Civil Service Commission

City of Scranton Civil Service Commission 340 N. Washington Avenue Scranton, PA 18503 SOLICITOR: John Kennedy, Esquire Chairperson: Bob Solfanelli Commissioners: Ro Hume, Kathryn Bogaczyk Unapproved Minutes Civil Service Commission Meeting Held on February 4, 2025 Council Chambers Scranton City Hall 1. Pledge of Allegiance Completed. 2. Roll Call Roll call was taken. Commissioners Solfanelli, Hume, and Bogaczyk were present. Solicitor Kennedy was present. 3. Public Comment International Association of Fire Fighters Local 60 President Allen Lucas discussed the request for the removal of an applicant from the Certified Lieutenant’s list and language in the Collective Bargaining Agreement regarding credit for years of experience and promotional examinations. Mr. Virgil Argenta commented on the civil service procedure and expressed concerns about hiring police officers. Mr. Michael Mancini commented on the Civil Service Commission and had concerns about testing and hiring. Ryan Filipkoski commented that he was one of the three applicants on the Certified Lieutenant list. He said he has several years of experience from another jurisdiction and he believed those years should count toward the requirements for the promotional examination for Lieutenant. He objected to his removal from the list. 4. Review of Minutes By way of motion and a second the Minutes of the January 9, 2025 meeting were approved. 1 5. Review of Invoices A. By way of motion and a second, the Commission approved the payment for the invoice from Atty. Kennedy for $1,387.00 for legal services. B. By way of motion and a second, the Commission approved the payment for the invoice from Chris McClatchy for $150.00 for proctoring the Chauffeur test. C. By way of motion and a second, the Commission approved the payment for the invoice from FPSi for the Chauffeur test. 6. Unfinished Business There was no unfinished business discussed. 7. New Business A. The commission discussed the Police Department scores for the entry examination and whether to maintain those scores for one year exempting the requirement for new applicants to take the written examination if they took it within the last year. The commission instructed the Solicitor to investigate a possible revision to the rules. B. The commission discussed the Scranton Police Officer Patrol entry-level position which was posted with National Testing Network in January 2025 and is currently open. C. The second Chauffeur examination for the Fire Department was scheduled and the Chauffeur examination will take place on May 17, 2025. No individuals passed the first Chauffeur Fire Department examination. D. The Police Department first line and second line supervisor examinations will be scheduled. Attorney Kennedy will put that in motion. E. The Police Department detective examination will be scheduled and Atty. Kennedy will put that in motion. F. The commission discussed the rescheduled Lieutenant examination for the Fire Department. The Commission discussed the comments of Mr. Allan Lucas. Fire Chief John Judge addressed the commission and commented that it has always been the policy of the Fire Department that only years of service in the Scranton Fire Department were counted towards the requirement to test for an advanced position and mentioned that there is an opinion from the Fire Department’s labor attorney on this issue. The commission decided that the rescheduled Lieutenant examination will go forward. Mr. Lucas mentioned that the union has no objection to that test going forward. 2  G. The commission discussed the Chief Judge’s request to remove Mr. Filipkoski from the Certified Lieutenant’s List. Mr. Lucas mentioned that the union objects to the removal because of the years of service issue. The Civil Service Commission decided to table the removal of any applicant from the current Lieutenant list pending research into the matter by the Commission’s Solicitor, Attorney Kennedy. H. The Commission discussed the appointment of Tom Miller as an alternate to the Civil Service Commission pending approval by the Scranton City Council. I. The Commission discussed the police entry oral examination Certified list. Police Chief Carroll mentioned that we are still waiting on the background check for one of the applicants. Solicitor Kennedy mentioned to the Commission that the past practice was to create the Certified list after all background searches for the applicants were completed. 8. Adjournment By way of motion and a second the meeting was adjourned. 3