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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07216SUBSTITUTED COPY 10/12/2004 ORDINANCE NO. 7216 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 6 OF CHAPTER 4 OF TITLE VI OF THE PUEBLO MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO AGE LIMITS OF FIREFIGHTER CANDIDATES WHEREAS, the Fire Recruitment Committee, Fire Chief and the Human Resources Director recommend that the following modification to the minimum age requirement of entry level firefighters will best meet the needs of the Fire Department and the City, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF PUEBLO, that: (brackets indicate matter deleted, underscoring indicates matter added) SECTION 1 Subsection (b) of Section 6 of Chapter 4 of Title VI of the Pueblo Municipal Code is amended to read as follows: Minimum Age. Police patrol officer candidates shall have reached their twenty -first birthday, firefighter candidates shall have reached their [twentieth] nineteenth birthday and all other candidates shall have reached their eighteenth birthday on or before the date of administration of the written examination for the class involved. SECTION 2 This Ordinance shall become effective January 1, 2005. INTRODUCED September 27, 2004 thd ,-:ff ")zic,� �o Background Paper for Proposed ORDINANCE AGENDA ITEM # It J'+ DATE: September 27, 2004 DEPARTMENTS: HUMAN RESOURCES — DIRECTOR BETH VEGA FIRE — CHIEF GREG MILLER TITLE AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 6 OF CHAPTER 4 OF TITLE VI OF THE PUEBLO MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO AGE LIMITS OF FIREFIGHTER CANDIDATES ISSUE Should the minimum age requirement of firefighter candidates be lowered from twenty to eighteen at time of written examination. RECOMMENDATION The Ordinance be approved. BACKGROUND Due to the drop program in the Fire Department, we are anticipating that we will need to hire 25 or more entry-level firefighters in 2006 and 2007. The Human Resources Director and the Fire Chief found it necessary to take aggressive recruitment initiatives to target our local population. Among these initiatives was the formation of a Fire Recruitment Committee made up of Community Leaders, City employees and union officials. Through research, the committee finds that lowering the age requirement will not jeopardize departmental efficiency or safety, as other area fire departments, including Colorado Springs and Denver, have been successful using a minimum age of eighteen. The committee believes that by lowering the minimum age requirement, we will be able to increase our pool of qualified applicants by targeting recent high school graduates. FINANCIAL IMPACT None, this ordinance only changes the minimum age requirement for firefighter candidates.