The Daily Republican. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 18??-189?, 1896-03-02
ARTICLE XVI.
Civil Service Dep. rtment

Section l. Commissioners Appointment
The mayor shall appoint three persons who
shall constitute and be known as the civil
service commission, one for three years,
one for two years and one for one year
from the first day of January, 1896; each
year thereafter, the mayor shall in like
manner appoint one person as the success
sOr of the commissioner whose term of Of
flee shall expire with the preceding year.
to serve as such commissioner for three
years. Appointments to fill vacancies shall
be for the uneXpired term. All appoint
mentS to said commission, both original
and to fill vacancies, shall be SO made that
not more than two members shall at the
time of appointment be members of the
same political party. Any commissioner
whose term shall expire shall be eligible
to reappOintment Two of said commission
erS shall constitute a quorum.
Sec. 2. Removal of CommissiOners-Va
cancies. The mayor may, in his discretion,
remove any commissioner, but the vacancy
thereby created shall be filled by the city
council. The mayor shall within five days
report in writing any such removal to the
city council with his reasons therefor, but
the commissioner SO removed shall have no
right to trial, hearing or appeal. Va
cancies in the office of commissioner oc-
curing in any other way than by removal
by the mayor shall be filled by appointment
by the mayor.
Sec. 8. Classification of Employees The
commissioners shall classify all the offices
and places of employment in the city with
reference to the examinations hereinafter
provided for, except the offices and places
mentioned in Section II of this article. The
offices and places so classified by the COM
mission shall constitute the classified civil
service of the city of Seattle; and no ap-
pointment to any such office or place shall
be made except under and according to
the rules hereinafter mentioned.
Sec. 4. Rules. The commission shall
make rules to carry out the purposes of
this article, and for examinations, appoint
ments, promotions and removals in accord
ance with its provisions, and the commits
sion from time 10 time mako cha
in the existing rules.
Sec. 5. Publication and Time of Taking
Effect of Rules All rules made as herein
before provided and all changes therein
shall be forthwith printed for distribu-
ton by the commission, and the commits
sion shall give notice by publication in the
city official newspaper of the place where
said rules may be obtained, and shall also
give notice in such publication of the time
when said rules shall go into operation
which shall not be less than ten days SUBJ
seQuent to the date of publication.
Sec. 6. Examinations. All applicants for
offices or places in the classified civil ser
vice shall be subjected to examination,
which shall be public, competitive and open
specified limitations as to residence, age,
health, habits and moral character. Such
examinations shall be practical in their
character and shall relate to those matters
which will fairly test the relative capacity
of the persons examined to discharge the
duties of the positions to which they seek
u,
appropriate, tests of physical qualifica-
tons, health, and of manual or profession
al skill. No questions in any examination
shall relate to political or religious opinion
or affiliations. The commission shall con-
troll all examinations, and may, whenever
an examination is to take place, designate
a suitable number of persons, either in or
not in the official service of the city, to be
examiners, and if in the official service, it
shall be a part of their official duty with
out extra compensation, to conduct such
examinations as the commission may di-
rect and to make return and report thereof
to the commission, and the commission
may at any time substitute any other per-
son, whether or not in such service, in the
place of any one so selected. The COM
nisSionerS may themselves act at any
time as such examiners. The examiners
at any examination shall not all be mem
berS of the same political party. Every APP
nlicant for examination, except laborers
and applicants for promotion, shall pay to
the city treasurer the sum of one dollar,
and shall not be examined until he or she
exhibits the treaSurer'S receipt therefor.
Preference in employment shall at all
times, subject to such examination, be
given to citizens of the United States and
electors of the city,
Sec z. Notice of Examinations Notice
of the time and place and general scope of
every examination shall be given by the
commission by publication in the city Of
fetal newspaper two weeks preceding such
examination, and such notice shall also be
nosted by the commission in a conspicuous
place in its office for two weeks before such
examination. Such further notice of ex-
animation may be given as the commits
sion shall prescribe.
Sec. s. Registers. From the returns or
reports of the examiners, or from the eX-
animation made by the commission. the
commission shall prepare aregister for each
grade or class of positions in the classified
service Of the city of the persons whose
general average standing upon examina-
ton for such grade or class is not less than
the minimum fixed by the rules of such
commission, and who are otherwise eli
gible; and such persons shall take rank up
on the register as candidates in the order
Of their relative excellence as determined
by examination, without reference to prior
ity of time of examination. Between can
didates of equal standing, preference shall
at all times be given to citizens of the Unit
ed States and electors of the city.
Sec. 9. Promotions The commission
shall by it's rules provide for promotions in
the classified service, on the basis of ascer-
tanned merit and seniority in service and
standing upon examination, and shall pro-
vide, in all cases where practicable, that
vacancies shall be filled by promotion. All
examinations for promotion shall be COM