The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Mayor ‘dismayed’ by vote of civil service commission
Amherst Mayor Mark Costilow says he feels disappointed because a civil service commission voted against hiring Steve Bukovac as manager of information technology under an exceptional appointment without a competitive exam.
As a former Amherst City Council member, Bukovac knows the city well, Costilow said.
Bukovac also is highly qualified to fill the information technology management position created this month by City Council, the mayor said.
In addition, Council created the position with emergency legislation and an unanimous vote
because of needs for IT in the city, he said.
The city wants to save money by installing fiber optics, and the IT manager must be in place to do the work, Costilow said.
Also, the IT manager is tasked with creating a unified technology infrastructure, linking departments and pointing the city toward the future, he said.
Civil Service Commission members include: Chair Gina Grasso; Vice Chair Edwin Cowger; and Darrell McCarty.
“I’m still not convinced that needs to come to civil service,” Grasso said.
McCarty said he wants to make sure he does it right.
“This is the first time I’m making an exceptional appointment,” he said.
In a joint statement from the city administration — including Costilow and Law Director Anthony Pecora — Ohio law was cited to allow filling a vacancy “in a classified service where peculiar and exceptional qualifications of a scientific, managerial, professional, or educational character are required,” and specified reasons competition is impractical.
The person must be highly qualified in the expertise needed, according to the statement.
Amherst has made exceptional appointments in the past, said Costilow and Police Chief Joseph Kucirek at the civil service commission meeting.
“Years ago, we used to do exceptional appointments,”
Kucirek said. “I stopped doing them for my own reasons that don’t have anything to do with this.
“The police chief and fire chief could bypass testing because we have a person who is so exceptionally qualified we want that person in the position.” The process is pretty simple, he said.
“It has to do with the employee’s qualifications for the position, like when we could hire a person with 24 to 30 years of experience in bonafide police work,” Kucirek said. “It doesn’t really have to do with the position. Is the person exceptionally qualified?”
Costilow said Bukovac’s resume shows he is exceptionally qualified.
The mayor said he hoped to add the IT manager position to other managerial positions in the city that are under the protection of the civil service commission so that it will not be subject to political whims.
“To the dismay of the mayor, this request was rejected,” according to the statement. “The commission gave no reason for the denial. After moving into an executive session, the commission called for a vote then abruptly adjourned.”
The statement indicated reasons for the denial are not legitimate powers of the commission.
“Earlier, the commission gave reasons for concern which are not within its purview,” the statement related, “such as its concerns about the inter-workings of the department, its concern about how the department would function or be funded, and the budget
needs of the department.
“City council has already approved this position and its funding.
“These are administrative concerns. The commission did not address what the mayor believed was Mr. Bukovac’s exceptional knowledge of the city’s technology needs, his understanding of the city’s present technology infrastructure and shared vision for the city’s technological growth.”
The mayor respects the individuals on the commission, but greatly disagrees with this decision, the statement related.
“We are currently reviewing the city’s options to fill this position so that we may meet the city’s immediate needs,” according to the statement.
Commission members recommended the mayor fill the position now then revisit it with the commission at a later date.
Costilow said the situation was not properly discussed at the commission meeting. But the position needs to be filled quickly.
“We’ll look into another option,” Costilow said.