On November 7, 2023, Sidney voters adopted an amendment to City Charter Section 6-4 Civil Service.
As the labor market continues to change, the city must act with increasing speed and agility if we are to recruit and retain the best talent and these adopted changes will ensure that our current and future workforce needs can be met.
With the adopted City Charter changes the mandatory retirement age was removed to comply with federal employment law. In addition, the City Manager, along with the Fire Chief and Police Chief, will now establish rules for appointments and promotions above the initial entry level positions. The Civil Service Commission will still be involved in the entry-level selection process. The new language also removed the professional and educational requirements for the chief positions and will now allow the city to periodically adjust those requirements with current trends.
The adopted changes will also now allow the city to hire lateral transfers from other departments and exempts those transfers and internal candidates from the civil service process.
Thank you Sidney voters!