After former Special Events coordinator Tracy Johnson said in a CAPC workshop last week that the Parks Commission recently created and hired a position without public notification, focus turned to Parks.
In an interview with Parks commissioner Kevin Ruehle, it was confirmed that Johnson was correct about the hiring process of the Parks Commission. Ruehle said that Parks had created and filled the position of Grounds & Natural Resources Manager (GNRM) without public notification.
He said he does not believe the commission is required to open up Parks employment opportunities to the public. “Nothing requires you to open it up,” he said. The GNRM position was designed to oversee the trails manager, create a second-in-command position for the executive director, and support a succession initiative if the ED position became vacant.
Ruehle said he did not see anything wrong with private placement of a public position. Coming from a corporate background, Ruehle agreed he approaches his service to the publicly funded Parks commission with a business approach.
“You seek the talent that you need,” Ruehle said explaining that public notifications are not the most effective approach for an organization seeking the best candidate. Ruehle said that David Renko was approached by the Parks Commission and its Interim-Director to fill the new position based on his knowledge and capabilities.
Ruehle said they opened internal negotiations with Renko and an agreement was made to hire him as he believes there are not many people in the area who could match Renko’s qualifications.
The public may have grounds to disagree. According to State law §14-269-303(e) Parks employees, as well as their salaries, “shall be selected and determined as prescribed by law through competitive examination and certification by the civil service commission.”
The Civil Service Commission was created so that employees are hired based on merit rather than relationships. The CSC was dissolved in 1979 and is now known as the Office of Personnel Management and the Merit Systems Protection Board.
Parks is also mentioned in the City Code of Ordinances under Title 12: Parks and Recreation. Specifically, in ordinance 12.04.03(b) the powers of Parks commissioners “May employ or remove managers, janitors or other employees of any nature, kind or character…” and “the terms, conditions and benefits of employment and rights of any such employees shall be in accordance with those afforded to employees of the city.”
According to CAPC Chair Carol Wright, the city policy for hiring employees is to provide public notification for a period of 30 days.
Aside from city policy, revised in May 2019 the Arkansas Municipal League published Municipal Law in Arkansas Questions and Answers which provides its response to the question of whether municipalities are required to advertise city employment opportunities:
“No state statute specifically requires this. However, if citizens are not informed of job opportunities, they might argue that they were unfairly or discriminatorily denied access to city employment or appointment. Openly advertising such positions will help prevent these types of claims and lawsuits. In addition, it will give the city a broader pool of qualified applicants from which to select.”
The CAPC has no by-laws, and Parks has both city and state guidelines, yet both provide services by using tax money.