By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

PELHAM—The Pelham Personnel Board has started the process of reviewing and updating the city’s Civil Service Law.

Pelham Mayor Gary Waters mentioned the need to update the law, describing it as “outdated” during a March 20 Planning Commission work session. Adopted in 1988, Waters said the law as it currently stands contains portions referring to “long lost federal provisions and programs.”

Review of the Civil Service Law is a routine duty of the city’s Personnel Board. During a March 23 interview, Waters said the law “calls for revision every three to five years.”

“One of the things the Personnel Board does is a periodic review of the law,” said Pelham Personnel Board member Greg Darnell, adding “it has been some time” since the law was last reviewed.

Neither Waters nor Darnell identified any specific sections of the law targeted for change. However, Darnell said the Personnel Board is looking to make changes that “would be positive for employees and the city.”

“This is a comprehensive review,” Darnell said. “We have started literally at the very beginning, and we will cover every paragraph of the law.”

In addition to a review of the Civil Service Law, Waters also called for a review of the city’s Zoning Ordinance by the Planning Commission. Waters said reviewing laws should be routine and said he hopes this will “get the boards more involved with the laws.”

Although there is no concrete deadline for a complete revision of the Civil Service Law, Darnell anticipated the Personnel Board will need several more meetings to work through the entirety of the law.