Iron Mountain to vote on eliminating charter section

IRON MOUNTAIN– Iron Mountain might be eliminating a section out of its charter that deals with how the hiring of city employees is handled.

The City of Iron Mountain will go to the polls tomorrow to decide if it wants to keep section 7.11 of its charter. Part of the section requires the city to use a general knowledge test in order to qualify for employment with the city.

The city can only hire from a pool of candidates that take the test. City officials say that limits the number of candidates they have available to them and makes it difficult to find new employees when it needs them.

“The tests are good for two years in the police and fire and three years for the non–administrative employees and these tests restrict for a number of years, said Iron Mountain City Manager,” Jordan Stanchina, “it will put us in a position to be on equal footing with all the other cities in the Upper Peninsula that do not use civil service and hire as positions are open.”

Stanchina says that not being able to hire new employees when necessary can lead to the city having to pay overtime.