How to go
What: The annual Nehemiah Action meeting of Leaders for Equality & Action in Dayton (LEAD). Officials with the city of Dayton and Montgomery County are scheduled to attend. Topics of discussion include fair hiring policies for ex-offenders and the issue of having RTA buses in Beavercreek.
When: 6:30 p.m. Monday
Where: St. Benedict The Moor Catholic Church, 519 Liscum Drive
For more information, contact the LEAD office at (937) 252-2018 or email LEADdayton@gmail.com.
DAYTON — The city will change its hiring policy by doing background checks for all applicants for city positions, regardless of whether federal and state law previously required the city to do so.
There are three city positions that currently do not require background checks: waste collector in the Division of Waste Collection; administrative typist in certain departments; and mechanic in the Division of Fleet Management, according to Tom Biedenharn, city spokesman.
It is unclear why city officials are making the change, but the announcement comes while the city is in discussions with two local nonprofits that claim the city does not have a clear hiring policy when it comes to ex-felons.
The policy change, which will not be voted on, is mentioned in an April 24 memo City Manager Tim Riordan sent to Mayor Gary Leitzell and city commissioners about the proposed hiring policy that includes issues with ex-felons.
“Prior to this policy (which is still a draft) we did background checks on 70 percent of the city employees,” Riordan wrote. “The background check on the positions was required by the state or federal government and there was no discretion. If a person had a felony, they couldn’t be appointed to one of those jobs. We will now do checks on all employees.”
PowerNet, a Dayton-based nonprofit organization that focuses on re-entry, and LEAD, a nonprofit which focuses on justice issues, have asked city officials to change the policy, asking job applicants if they have a felony record.
“We’re asking them to not ask the question about felony records on the initial application,” said Craig Powell, PowerNet’s executive coordinator. “We’re asking them to only ask that question after the individual has been determined qualified for the position ... Then if a felony comes up, (we want them to determine) whether that offense is relevant to that position they are applying for.”
Ronnie Moreland, president of LEAD, said his organization is asking the city to adopt a Ban the Box model, which is an effort that at least 30 U.S. cities and counties have taken to remove what some see as unfair barriers to employment of people with criminal backgrounds, including taking off the check box that asks an applicant about their criminal history.
At least two of those cities include Cincinnati and Cleveland, according to the National Employment Law Project Resource Guide, published in September 2011.
Moreland said LEAD wants the city to adopt a fair hiring policy and “give these men and women a fair opportunity to get their foot through the door without having a pre-judgment.”
Several officials from the city and Montgomery County are expected to attend a public meeting, hosted by LEAD, about the two nonprofits’ proposals to the city. The meeting will be 6:30 p.m. Monday at St. Benedict the Moor Catholic Church, 519 Liscum Drive.
Maurice Evans, secretary and chief examiner for the Civil Service, said his department does not want to change its current application policy because he claims it saves the city time and money in determining what to do with the applicant during the hiring process.
“Sooner or later, it’s going to come out anyway,” Evans said of an applicant’s felony record.
The last person with a felony record who was hired by the city was hired at the beginning of this year, Evans said. It is unclear how many current city employees have felony records because the city does not keep a list. He also said that if an applicant who has a felony record does get the job applied for, that applicant’s felony record is not passed on to their department or supervisor.
Evans noted that applicants cannot have felony records if they are applying for positions in the departments of police, fire, law, airport and some water and sewer. These positions require a background check.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2414 or kelli.wynn@coxinc.com.
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