Lansford Borough Council decertified the civil service eligibility list, but did not hire any additional officers during a special meeting Tuesday.

Council took the action due to procedural mistakes by the borough Civil Service Commission in compiling the list, including not listing veteran preference, Council President Bruce Markovich said.

“We were never notified of that,” he said, as hiring preference must be given to candidates for civil service positions who served in the military under state law.

Resident Denise Leibensperger asked if council communicated that to the Civil Service Commission.

Markovich said that council can’t interfere in civil service matters, but the procedures are spelled out in the civil service regulations.

“They’re very simple regulations to follow,” he said.

Leibensperger pointed out that council wanted civil service to complete testing and provide a list to allow them to move forward with hiring full-time officers, and asked what changed.

Markovich explained that they received two lists from the Civil Service Commission, which is chaired by John Zym.

“He gave us one list, and then he came in and pulled that list and then gave us a second list,” Markovich said. “According to the one list that he gave us, none of the applicants passed the test.”

Leibensperger asked if there were any reasons for the candidates not passing the test, or if the tests were accurate, and Markovich said there is no oversight of civil service.

Markovich also pointed out that candidates were supposed to be advised of their scores after each test, and given their final score. That also wasn’t done, he said.

The responsibility to notify candidates fails to the secretary of the Civil Service Commission, not the borough secretary, Markovich said, noting that civil service rules are all spelled out.

“They’re very simple to follow,” he said. “We give you everything in there. We give you examples of letters that have to go out. We tell you when the letters have to go out. All you have to do is read it and follow it.”

Zym, who was at the meeting, said that everything was sent through the borough secretary, and he had emails to document that.

Questions were then directed toward the borough secretary, and Councilman Jack Soberick interjected, saying she didn’t have to answer that.

Soberick pointed out that Leibensperger’s parents both served on the Civil Service Commission, and it operated flawlessly.

“It’s not rocket science,” he said. “We didn’t ask you to build a Saturn Five to the moon. Give a written test, give a physical test, give an oral test. Average the scores, add 10 points for the veterans preference, submit the list.

“If anyone failed any component of it, they’re eliminated from the list,” Soberick said.

Zym said that wasn’t what he was told by Markovich.

“Everybody knew that nobody was going to pass the physical agility test,” Zym said.

Soberick said then they should have scraped the list and started over.

Zym explained that all of the candidates passed every other test, except the physical agility test, which was done last.

Soberick said there was no list, if everyone flunked, and Zym said he was told to get a list done.

Soberick explained that many places do the physical agility test first, because it narrows the field, and he would work with Zym.

Council tabled action on hiring part-time officer Randy Schlatter as a full-time officer. Soberick, who made the motion, said he’s not against the hiring, but he wants to make sure it’s done right.

Councilwoman Jennifer Staines wanted to go off the agenda to allow council to hire a longtime, part-timer as a full-time officer, but council can’t act to hire if it’s not already on the agenda.

Council agreed to consider Amie Barclay for a full-time position at a future meeting.