The City of Prichard is under the attack for hiring outside the system, other local municipalities may be included
The Mobile County Personnel Board has launched an investigation into the city of Prichard's practice of hiring outside the merit system and may open similar inquiries involving other municipalities.
Prichard Mayor Ron Davis said he authorizes department heads to hire outside the merit system because not enough qualified applicants come through the Personnel Board. If the city needs to go around the board to fill necessary positions, then so be it, he said. The board's director, Donald Dees, acknowledged that the board has a hard time filling positions in Prichard, due in large part to Prichard's lower wages. But that doesn't give Prichard the right to skirt the board, he said.
The Personnel Board's primary function is to make sure that municipalities choose their employees from a pool of qualified applicants, thereby preventing nepotism or favoritism.
The board's opening move in its investigation of Prichard hiring practices, according to Dees, has been to request a list of all employees "appointed" outside the board's authority.
Prichard City Attorney Willie Huntley Jr. supplied such a list to the board Tuesday. It shows 17 people working in positions ranging from police officer to office assistant who have been hired outside the merit system. The list does not include the eight corrections officers working in the jail, a group that includes Battiste's father and cousin. Battiste said Prichard has never filled those jobs through the board.
In this situation the Chief of Police hired his father, brother, cousin and sister. Ummmm, why he couldn't hire others that was looking for jobs outside his family? Dees described Prichard's omission of the corrections officers as "interesting." The next step in the investigation, Dees said, will be to see if the how many of the unilateral hires in the city should have been madethrough the board.
