Civil Service hearing takes on racial undertones

16th June 2014   ·   0 Comments

Tempers flared and a war of words heated up Thursday at a public hearing on proposed changes to Civil Service Commission rules, FOX 8 News reported.

An already-tense discussion about proposed changes to the CSC’s personnel rules was taken up a few notches after comments by City of New Orleans Chief Administrative Officer Andy Kopplin made remarks comparing the CSC exam sores of white and minority applicants.

The mayor’s right-hand man was accused of playing the race card, utilizing “Atilla the Hun” tactics and using race-baiting and the issue of a proposed minimum-wage hike to undermine the job security of current City Hall employees.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu has repeatedly said that the city’s personnel system is outdated and is seeking to overhaul it, giving city department heads more flexibility in hiring and promoting workers. Landrieu is also proposing a minimum wage for city employees of $10.10 an hour.

Some critics of the mayor’s proposed changes have said that the increase in the minimum wage for city employees while mean little for those pushed out of their jobs, lose their current security or those who are blocked from enjoying similar benefits and working conditions. At a protest held last year, one such critic called the mayor’s proposal “employment gentrification,” while others have referred to it as “the whitewashing of City Hall.”

FOX 8 News reported Thursday that some of the proposed changes to CSC rules are meeting some pushback from unions for police and fire fighters.

“If it is passed, I promise you we will be challenging it and we will explore all the legal challenges,” Michael Glasser, President of the Police Association of New Or­leans, said.

The city’s proposal that would eliminate what has been referred to as the “Rule of 3,” which requires City Hall managers to consider the top three performers on the civil service exam, added to Thursday’s heated exchanges.

“Lots of Civil Service depart­ments in the state of Louisiana and across the country have moved away from those restrictions,” Kopplin said.

The city’s inspector general weighed in on the Rule 3 issue.

“And the Rule of 3 is an excellent example of bureaucracy run amuck,” said I-G Ed Quatrevaux.

Opponents said the proposed changes would give the Landrieu administration and future mayors too much control over the hiring process. Department heads serve at the pleasure of the city’s mayor.

“It gives way too much authority and discretion to the mayor and his appointees. That is exactly what Civil Service was designed to prevent,” PANO president Michael Glasser told FOX 8 News..

Some of those at Thursday’s hearing said they were appalled by what they considered the Landrieu administration’s use of the issue of race to undermine current CSC personnel rules.

Kopplin said the civil service exam has an adverse impact on minorities, especially in terms of promotions, and does not take into account work history. In making his argument, he spoke of the fire department.

“Those who scored at the top of the test taking were predominantly white, and those who had passing scores, but at the bottom of the distribution of passing scores, they were disproportionately minority,” said Kopplin told the Civil Service Commission Thursday.

Kopplin’s comments about minorities and the Civil Service test outraged the head of the New Orleans Fire Fighters’ Union. Nick Felton got up during the meeting and demanded an apology.

“He needs to apologize to all African Americans who work hard, and study.,” Felton said. “Okay, that was absolutely insensitive, Donald Sterling-type comment with the Clippers. You ought to be banned from here to do that, that’s ridiculous.”

NOFD Superintendent Tim McConnell defended Kopplin’s remarks at Thursday’s hearing.

“Exam results that CAO Kopplin spoke of are a reflection of that. Didn’t like hearing it, but facts are facts,” McConnell said.

When asked about Felton’s demand for an apology, a visibly upset Kopplin told FOX 8, “I think that he ought to review the past history because a lot of folks who’ve looked at testing and seen that there’s bias in testing and we want to make sure, again, to the fire fighters who are working hard every day, doing a great job, that they’re not discriminated against by not being able to be promoted.”

The Civil Service Commission did not make a decision on the proposed changes.◊

Critics said during a public hearing held during the spring by the Civil Service Commission that the changes would infuse political influence into the personnel system. But the Landrieu administration insists civil service protections would not be eroded.

“What I hear about politics, that’s all this is, that’s all that this amounts, a grab for power,” attorney and resident Joel Loeffelholz, who opposes the Landrieu administration’s proposed changes told FOX 8 in late April..

At a packed CSC meeting in late April, the Landrieu administration moved quickly to issue a disclaimer during the hours-long presentation.

“This plan does not eliminate the Civil Service Department,” Kopplin said at the late April hearing on the issue..

In all, the Landrieu administration is proposing more than 30 rule changes which the mayor said will result in better hiring, better training, and better pay within city government.

But critics said the pay issue aside, the mayor would have too much control. Leaders of the police and fire unions are fighting against the administration in terms of the proposed changes.

“ When we look at the turning back the clock as I call it to the old days of Huey or Earl Long …Civil Service needs the protections, or the ability to be that insulator between us and the administration,” Nick Felton told FOX 8 in late April.

“Nothing about these proposed rules or reforms would make this a great place to work,” PANO’s Eric Hessler said..

Police organizations said they have been down this road before.

“The straw that broke the camel’s back in 1979, the reason we walked off the job is because the mayor attempted to change civil rules,” Jim Gallagher of the Fraternal Order of Police, told FOX 8.

Critics said they are very concerned about “Rule of Three” and how that will impact city employees.

“Especially when they’re going to select from a list of employees and want to select from the bottom and not from the top, that cannot happen,” Randolph Scott said.

Some of the proposed CSC rule changes will require approval by the city council.

Some critics of the proposed changes, including the Concerned Classified City Employees, Inc., have suggested that some of the mayor’s agenda runs afoul of the city charter and the Louisiana Constitution, something CAO Andy Kopplin adamantly denied.

For now, the reposed CSC rule changes continues to be a very divisive issue.

“Do not allow this mayor to return this city to a spoils and patronage system,” FOP spokesman Jim Gallagher told FOX 8.

This article originally published in the June 16, 2014 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.