Whiplash in tug-of-war over police hiring; obscure rule invoked, then relaxed

The City Council’s long campaign to get more officers hired for the understaffed Gig Harbor Police Department took a couple of whiplash turns this week.

Within a few days, the number of authorized hires dropped from three to one and back to three again.

The City Council has budgeted for two additional officers for the 19-person force for the last three years, but for various reasons —to the irritation of some council members— none have been hired. A recent retirement has left the department down three.

During a council meeting Sept. 14, City Administrator Bob Larson told the council that only one officer could be hired immediately — the replacement for the retiree. The others would have to wait, he said, until the civil service list was updated.

Rule of five

Detailing what he called “the rule of five,” Larson said civil service rules require a list of five eligible candidates to be maintained for any position. If three officers were hired at once, he said, there would be only two eligible candidates left.

To become eligible, police candidates must pass an oral interview and a physical agility test. The top five candidates are then subjected to background checks.

Once one candidate from the five is chosen, another needs to be added to the list before the chief can hire the next officer, Larson said.

“If you hire one you have to replenish the eligibility roster,” Larson said.

This came as a surprise to some council members, and caused pushback.

“If we have three viable candidates ready to be hired, why can’t we hire them?” asked council member Tracie Markley.

Council Member Jeni Woock wondered if three qualified candidates could be hired together.

“If you interview all five, you may find you have three really good, qualified candidates,” Woock said. “Then you bring up the other three from the eight to fill the three positions, that could work?”

Busey said that is a possibility, but the three being brought up would all need a background check.

Back to three

But by the end of the week, Chief Kelly Busey had sent an email to council members saying that three officers would be hired after all. Background tests on all eligible candidates would be done concurrently, he said, and that would satisfy the civil service requirements.

“We’re back to three,” he told The Gateway on Friday. He said he couldn’t name a timelines, but background checks normally take three to four weeks, and doing several at once might take a little longer.

The police department is budgeted for 21 sworn officers, but currently has only 19. At times, due to illness and leaves, the number has dipped to 17. This has led to a lot of overtime work for the remaining officers, Busey told the Gateway in December.

The hiring of new officers has been announced before, but never happened.

Mayor Kit Kuhn announced in January that the two positions would be filled. But contract negotiations with Teamsters Local 117, which represents the officers, dragged on for months, and both Kuhn and Busey said they wanted to wait until there was a new contract to recruit officers.

In a previous council meeting last month, Kuhn pushed for delaying police hiring until an outside consulting firm had done a staffing study to see if they were really needed. The study would have cost $35,000. The idea was rejected by the council.

Other business

In other business, the Gig Harbor City Council:

▪ Heard City Administrator Larson and Finance Director David Rodenbach discuss delaying a $150,000 grant to the Gig Harbor Boatshop for the laying of the city-owned boatyard’s marine railway until its legality could be determined. At a recent study session, Mayor Kuhn raised questions about whether the grant would be “a gift of public money,” and expressed unease that the nonprofit planned to charge fees for the use of the marine rails.

▪ Listened as the Mayor declared the week of Sept. 14 to Sept. 18 as Chamber of Commerce Week due to the chamber’s 40th anniversary.

▪ Passed an ordinance that modifies the terms of several advisory bodies, such as the planning commission, design and review board, arts commission, and others. One amendment added to ordinance which states that at no time should there be two UGA residents on the planning commission, and residents in Gig Harbor shall be given preference

.▪ Debated displaying the Puyallup Tribal flag in the City Center during the month of November to honor Indigenous People’s Day and Native American Heritage month in November. Some council members expressed reservations, worried that other ethnic groups might request the same privilege.

This story was originally published September 23, 2020 at 5:30 AM.