Council Members Disagree on Revision to Civil Service Regulations

The Ellwood City Borough Council was poised to adopt revised civil service regulations at its voting meeting on Monday, Oct. 19.

However, after council member Connie MacDonald raised several questions during the agenda setting meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 13, council agreed to table the motion for further discussion.

MacDonald felt the regulations should include a credit check in the civil service commission’s background check. He also felt the borough should require police officer’s to have a college education, either a bachelors or associates.

“In this day and age, we should hire the most qualified people and encourage people to have more education. College degrees give a more diverse background,” MacDonald said.

Council member John Todorich agreed that the regulations needed to be discussed and that background checks are essential, saying that background checks were implemented after previous councils made mistakes in hiring police chiefs.

However, Todorich disagreed with a college degree requirement.

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” Todorich said, adding that there are excellent civil service employees and government officials without the benefit of a college education.

The two council members also disagreed on how to proceed with revising the regulations. MacDonald felt that as the matter is a “general statement about civil regulations,” the discussion should be done in public, while Todorich proposed discussing the revisions in an executive session.