Agency balks on housing inspector

Lorain Civil Service Commission votes against special appointment

The Lorain Civil Service Commission balked on hiring a new housing inspector when the city administration and chief of the Building, Housing and Planning Department split over the application.

On Feb. 18, the Lorain Civil Service Commission voted 3-0 against a special appointment to the post.

Lorain Safety-Service Director Max Upton and Kellie Glenn, director of Building, Housing and Planning, both said they interviewed the candidate.

Glenn said she would not recommend him, but Upton said he would not trust her judgment on that issue.

Civil Service Commission members Joseph M. Smith, Juanita Senquiz and Victor Takacs voted 3-0 to reject the appointment.

The issue prompted discussion about the applicant and the city’s hiring process.

Finding a candidate

This month, Upton requested the Civil Service Commission consider appointing Steve Campbell as housing inspector to the Department of Building, Housing and Planning.

Campbell had more than three years of experience running a housing restoration company and oversaw a housing department in previous employment, Upton said.

Campbell’s application to the city was “virtually illegible” and the Civil Service Commission never received a resume of the candidate, Smith said.

Takacs also questioned if the city had internal applicants.

The city had two internal applicants for the job, but they did not have qualifications for it, Glenn said.

She noted Chief Building Official Richard Klinar and Assistant Chief Electrician Richard Negron also interviewed candidates.

“Your take on Mr. Campbell’s qualifications?” Takacs said.

“I said he did not qualify,” Glenn said.

Based on the interview, Negron said it appeared Campbell had experience with painting, but not other elements of construction, such as carpentry.

Later in the meeting, Upton said Campbell had a bachelor’s degree and construction experience.

Campbell would report to Klinar, Glenn and ultimately the safety-service director, Upton said.

“And you don’t think it’s important to have alignment with this candidate through Ms. Glenn?” Takacs said.

“I don’t trust the judgment based upon previous hires that have not been able to pass the exam within six months of having the job,” Upton said.

Glenn said one worker who did not pass the inspector’s exam, had qualifications, but had a difficult time taking the test.

She said that inspector was the only one with that problem among her hires.

“I’ve got to tell you we are way out of line talking about this other individual,” Takacs said, and Glenn did not name that worker.

As for Campbell, the Commission members were unanimous in rejecting the appointment.

“It’s very concerning that the city does not have alignment with this candidate, I’ll tell you,” Takacs said. “The department heads should have alignment with the candidate, out of respect for the candidate himself, let alone out of respect for the department head.”

It was unclear if Campbell was present at the meeting.

His name did not appear on a signin attendance sheet and if he was present, he did not address the Civil Service Commission.

The job has a starting salary of $39,841, according to the job description as cityoflorain.org.

Exceptional appointments

The request spurred discussion about the legality and merits of using exceptional appointments or civil service testing to hire city workers.

Law Director Pat Riley and Human Resource Director Lisa Zamiska spoke about Ohio law and Lorain city work contracts.

Ohio law allows governments to appoint workers with exceptional qualifications to jobs in scientific, managerial, professional and educational categories.

But the law is not detailed and does not give a category into which an exceptional appointment must fall, Riley said.

“It’s a confusing mess, and it’s like a jigsaw puzzle,” he said.

The process can be more rigorous than civil service testing and can mimic hiring in the private sector, but proper oversight is required and that is what the Civil Service Commission was doing, Takacs said.

“The process of exceptional appointments should not be in question because they disagree with the candidate,” he said. “The process has been effective where applied.”

And some city workers at the meeting benefited from exceptional appointments and were impactful associates, Takacs said.

Use testing

Lorain Councilwoman-at-Large Mary Springowski and residents Jerry Donovan and John Gallo all suggested the city use civil service testing to fill the housing inspector post and other open jobs.

The exceptional appointments were a legal part of the hiring process, but allowed city officials to do an end run around the civil service hiring process, Springowski said.

Two studies have recommended Lorain improve its housing stock as one of three key elements for the city to grow, so the city needs strong, qualified people, she said.

Within recent memory, Lorain Chief Building Inspector William Desvari had civil service protection as a city employee, Springowski said.

She did not recount Desvari’s work history, but he faced multiple indictments for bribery while working for the city.

Desvari, who had a federal court conviction for stealing $196,992 for cashing a deceased aunt’s Social Security checks, died in 2012.

“I don’t like seeing us circumvent the process, because if anything is going on, that person has civil service protection,” Springowski said. “Again, Bill Desvari — we know the hell that we paid in dealing with this person.”

That was a name from many years ago, Smith said, but Springowski said his case first piqued her interest in civil service appointments.

Springowski acknowledged she opposed Glenn’s appointment to her post, but took back her opposition because of Glenn’s diligent work for the city.

“We’ve butted heads, but I’ve been very impressed by what she’s done and I would take her judgment when it comes to something like this in her department,” Springowski said.

Glenn has been outstanding in what she has done, Springowski said.