March
28th, 2008 - The Beacon News - Author: Dan Campana
Offering vets better shot at job
Alderman proposes including veterans in city hiring ordinance
AURORA - Military veterans
and reservists seeking jobs or promotions with the city
of Aurora would benefit under a proposal to expand scoring
boosts on civil service tests. Already crafted to be
more inclusive than a revised state law approved in 2005,
Aurora's current ordinance on "preference points" gives
any honorably discharged military veteran who spent more
than six months on active duty an additional five points
on testing for a city job.
Alderman Stephanie
Kifowit wants the law to include reservists and wants the
preference points to be allowed for employees seeking promotions.
"It's pretty straightforward. This is just for the good of Aurora," said
Kifowit , who represents the 3rd Ward and is running for mayor in 2009. Kifowit
's proposal is expected to go before the council Committee of the Whole next
week after being discussed during Tuesday's Government Operations Committee meeting.
Civil service tests are used to compile lists of eligible candidates for city
jobs and promotions, while the police and fire departments use their own testing
to create similar candidate rosters.
Based on its contract,
only the Fire Department uses veteran or preference points
for promotions.
"It was brought to my attention by a couple of veterans on the Police Department," Kifowit
, who served in the Marine Corps during the 1990s, said of how the points currently
do not apply to tests for promotions.
As for including reservists,
Kifowit notes a "good commitment of time" is required to be one and that effort should
be rewarded. State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora, introduced revised legislation
in 2005 that broadened eligibility to all honorably discharged veterans who spent
at least one year on active duty. The law, first passed in the early 1970s, only
included those who served during wartime. A brief survey of city codes found
few other Fox Valley municipalities have their own preference points ordinances.
Return to In The News |
