Tumwater Civil Service Commission approved candidates for eligibility lists for public safety positions

The Tumwater Civil Service Commission met via Zoom today to confirm candidates eligible for hiring into the city's fire and police departments.

Commissioners Eric Trimble and Simon Tee presided over the meeting, as the city’s director of administrative services, James Trujillo, presented the eligibility lists and results for each specific position.

“The scores of each candidate were cumulative and weighted. Each part was weighted and we derived the final score,” said Trujillo.

Eligibility lists were presented for the positions of firefighter lieutenant, paramedic firefighter lieutenant, paramedic firefighter, lateral police officer, and entry police.

Proposing a change to civil service rules

Due to the serious decline in applicants for the above-mentioned positions, Trujillo has proposed a motion to revise Tumwater’s Civil Service Rules.

Police Chief Jon Weiks seconded the idea of revising the rules for efficiency purposes, as he said, “There are not many new names on the list. This is not only for Tumwater– this is statewide, and the numbers continued to shrink.”

Trujillo’s suggestion seeks to authorize the secretary/chief examiner to certify eligibility lists in circumstances when business needs require timely action for recruitment, and if the commission is unable to meet to certify eligibility, or for continuous recruitment eligibility lists.

“We are asking for some additional flexibility for the chief examiner so we can move forward with recruitment in this tight labor market,” Trujillo appealed.

Trimble raised a concern regarding the possible impact on the examiners and the commission, “You need to be clear with the candidates that you are operating under a conditional approval.”

Tee also added that conditional approval of the additional authority of the chief examiner is important to protect not only the candidates but also the integrity of the process.

“We want it to be as solid as it can be,” said Tee.

The meeting adjourned with all candidates being confirmed for their positions.

The following is the list of candidates confirmed for each position.

Fire Fighter Lieutenant (Promotions)

• Monti Sorem
• Duncan MacLeod
• Todd Mower

Paramedic Fire Fighter Lieutenant (Promotions)

• Monti Sorem
• Todd Mower

Firefighter/Paramedic

• Kaylynn Barrie
• Jarrod Howell
• Craig Pederson
• William Abernathy
• Daniel Savenok
• Elliott Townsend
• Roy Scott
• Alexander Frost
• Daegen Carter

Police Officer (Lateral)

• Samantha Ortona
• Jordan Morine
• Jocelyn Giammalva

Entry Police

• Griffin Shea
• Charles Jumba
• Marvin Hernandez
• Lawyer Tillman
• Jenna Seagrove

CORRECTION:   A previous version of this story was published under the headline, "Tumwater makes hiring offers for nearly two dozen emergency services positions."  This was misleading, as  the Civil Service Commission only approved eligibility lists for public safety (police and fire) positions. The city will hire from these lists until the approvals expire or the list is exhausted. The number of offers is based upon open positions. We regret the error.