On Saturday, hundreds of hopefuls will gather at Prairie Capital Convention
Center to take the written exam that is the first step toward joining the Springfield
Fire Department. But for some, the most valuable question might have been answered
on the application, when they listed their home address.
Job candidates who live within the city limits could receive three bonus points, similar to the five points awarded to military veterans. The Civil Service Commission is taking public comment on this idea, and is scheduled to vote on it at their next meeting.
Just like veteran’s points, the residency bonus would be added to a candidate’s cumulative score tallied from three basic tests — written, oral interview, and physical ability. A candidate would have to pass all three to get the bonus points; the points couldn’t be used to raise a failing grade. Under the current proposal, this rule change would apply not only to potential firefighters but also police officers, apprentice electricians, and City Water, Light & Power fireman oilers.
This preference for local applicants has received minimal media attention compared to another proposal — “banding.” Banding means similar test scores would be grouped, sort of like the A, B, C system used by schools, and the administrator (in this case, SFD Chief Bob Bartnick) could hire any A candidate instead of being forced to hire in the strict order of test scores, which might vary by mere fractions of points.
Both proposals are being carefully scrutinized for potential impact on the racial makeup of SFD. The fire department, like the police department, is under a consent decree demanding improvement in minority hiring. On a force of 211 firefighters, SFD currently has only three African Americans, two of whom will soon be eligible for retirement.
At its August meeting, the Civil Service Commission heard comments on both proposals, though most of the people who addressed the commission focused on banding. Ralph Harris, president of the Black Guardians Association — a group of African American police officers — spoke out against adopting banding at this time, saying it can’t increase minority hiring until a significant number of minorities take the test.
Residency points, on the other hand, would be more likely to benefit minority candidates in the upcoming tests. At the 2001 SFD test, almost 85 percent of African-American test-takers were Springfield residents. Among white candidates, fewer than half lived in Springfield. The local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is in favor of this proposal. The chapter’s labor chairman, James Johnson, will be among the test-takers Saturday.
The idea of awarding points to local residents was proposed by Frank Edwards, the former fire chief who now serves as alderman of Ward 1. Edwards says it would also help level the playing field that currently favors applicants who have gained experience on rural volunteer fire departments.
“You have volunteer firefighters from neighboring communities who go, ‘Hey, I’d like to be a full-time firefighter!’ And the problem is you don’t have minorities in the volunteer fire fighting service because these little towns are mostly white. So now you have minorities testing against people already in the fire service,” Edward says. “It’s going to be tough for the minorities of our community to compete with that.”
He has heard rumblings that city employees are afraid residency points might be the first step toward a return to a residency requirement, but Edwards says that’s not his intention.
The Civil Service Commission meets to vote on banding and residency
points at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 1, in the Carnegie Room of Lincoln Library.
This article appears in Aug 26 – Sep 1, 2004.
