certification to the person or persons holding the power of appointment or promotion, in the manner provided in these rules. The minimum percentage of rating necessary to entitle an ap plicant to a place upon such eligible list shall be seventy-five per centum. RULE IX Conduct of examination The actual conduct of every examination for merit and fitness shall be under the responsible direction of the commission or of its designated members, free from the interference or participation or influence of the appointing officer or of any person other than the assistant examiners or experts directly employed by the commission. No person employed in a department for whose benefit an eligible list is to be prepared shall be employed as an expert upon the examination for such eligible list. The commission may in the examinations give such relative importance to the different subjects or matters of examination, whether mental or physical, or to experience, occupation or training as to them may seem fit. At or before the commencement of every examination, the weight to be given to every subject included in the examination, and the general or average minimum and the minimum, if any allowable, upon each subject, shall be announced to the applicants. The appointing officer shall state to the commission upon their request and so far as is consistent with these rules, the general qualifications or attainments, physical or mental, or both, and the experience he deems necessary or proper to be possessed by persons filling the positions for which an eligible list is to be formed, and also of what age such person should be. RULE X Character of examination All examinations shall be public and practical in their character, and shall relate to those matters which shall fairly test the intelligence, competency, suitability and character of the applicants to discharge the duties of the service for which they seek to be appointed. The commission, with the approval of the Civil Service Commissioners of the State, shall determine when examinations are not practicable in cases relating to the civil serviceof the city of Albany. RULE XI Physical examination Whenever physical qualifications are of prime importance to the proper discharge of the duties of any position, applicants must pass an additional examination as to their physical condition and capacity, and be certified as qualified in such respects before they shall be accorded a mental examination. RULE XII Political opinions of candidates No recommendation or question under the authority of these rules shall relate to the political opinions or affiliations of any person whatever. Nor shall political opinions be discovered nor considered by the commission in their examinations. The commission shall not receive or consider any communication as to the qualifications or merits of any candidates for a position except such as are herein permitted, and except such communications as they may invite by way of verification of statements made by thecandidate. RULE XIII Eligible list 1 Every competitor who attains an average percentage of 75 or over on all the obligatory subjects in any examination, and whose standing on every such obligatory subject is 50 or over, shall be eligible for appointment to the position for which he was examined; and the names of eligibles shall be entered, in the order of their average percentages, on the proper register of eligibles; provided that the names of competitors who have passed as above and whose claims for preference under section 9 of article 5 of the constitution have been allowed by the commission, shall be placed in the order of their respective average percentages at the head of the proper register of eligibles. 2 When two or more eligibles on a register have the same average percentage, preference in certification shall be determined by the order in which their applications were filed, but neither priority in the date of application nor of examination will give any other advantage in position on the registers of eligibles. 3 The commission shall prescribe the character of the distinct eligible lists, designating the positions that may be filled by certification from each of such lists. A transfer of names from one eligible list to another, prepared as above, may be made by direction of the commission. 4 The term of eligibility shall be fixed by the regulations of the commission at not less than one year. RULE XIV Regrading Where an examination for any grade is had before the eligible list for that grade is exhausted, a new list shall be prepared after such examination. The persons upon the former eligible list who have not been examined for the new eligible list shall be respectively placed upon the new eligible list in the position to which the percentage of their aggregate marking upon their former examinations would entitle them if such markings had instead been given them upon the new examination, and shall be continued thereon until the end of their term of eligibility. RULE XV Former lists continued All eligible lists of persons examined for appointment or promotion in the civil service of the city of Albany prior to April 19, 1899, shall be continued in full force and effect, and may be certified to the person or persons holding the power of appointment or promotion, except as otherwise provided in rule XIII, until an examination is held and a new eligible list made up; subject, however, to such reasonable regulation and revision as these rules shall prescribe. RULE XVI Written or oral examinations In the creation of new eligible lists the rating shall be based upon such written or oral examinations, or both, as the commission shall determine, which oral examinations shall be stenographically recorded. RULE XVII Correction of errors The commission shall have power, in its discretion, whenever in its judgment the interests of the public service require it, to order a re-examination of applicants for any position, and shall have power to correct any error and amend or revoke any schedule, list or other paper or record where it appears that any error or injustice has been done, or where any person whose name appears on any eligible list has for any reason become incapacitated for appointment in the public service, to strike such name from said list, provided, however, that after an eligible list is prepared and certified it shall not be altered or revoked except upon notice by mail or otherwise, as the commission may direct, to all persons whose standing may be unfavorably affected by the alteration. But the reasons for every such action shall be recorded in full in the minutes of the municipal civil service commission. RULE XVIII Certification for appointment 1 Whenever any officer having the power of appointment to, or employment in, any position in the competitive class shall so request, the municipal civil service commission shall certify to him the name of the person who is graded highest on the proper eligible list or register of persons who have successfully passed the open competitive examination conducted by the commission for the position; giving, however, preference in the order of their standing to such as have been honorably discharged from the military or naval services of the United States in the late civil war, as required by chapter 370 of the laws of 1899. RULE XIX Suspension of rules In case of a vacancy in any position in the competitive class where peculiar and exceptional qualifications of a scientific, professional or educational character are required, and upon satisfactory evidence that for specified reasons competition in such special case is impracticable, and that the position can be best filled by the selection of some particular person of high and recognized attainment in such qualities, the commission may, upon obtaining the approval of the State Civil Service Commission, suspend the provisions of the rule requiring competition in such case, but no such suspension shall be general in its application to such place, and all such cases of suspension shall be reported to the State Civil Service Commission in the annual report made to them, with the reasons for the same. RULE XX Qualifications as to residence and citizenship Every applicant for examination for appointment to any of the positions enumerated in the competitive or non-competitive class, or for registration for employment in any of the positions enumerated in the labor class, must be a citizen of the United States and an actual resident of the city of Albany at the time of his application; provided that such requirements as to citizenship and residence may be specially suspended by the commission as to any position requiring high professional, scientific or technical qualifications, but all such cases, with the reasons therefor, shall be entered on the records of the commission opposite the name of the candidate. RULE XXI Requirements in exceptional cases In applications for examinations for positions requiring scientific, professional or technical qualifications, the commission may |