City charter changes would overhaul hiring; here’s what you need to know

City leaders will hold two public hearings on Tuesday about potential changes to city laws related to hiring. The Long Beach City Council will likely ask voters to decide on the changes in November.

One of the changes to the city charter has been hotly debated for months; the other, which would shift hiring processes in the Harbor Department and change term lengths for two city commissions, has drawn far less notice.

Here’s an overview of what’s in store, and how to participate in the process leading up to Election Day.

Civil Service

The city manager, the mayor and some members of the City Council want to speed up the city’s lengthy hiring process by changing how it hires classified workers — an issue that has stirred fears that favoritism and secrecy will cloud decisions over who is offered a job at City Hall.

The changes being proposed would strip the Civil Service Commission of its hiring duties, and shift those responsibilities to the Human Resources Department. The two departments currently work separately, with Civil Service handling classified job placements and HR handling unclassified positions, such as managers and seasonal workers.

Proponents say this bifurcated system is outdated and has resulted in confusion and redundancy, leading to a hiring crisis that has left nearly a quarter of city jobs unfilled .

Opponents — including the city’s own Civil Service Commission, which voted unanimously in March to oppose the measure — say it will lead to more secrecy, and usher in unfairness and bias in hiring decisions.

Harbor Department

A lesser-debated charter amendment would also affect hiring in the city’s Harbor Department, which oversees the Port of Long Beach and a $759 million budget .

The proposed change would shift hiring decisions to the chief executive officer of the port instead of the Board of Harbor Commissioners, which is a five-member body appointed by the mayor and City Council.

The Harbor Department is the only city department that requires its governing board to ratify hiring decisions, officials said.

Other changes include:

• Increasing the penalties for violating Harbor Department laws to a maximum of $1,000 instead of $500.
• Aligning the Harbor Department’s budget cycle with the city’s, which runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30. The department is currently on a fiscal calendar from July to June.
• Aligning terms of commissioners on the Harbor Commission and the Public Utilities Commission to those of the City Council. If the change is approved, the term length for Harbor Commissioners would be reduced from six years to four years, and terms for Public Utilities Commissioners would be reduced from five years to four years. Commissioners would be able to serve a maximum of three terms.

How to participate

The city will hold hearings on each charter amendment at 4 p.m. Tuesday, July 16, in Civic Chambers, 411 W. Ocean Blvd. You can also watch the live or recorded proceedings here .

Read the language of both proposed charter amendments here by clicking on each agenda item, and downloading the attachments.

The city will hold another round of public hearings on both proposals on Tuesday, Aug. 6, and at the same meeting, will vote on whether to put each on the ballot Nov. 5.

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