Civil Service Board Minutes: June 11th Meeting

City of Miami
3500 Pan American Drive
Miami, FL  33133

www.miamigov.com

Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, June 11, 2019
10:00 AM

Commission Chambers

Civil Service Board

Troy Sutton, Chairperson

Michael Dames, Chief Examiner

Rafael Cabrera, Board Member

Ulysses Garcia, Board Member

Wilbur Jackson, Jr., Board Member

Pledge of Allegiance

The meeting was called to order at 10:07 am, with the Pledge of Allegiance. At commencement of the meeting, attendance was as follows:

Attendee Name

Title

Status

Troy Sutton

Chairperson

Present

Michael Dames

Chief Examiner

Present

Rafael Cabrera

Board Member

Present

Ulysses Garcia

Board Member

Present

Wilbur M. Jackson, Jr.

Board Member

Present

 

Adoption of Agenda

Chair Sutton asked if there were any revisions to the Agenda.  Hearing none, a motion to adopt the Agenda as printed was considered and resulted as follows:

Motion by Board Member Jackson, seconded by Board Member Garcia, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

AYES:                  Sutton, Dames, Cabrera, Garcia, Jackson, Jr.

A.        Approving of the Minutes

A.1

Civil Service Board - Regular Meeting - May 14, 2019

A motion was entered to approve the Minutes as presented, which resulted as follows:

Motion by Board Member Jackson, Jr., seconded by Board Member Cabrera, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

AYES:                  Sutton, Dames, Cabrera, Garcia, Jackson, Jr.

B.        Personnel Matters

B.1

Copy of a memorandum from Dennis M. Jackson, II, Assistant Chief, Department of Police, requesting an extension of probationary period of James Klein, Police Officer, for six (6) additional months beyond August 22, 2019. (DISCUSSION)

 

Motion by Board Member Jackson, Jr., seconded by Board Member Garcia, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

The Executive Secretary advised the Board that Officer Klein is currently on military leave; therefore, he is not present today. The Board entered a motion to GRANT the extension as requested, which resulted as follows:

AYES:                  Sutton, Dames, Cabrera, Garcia, Jackson, Jr.

B.2

Copy of a memorandum from Dennis M. Jackson, II, Assistant Chief, Department of Police, requesting an extension of probationary period of Ashley Fisher, Police Officer, for three (3) additional months beyond July 05, 2019. (DISCUSSION)

 

Following appearances by Officer Fisher and Qiana Sanders-Bell, Police Personnel Manager, Department of Police, the Board entered a motion to GRANT the extension as requested, which resulted as follows:

Motion by Board Member Garcia, seconded by Board Member Dames, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

AYES:                  Sutton, Dames, Cabrera, Garcia, Jackson, Jr.

B.3

Copy of a memorandum from Dennis M. Jackson, II, Assistant Chief, Department of Police, requesting an extension of probationary period of Christopher Castro, Police Officer, for three (3) additional months beyond June 27, 2019. (DISCUSSION)

 

Officer Castro appeared before the Board and advised the Board that he had no objection to the request. Following discussion, the Board entered a motion to GRANT the extension as requested, which resulted as follows:

Motion by Board Member Dames, seconded by Board Member Garcia, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

AYES:                  Sutton, Dames, Cabrera, Garcia, Jackson, Jr.

B.4

Copy of a memorandum from Dennis M. Jackson, II, Assistant Chief, Department of Police, requesting a 2nd extension of probation of Shareka Lewis, Police Officer, for six (6) additional months beyond November 22, 2019. (DISCUSSION)

 

Officer Lewis appeared before the Board and advised the Board that she had no objection to the request. Following discussion, the Board entered a motion to GRANT the extension as requested, which resulted as follows:

Motion by Board Member Garcia, seconded by Board Member Dames, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

AYES:                  Sutton, Dames, Cabrera, Garcia, Jackson, Jr.

C.        Military Leaves of Absence

C.1

Alfredo Soler, Payroll Specialist, requests Active Duty Military Leave without pay from July 8, 2019 through July 26, 2019. Copy of Orders submitted. (DISCUSSION)

 

The Board entered a motion to GRANT the leave as requested, which resulted as follows:

Motion by Board Member Jackson, seconded by Board Member Garcia, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

AYES:                  Sutton, Dames, Cabrera, Garcia, Jackson, Jr.

