Martinez Municipal Code Ch. 2.68 Personnel System

Pursuant to the authority granted to the legislative body of any city within the State under the provisions of Chapter 48 of the Statutes of 1935, and the amendments thereto, the Civil Service System set out in this chapter is adopted for the City.

(Prior code § 2600)

The provisions of this Chapter shall apply to all offices, positions and employments in the service of the City, except:

A. Elective officers;

B. Positions on appointive boards, commissions or committees;

C. The following officers: City Manager, City Attorney, and City Engineer;

D. The head of each department as contained in the organization chart prepared by the City Manager and submitted to the City Council pursuant to Section 2.40.050;

E. Special police officers and other Police Department employees paid on an hourly or per diem basis;

F. Hourly or per diem employees in any office or department of the City including interns, temporary full-time and temporary part-time employees;

G. Persons under contract with the City to perform special services;

H. Employees appointed to positions of public work, when the work or improvements are undertaken or done pursuant to any procedure under the Street Improvement Act or other similar State acts;

I. Emergency employees in any office or department of the City. For the purpose of this Chapter, an "emergency employee" is defined to be any person appointed to a position of employment, the necessity for which was created by reason of riot, insurrection or other extraordinary emergency. All such positions and employments shall be for the duration of the emergency and shall terminate immediately thereafter.

All offices, positions and employments not exempted by the foregoing exceptions shall constitute the classified service of the City. The City Council may, from time to time, by ordinance, add additional departments, appointive officers or employees to these enumerated in this Section.

(Prior code § 2601; Ord. 1039 C.S. § 23, 1985; Ord. 1069 C.S. §§ 3, 4, 1986; Ord. 1333 C.S. § 6, 2007)

A. The Civil Service Commission is hereby established. It shall consist of five regular members and up to three alternate members.

B. A quorum shall consist of three members of the Civil Service Commission. To assist in ensuring a quorum, up to three alternate members shall be appointed by the City Council. Once appointed, alternates are eligible to temporarily fill a vacancy created by one or more Commission members whose terms have expired or have left office. An alternate, willing to fill such a vacancy, shall be automatically elevated to temporary commissioner status. Once the City Council has appointed a person to permanently fill a vacancy on the Commission in accordance with Section 2.68.040(C), the alternate who was temporarily filling that position will revert back to alternate status, unless the person appointed to fill the position is an alternate. Additionally, the alternate may be called upon to fill an absence created by a Commission member(s) unable to attend a meeting.

C. Vacancies on the Civil Service Commission, from whatever cause arising, shall be filled by appointment by the City Council for the unexpired term. Each member of the Civil Service Commission, including alternates, shall serve a term of four years following their appointment and until their successor is appointed and qualified. A four-fifth vote of all the members of the City Council, at a regular meeting thereof, shall be required to appoint a commissioner to the Civil Service Commission, or fill a vacancy thereon, or to remove any commissioner thereof to the expiration of his term.

D. The commissioners shall be qualified electors of the City and shall serve without compensation. No person holding elected office or employment with the City of Martinez, or the spouse of any person holding elected office or employment with the City of Martinez shall be eligible for appointment. No person who is the husband or wife of any member of the Civil Service Commission, or of the personnel officer, or of any appointing authority shall be appointed to any salaried office, employment or paid position in the service of the City.

(Prior code § 2603; Ord. 932 C.S. § 1, 1982; Ord. 1039 C.S. § 25, 1985; Ord. No. 1442, § 2, 2/1/2023)

The Commission shall have the following powers and duties:

A. To represent the public interest in the improvement of personnel administration in the City;

B. The duties contained in the provisions of this Chapter and in the Civil Service Rules and Regulations adopted by the City Council;

C. To recommend to the City Council such amendments to the Civil Service Rules and Regulations as it considers necessary to carry out an effective Civil Service System;

D. To carry on all other activities which may be necessary or proper and lawful for executing the provisions of this Chapter.

(Prior code § 2604; Ord. 1039 C.S. § 26, 1985)

The Council and each of its members are prohibited from interfering or attempting to interfere directly or indirectly with the performance of the Commission's duties and from obtaining or attempting to obtain directly or indirectly from any person any agreement as to how he will perform any of the duties of a commissioner.

(Prior code § 2605)

The Commission does approve and adopt as its rules the Civil Service Rules and Regulations previously adopted by the City Council with all amendments thereto.

(Prior code § 2606)

The appointing authority shall be the City Council in the case of appointments to the positions of City Manager and City Attorney. The City Manager shall be the appointing authority for department heads, and the City Clerk. The appointing authority in the case of positions below the department head level shall be department heads, with the approval of the City Manager.

(Prior code § 2607; Ord. 1333 C.S. § 7, 2007; Ord. No. 1466, § 6, 11/6/2024)

Any appointing authority shall have the right of removal, demotion, discipline and suspension of employees subject to the provisions of the California State Code.

(Prior code § 2608; Ord. 1333 C.S. § 8, 2007)

Any employee within the classified service shall have the right to submit a grievance, defined as any real or imagined dispute by an employee, group of employees, or a formally recognized employee organization, concerning:

A. Disputes over the application or interpretation of policies, procedures, including memorandum of understandings, or the practical consequences that decisions on these matters may have upon an affected employee or group of employees;

B. Disputes over the application or interpretation of City ordinances, resolutions or general laws related to personnel matters or working conditions, to either the Civil Service Commission or Arbitration.

Submission of such a grievance shall be made only after an employee or group of employees has made his appeal through the lines of authority to the City Manager.

(Prior code § 2609; Ord. 779 C.S. § 1, 1974)

The decision of the Commission or the Arbitrator upon hearing and investigating shall be final and binding upon both parties.

(Prior code § 2610; Ord. 779 C.S. § 1, 1974)

A. The City Manager shall act in the capacity of Personnel Officer. He/she shall be custodian of all personnel records and shall be the official upon whom all notices, requests for hearings, complaints and other official documents in connection with the Commission shall be served or filed.

B. The Personnel Officer or designated appointee shall administer all provisions of this Chapter and of the rules, except those specifically reserved to the Commission or the Council. He shall perform such additional services and make such investigations and prepare and present such reports in connection with the Civil Service System, employment or employees as may be requested by the Commission, the Council or the City Manager.

(Prior code § 2611; Ord. 1039 C.S. § 27, 1985)

Except as otherwise hereinafter provided, no person convicted of a felony or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude shall be eligible for employment in the competitive service of the City; provided, however, that the appointing authority may disregard such conviction if he finds and determines that mitigating circumstances exist, such as, but not limited to, evidence of rehabilitation, length of time elapsed since such conviction, the age of such person at the time of the conviction, or the fact that the classification applied for is unrelated to such conviction.

The City Manager/Personnel Officer, or his designee, Chief of Police, City Attorney, and each Department Head of the City are hereby authorized to have access to the "State Summary Criminal History Information" as provided for in Section 11105 of the Penal Code of the State of California.

If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance. The City Council of the City of Martinez hereby declares that it would have adopted this ordinance and each section, sentence, clause, phrase or portion thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, sentences, clauses, or portions be declared invalid or unconstitutional.

(Ord. 1018 C.S. § 1, 1984)