Consider approval of Ordinance No. 2022-25, amending the Code of Ordinances, City of Texas City, Texas, Title III "Administration", Chapter 32 "Law Enforcement and Fire Department", Section 32.009 "Fire Department; Classes of Positions", by decreasing the number of positions allocated to the classification of Captain from 11 to 10 and increasing the number of positions allocated to the classification of Firefighter from 40 to 59

Local Government Code 143: Municipal Civil Service for Firefighters and Police Officers; Section 143.021 (a) requires the City Commission prescribe the number of positions in each classification. With the retirement of Assistant Chief Jesse Rubio and the pending promotion of Captain Dennis Harris to Assistant Chief and designation of Engineer Jason Brown to Fire Marshal, there is a need to reduce the number of Captain positions by one. 

This Captain position will be reclassified as a Firefighter and will be used to fill the open position of Assistant Fire Marshal.

Additionally, with the adoption of the FY22/23 Budget, the City Commission has approved the hiring of 18 new Firefighters to begin preparing for the opening of Fire Station 4. When the opening date of Station 4 is known, as construction progresses, the City Commission will be requested to reclassify 9 of the new 18 positions: 6 of the positions will be reclassified to Engineer and 3 of the positions will be reclassified to Captain.

In accordance with Civil Service, if the number in the classifications of Engineer and Captain were increased now we would be required to promote personnel to fill the vacant positions. Since Fire Station 4 is not ready to open there is no need to fill those promoted positions at this time.  

The Fire Chief recommends passage of the Ordinance at this time.