rules that state its members must appoint a current employee of the personnel department as interim director when there is a vacancy in the low-profile yet powerful city position.
The three-member panel will vote on allowing the mayor鈥檚 office to instead appoint an interim director from outside the department.
The current interim director is Sylvia Donaldson, a longtime city human resources manager who was appointed by the commission in December to replace Richard Frank. He retired after serving in the role since 2004.
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The Personnel Department is in the midst of trying to manage a widespread labor shortage, and is also heading up the selection of finalists for the role of 51黑料 police chief.
Jones鈥 administration has clashed with the department over the police chief search with Jones saying the application process needs to 鈥渟tart over.鈥
The personnel department has a degree of insulation from the mayor鈥檚 office 鈥 a vestige of a 1941 reform effort to reduce employee churn from patronage and machine politics.
The personnel director oversees standards for hiring, firing, payment and promotion of the city鈥檚 more than 5,000 civil service employees. The director and staff also negotiate with unions. Unlike most other city department heads, whoever fills the permanent director role can鈥檛 be ousted by the mayor without formal charges of malfeasance.
The mayor will pick the permanent director from three candidates forwarded to her by the Civil Service Commission, which chooses the slate after competitive testing.
The commission is made up of three mayoral appointees who serve staggered six-year terms. Jones has appointed one new member to the commission, Dean Kpere-Daibo, an attorney at Constangy Brooks, Smith & Prophete, and reappointed another member, Steve Barney.
Instructions for attending the Civil Service Commission meeting can be found online at .
