Fired custodians return to Portland Public Schools

That ran afoul of a state civil service law, said the Oregon Supreme Court in December. So in July, PPS offered the fired custodians their jobs back, and said they had until Aug. 4 to accept. Because less than half accepted, PPS will have some new hiring to do, and the soon-to-be-laid-off PHC janitors (who are members of Service Employees Local 49) are reportedly applying in droves.

[After SEIU Local 140 folded, the remaining members, who are cafeteria workers at the school district, were moved into SEIU Local 503. The custodians will return as members of Local 503.]

As of press time, nearly 400 individuals were signed up to take a civil service test that includes basic reading and math. The test will be administered Aug. 19 and 29, and based on test results, plus a background check, physical qualifications and a scored interview, PPS hopes to hire enough staff to recreate a custodial department by the time school opens Sept. 6. Additional points will be awarded to applicants who are military veterans.

Meanwhile, the Custodial Civil Service Board (CCSB), the tail that wagged the PPS dog, is being reconstituted.

The three-member CCSB administers the civil service exam and adjudicates custodians’ disciplinary appeals. During the four years the district employed no custodians, CCSB was in limbo; it didn’t meet, and terms expired without reappointment. The Supreme Court decision brought CCSB back to life. CCSB incumbents handled details of the custodians’ return, and the district issued a call for new applicants. CCSB is an unpaid position with a three year term. Four people applied. The district extended the deadline and got four more applicants.

Just one of the three current CCSB members decided to reapply —George Beeman, a former vice president for First Interstate Bank. Beeman has served on the CCSB for 18 years, and prior to that eight years on the district’s citizen budget committee. Minority businessman Chad Debnum (16 years) said he decided to resign for personal reasons. Retired custodian Thurman Bell (10 years) declined to reapply.

It appears district staff did some recruiting however, and is jettisoning Beeman, with all his institutional memory, in favor of three lawyers.

The school board’s Finance Committee met Aug. 9 and rubber-stamped the district’s picks, as presented by Eileen Flinn, the district’s legislative, policy and program coordinator. The full Board is expected to formalize the appointments at its Aug. 21 meeting, with the new CCSB to take office Sept. 1.

The district’s recommendations are Metro attorney Katy Pool, private attorney Paul Breed, and labor arbitrator Ken Fitzsimon, former director of labor relations for the Oregon Nurses Association. Pool was recruited by Bruce Campbell of the Miller Nash law firm, which represented the district in the case that went to the Supreme Court. Breed said he heard about the position from one of his office staff who saw an ad. Fitzsimon was recruited by a district staffer, on the recommendation of former Oregon AFL-CIO president Tim Nesbitt, who was contacted by the district. Fitzsimon is also a friend of Rick Liebman, who represents the district in labor negotiations.

Until now, CCSB consisted of three members and three alternates. This time, the district has declined to recommend any alternates, which would seem to confirm that the intent is to purge the CCSB of incumbents like Beeman.

Mark Griffin, an attorney representing custodians in their back pay claim, said the fact that the current CCSB ruled the privatization illegal was central to the Supreme Court’s decision.

“I don’t feel very good about it,” Beeman said. “I guess they didn’t like the fact that we took them to the Supreme Court …. We were doing what we thought the law said.”

Debnum was more blunt in his assessment: “This particular board were not willing to adhere to the law; it had more to do with an ideological position than reality.”