Explanation: Capitals indicate matter added to existing law.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
* Warning: This is an unofficial, introductory copy of the bill.
The official copy considered by the City Council is the first reader copy.
Introductory*
City of Baltimore
Council Bill
Introduced by: Councilmember Burnett, Cohen, Dorsey
A Bill Entitled
An Ordinance concerning
title
Study and Report - Fire Department Promotional Practices
For the purpose of requiring that the Baltimore City Fire Department submit a report to the Mayor and City Council evaluating certain promotional practices of the Department; specifying the contents of the report; and providing for a special effective date.
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Section 1. Be it ordained by the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, That:
(a) No later than 120 days from the enactment of this Ordinance, the Baltimore City Fire Department, in consultation with the City Administrator or the Administrator’s designee, the Department of Human Resources, the Bureau of Budget and Management Research, the Labor Commissioner, and the Office of Equity and Civil Rights, shall submit a report to the Mayor and City Council setting forth a comprehensive evaluation of the Department’s supervisory promotional examination process as specified in subsection (b) of this section.
(b) The report required by this section shall include:
(1) a cost-benefit analysis associated with conducting each of the Department’s supervisory promotional tests and the practicability of reducing the number of supervisory promotional tracks to just Fire Suppression and Emergency Medical Services;
(2) a comprehensive review of the educational requirements used to participate in the promotional examination process, and how the scoring rubric could be amended to establish a promotional point system that accounts for education, residency, and seniority that could all be calculated into a candidate’s final score after testing;
(3) a comparative analysis of at least 5 other fire departments of similar size that currently use application fees for candidates to participate in promotional examination processes, and what positive and negative fiscal impacts exist with developing and implementing a similar system in Baltimore City;
(4) a study on increasing the required years of service to be eligible to participate in first-line supervisory promotional examinations from 3 years to 5 years, and requiring participants for second-line supervisory promotional examinations to be in-grade for 3 years before being eligible to test;
(5) an in-depth financial analysis of the Department’s specialized unit supervisory promotional processes and appointments, and the negative impact that these silo promotion tracks have on the allocation of available personnel for operational usage;
(6) an evaluation of how the Department could include subject matter content from specialty areas into the written and oral board testing process to ensure that participants have a baseline understanding of the content;
(7) an equity assessment of the Battalion Chief rank as a civil service position and the strengths and barriers associated with converting the rank to an at-will, executive-level position appointed by the agency head;
(8) a draft policy establishing the minimum guidelines for command promotions, establishing a Promotion Committee, and describing the selection procedure for promotion to the command rank of Fire Commander and Deputy Chief; and
(9) a draft policy designating an Acting Fire Chief where the nominal Fire Chief position is vacant temporarily or permanently and a designated order of succession.
Section 2. And be it further ordained, That this Ordinance takes effect on the date it is enacted.