The Civil Service Commission of the City of Pittston, Pennsylvania,
shall consist of three citizens selected per the definition of "member."
Upon the expiration of the term of any CSC member one replacement
person shall be selected to serve upon said Commission Board for the
term of four years. If any vacancies occur they shall be filled by
nomination by the Mayor and confirmation by the City Council for the
unexpired term. No salary or other compensation shall be paid to any
member of the CSC. The CSC shall organize for the purpose of transacting
its business, from time to time, as new appointments to such Commission
are made and each year by the first of February. The Chairperson and
Vice-Chairperson of the Commission shall be the persons so designated
by a majority of the Commission's members.
Each member of the Commission, before entering upon the duties
of his/her office, shall take and subscribe to the oath of office
prescribed by 11 Pa.C.S.A. § 1141, as amended, and file
the same, duly certified by the officer administering it, with the
City Administrator.
No Commissioner shall at any time hold any office which, per
these Rules and Regulations or Pennsylvania statutory or case law,
is incompatible with that of Civil Service Commissioner.
When the Commission engages in deliberation as an adjudicatory
body it may do so in executive session. However, official decisions
of the Commission, when it is sitting as an adjudicatory body, must
be rendered in public in a meeting which comports with Pennsylvania
statutory law. When the Commission sits as a non-adjudicatory body
its deliberations and decision making must be made in public. Two
members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum necessary for
the transaction of the business of the Commission. On any matter which
comes before the Commission for decision, whether or not the decision
is an adjudication, each Commissioner must provide his/her substantive
vote, unless the Commissioner has a conflict of interest, as defined
by Pennsylvania statutory law, which would prohibit the member from
casting his/her vote. A member may not vote merely "present." A member
who refuses to cast a substantive vote, and who does not have a conflict
of interest as that phrase is statutorily defined, is, by that refusal,
automatically dismissed from the Commission. All actions of the Commission
shall have the concurrence of at least two members. Each time members
vote that fact, and the voting choice of each member, shall be recorded
in the minutes of the meeting.
Each Commission, before entering upon its duties may appoint
a Secretary who shall handle all correspondence of said Commission.
A member may not be the Commission Secretary. The Secretary shall
have no voice or vote on any matter before the Commission, and the
Commission shall have the power to change the Secretary's duties.
The compensation to be paid to the Secretary and the budget for all
necessary stationery and supplies shall be such as Council shall by
ordinance direct.
At the discretion of the Commission, the Secretary shall receive,
record, respond to, and otherwise manage the official correspondence
of the Commission, the correspondence received by the Commission and
the business documents of the Commission as well as sending out all
notices required by law and these Rules and Regulations. The Secretary
at the discretion of the Commission shall keep a record of each examination
or other official action of the Commission and perform all other duties
required by the Commission, law, and these Rules and Regulations.
The Secretary shall function at the direction of the Chairperson as
to routine administrative matters and otherwise at the direction of
the majority of the Commission.
The Chairperson, or in his/her absence, the Vice-Chairperson,
shall preside at all meetings of the Commission, decide all points
of order or procedure (or, where appropriate, appoint legal counsel
to guide any due process proceedings and/or to rule on objections
and points of order), carry on all official correspondence of the
Commission, send, record, or cause to be recorded, each examination
or other official action of the Commission and perform all other duties
required by law, or by these Rules and Regulations.
Rules or Regulations of the Commission shall not take effect
until approved by the Commission, approved as to form and legality
by the Solicitor of the City of Pittston, and approved/adopted by
City Council.
The absence of one member of the Commission shall not prevent
the Commission from conducting official business so long as the other
two members of the Commission can be present either in person or telephonically.
The Commission can conduct its business via telephone so long as the
communication system utilized enables, where a public meeting is required,
all of the officials participating in the discussion to interact with
each other in a conversational mode and so long as the public can
hear the deliberations and exchange of information/views between the
participating officials. To be qualified to be a Commissioner one
must be reasonably available to participate in the official meetings/functions
of the Commission.
Meetings shall be held at the call of the Chairperson or at
the call of two members of the Commission. All meetings shall be held
in accordance with Pennsylvania statutory law, relative to such matters
as notice, timing, public access to the meeting, utilization of executive
sessions, etc. The order of business of all meetings of the Commission
shall be as follows:
The Secretary shall keep minutes of the Commission's proceedings
showing the vote of each member upon each question and the records
of examinations and other official actions. A member's absence
at a meeting must be recorded. Minutes must be subject to a vote of
approval/disapproval or modification to make them accurate at a public
meeting. Proposed minutes are not officially minutes of the Commission
until formally approved.
The Commission shall make an annual report to the City Council
containing a brief summary of its work during the year, which shall
be available for public inspection.
At least one month before the budget submission date (November
1) the Commission shall consult with the Mayor, Police Chief, Fire
Chief and City Administrator in order to estimate the number of examinations
and eligibility lists that will have to be developed in the coming
fiscal year. Based upon such consultation, the Commission will create
a budget request for the upcoming fiscal year. Such request shall
itemize the needs of the Commission which shall justify each requested
expenditure. In the event that, during a fiscal year, an examination
is authorized that has not been anticipated, or the Commission has
other unanticipated costs, the Commission shall prepare a separate
funding request setting forth and itemizing the monies that will be
necessary to successfully administer the examination requested or
to deal with the unexpected eventuality.
