CORTLAND — City council has approved establishing a public policy for hiring employees.

Council President Kevin Piros said at Monday’s council meeting the motion ensures that any positions that are posted for applicants are done in a manner that anyone can apply. He said the motion was the result of an applicant who sought the service director position and somehow the application was lost.

The ordinance states “the public trust requires an open, fair, and transparent hiring process for all municipal positions and a standardized procedure for publicly announcing job openings ensures all qualified candidates have an opportunity to apply.”

The policy applies to the filling of vacant city positions not otherwise controlled by the city’s civil service rules and collective bargaining agreements in place, including those positions in the classified and unclassified categories.

For any vacant position, the city:

• Shall post a notice of the job opportunity for a period of no less than 10 business days.

• All public postings shall be displayed in a conspicuous place accessible to current employees and external applicants.

• All public postings shall be accessible online through the city’s official website and posted to at least two other external publications and / or websites to reach a broad pool of qualified candidates.

* All resumes or applications shall be received via a specified group email address or through the U.S. Postal Service with the specified group email address including the mayor, at least one full-time employee of the city and the clerk of council.

The posting shall first be made available internally to current employees for consideration. If the position is not filled internally, the position shall be opened to external candidates.

Piros said council had an executive session on personnel, where the service director position was discussed and a review of the candidates took place.

MECCA CONTRACT

In other business, council passed as an emergency an ordinance allowing the fire department to enter into a medical and paramedic services agreement with Mecca.

Piros said council decided on emergency reading instead of three readings, which would delay getting the contract agreement in place for Jan. 1. He said Mecca trustees are scheduled to act on the agreement at their November meeting.

The ordinance states, “Cortland operates its own emergency medical and paramedic services unit and from time to time, the city’s EMS crews enter other localities through mutual aid requests; and Cortand agrees to provide Mecca these services in the township as needed. Cortland is authorized to bill, in accordance with the city’s established third-party billing procedures and rates, Mecca residents treated and transported by the city.”

The agreement is for one year.