C.2

Roberto Luna, Firefighter, requests Active Duty Military Leave without pay from May 13, 2019 through June 3, 2019. Copy of Orders submitted. (DISCUSSION)

 

The Board entered a motion to approve the leave as requested, which resulted as follows:

Motion by Board Member Jackson, Jr., seconded by Board Member Garcia, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

AYES:                  Sutton, Dames, Cabrera, Garcia, Jackson, Jr.

C.3

Johnny Fonseca, Police Officer, requests a 2nd extension of Active Duty Military Leave without pay effective October 25, 2019 through August 28, 2020. Records reflect his original and 1st extension were approved from December 29, 2017 through October 24, 2019. (DISCUSSION)

 

The Board entered a motion to approve the extension of leave as requested, which resulted as follows:

Motion by Board Member Jackson, Jr., seconded by Board Member Dames, that this matter Approved, passed by the following vote:

AYES:                  Sutton, Dames, Cabrera, Garcia, Jackson, Jr.

 

C.4

 

Alain Etienne, Police Officer, requests re-employment as a Police Officer following his return from Military Leave. Copy of his Discharge Memorandum indicating an Honorable Discharge submitted. (DISCUSSION)

 

The Board entered a motion to approve the re-employment as requested, and thanked the employee for his service.

Motion by Board Member Dames, seconded by Board Member Jackson, Jr., that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

AYES:                  Sutton, Dames, Cabrera, Garcia, Jackson, Jr.

D.        Disciplinary Matters

D.1

Copy of a letter from Chief Jorge R. Colina, Director, Department of Police, notifying Erica Socarras, Police Officer, of a 10-hour forfeiture, effective May 21, 2019. (NOTIFICATION)

 

D.2

Copy of a letter from Chief Jorge R. Colina, Director, Department of Police, notifying Eduardo Rodriguez, Police Officer, of a 10-hour forfeiture, effective May 24, 2019. (NOTIFICATION)

 

D.3

Copy of a letter from Chief Jorge R. Colina, Director, Department of Police, notifying Carlos Moreno, Police Officer, of a 10-hour suspension, effective June 3, 2019. (NOTIFICATION)

 

E.        General Items

E.1

Status update concerning the Appeal hearing of David Pettigrew, Automotive Mechanic, relative to a 14-day suspension, effective August 14, 2018 (CSB#18-13D). A settlement was announced at the May 14, 2019 meeting. (DISCUSSION)

 

Adanna Ferguson, Assistant City Attorney, advised the Board that she forwarded a copy of the Settlement Agreement to opposing counsel and had not received a response; however, she had no reason to believe they are not acting in good faith and requested to defer this matter to the next meeting date. Without objection, Chair Sutton directed the Executive Secretary to carry this matter over to the meeting of June 25, 2019.

F.         Reports

F.1

Hearings Pending List as of June 11, 2019. (NOTIFICATION)

 

G.        Requests for Hearings

H.        Today's Hearings

H.1

Hearing of Appeal on behalf of Derek Charles, Police Officer, concerning his 40-hour suspension, effective July 25, 2018.

 

Adanna Ferguson, Assistant City Attorney, advised the Board that the Disciplinary letter and reprimand have been rescinded. The documents will be forwarded to the appropriate personnel to return the 40 hours of pay back to the employee.

H.2

Hearing of Appeal on behalf of Altarr Williams, Police Lieutenant, concerning his 20-hour suspension, effective March 27, 2019.

 

Adanna Ferguson, Assistant City Attorney, appeared before the Board and advised that there is a settlement agreement between the respective parties and they are in the process of executing the agreement. Once executed it will be forwarded to the Civil Service Board Office. In accordance with the Board’s Continuance Policy, this matter will be placed on the Agenda.

 ADJOURNMENT:

 There being no further business before the Board, a motion was entered to adjourn the meeting at 10:17 am, which resulted as follows:

 Motion by Board Member Jackson, seconded by Board Member Garcia, that this matter be Approved, passed by the following vote:

 AYES:                  Sutton, Cabrera, Garcia, Jackson, Jr.

NO:                      Dames

SIGNATURE: Troy Sutton, Chairperson

ATTEST: Tishria L. Mindingall, Executive Secretary