Police and fire chiefs and assistant chiefs who are not reappointed by succeeding Boards of Mayor and Aldermen will have the opportunity to return to their previous positions under a change to the city’s civil service regulations proposed by Mayor George Flaggs Jr.

Flaggs discussed the proposal at a Monday board work session, saying it would let younger officers and firefighters serve in top administrative positions with the opportunity to return to civil service after serving as a chief or deputy chief.

The board took no action on the proposal, but could approve Flaggs’ recommendations at a regular meeting of the board in the future.

Flaggs said he would present the proposal to the Civil Service Commission when it meets Wednesday at 4 p.m.

He said after the meeting the change could help promote longevity in the departments because younger officers could accept a top administrative position knowing they would have the opportunity to return to under civil service in the future if they wished.

Police and fire chiefs and the deputy chiefs are appointed by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen and serve at the board’s discretion. They are not covered by civil service.

Under the current regulations, a chief or assistant chief must resign in good standing to be reinstated to the civil service employment register and remain on the list for one year. If a new administration comes in and no longer wants someone to be a chief or assistant chief, they cannot reapply to get on the civil service register.

“This rule change would give them the opportunity, at their choice, to go back into civil service,” City Attorney Nancy Thomas said.

Thomas said previous boards have bypassed the regulation and allowed former police chiefs and deputy chiefs to be reinstated under civil service.

“Mainly because when a new board came in, and they didn’t want X, Y, Z, they gave them the opportunity to go back,” North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield said. “We have that authority now.”

The rule change, Thomas said, would let the person decide whether to return under civil service rather than the board.

According to the mayor’s proposal, if there is a vacancy in their department, it will be offered to the person leaving as chief or deputy chief. If there is no vacancy, the individual is reinstated at the top of the civil service employment register and remain eligible for one year. If an opening for which the person is qualified for becomes available, it will be offered to them.

“They have to be offered the job,” Thomas said.

Flaggs said the chief and deputy chief appointments normally involve people who have sufficient years to retire.

“What if you’ve got a guy with 12 years’ experience and 12 years with the city and qualified to be chief in either department?” he asked, adding the nominee may not take the position because “he’s thinking, ‘why should I take that, because if this board doesn’t get elected I’m out of a job.’ I just don’t think that’s fair.

“I think it takes the politics out of it, and the person has a job and gets back into the work force.”

Another reason for the change, he said, is the number of high-ranking people in the police and fire departments who are currently eligible for retirement, including the chiefs.

Although he said both departments need to have people trained to move into vacancies created by retirement, he directed most of his comments toward the fire department, which he said has the highest number of people eligible for retirement.

In the fire department, he said, “you have two battalion chiefs that can retire. You’ve got 15 captains, four lieutenants and one private. That’s a lot.”

The police department’s situation, he said, was not as serious.

He said he did not disagree with Fire Chief Charles Atkins that the department has a well-qualified, trained staff.

“But what happens if 22 people decide they don’t want to work for the City of Vicksburg? You’re talking about two battalion chiefs and 15 captains.”

Flaggs has said in the past that he wants to see more training for firefighters to prepare them to qualify for administrative positions in the department and fill positions vacated by retirement.

He wants specific requirements for the deputy chiefs, with one deputy coming from the ranks of the city’s emergency medical division and the other from the firefighting division. The deputy chiefs, he said, will be appointed from the battalion chiefs. Many of the firefighters are cross-trained as paramedics.

“That limits us in the politics of going down in the ranks and getting an operator or anybody,” he said.

He said deputy chief Kenneth Daniels, who is in charge of emergency medicine, and Tammy Stewart, the department’s emergency medical services quality assurance officer, and one paramedic are to be certified as EMS instructors to train in-house.

The department is currently without a training officer following the resignation in March of training officer Cheyenne Becklehimer, who left to go to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

Flaggs initially wanted to eliminate the EMS training officer position, but Atkins challenged that suggestion, saying he needed a full-time training officer to keep the ambulance service in compliance with state regulations.

He later agreed to a recommendation from South Ward Alderman Willis Thompson that the department retain the training officer position and require Daniels and Stewart to be certified as EMS instructors. Atkins will appoint the new training officer from the paramedics under the compromise.