The administrative service of the city is hereby divided into two classes:
A. The unclassified service shall include all officers of the city, including but not limited to the executive officer of the Personnel Department and/or his or her substitute, members of the advisory boards and the members of any board or commission appointed by the Mayor, either with or without confirmation by the Council.
[Amended 2-23-1993 by Ord. No. 1030]
B. The classified service shall comprise all persons, including department heads, holding positions in all departments of the city when this chapter is adopted, who shall have served in such position for a continuous period of six months or more prior to the adoption of this chapter, and all persons employed by the city who continue in such employment after a continuous probationary period of 90 days.
Upon announcement of examination or test, there shall be established an application register. Applications for employment by the city shall be upon forms prescribed by the Civil Service Board and must be received not less than 10 days prior to the date of examination.
Tests required by the Civil Service Board shall be practical, shall relate to matters which fairly measure the relative fitness and merit of applicants to discharge the duties of the position which they seek and shall take account of character, training and experience. No question in any test shall relate to political or religious opinions, affiliations or service. No appointment, transfer, layoff, promotion, reduction, suspension or removal shall be affected or influenced by such opinions, affiliations or service. At least 1O days in advance of the date of examination, each applicant, upon the appropriate lists of the application register, shall be notified of such examination by certified mail.
The list of applicants eligible to appointment by reason of civil service tests, with their grades, shall be known as the "register of eligibles." Names of such eligibles shall be arranged in their respective lists in the order of their standings on the test. The name of no person shall remain on the register of eligibles for more than two years without a new application and, if the civil service rules so require, a new test.
When any position in the classified service is to be filled, the appointing authority shall notify the Civil Service Board, which shall promptly certify to such authority the name and address of the highest eligible on the list for the class or grade to which such position belongs.
No person shall be appointed or employed in the classified service of the city under any title not appropriate to the duties to be performed, and no person shall be transferred to or be assigned to perform any duties of a position subject to competitive test, except with the approval of the Civil Service Board and unless as a result of an open competitive test equivalent to that required for the position to be filled or unless he or she shall have served with fidelity for at least two years immediately preceding in a similar position under the city government.
Whenever practicable, vacancies in the classified service shall be filled by promotion, and the civil service rules shall indicate the lines of promotion from each lower to higher grade wherever experience derived in the lower grade tends to qualify for the higher. Lists from which promotions are to be made shall be created as provided by the civil service rules, and the appointment of eligibles therefrom shall be made in the same manner as original appointments.