tration and election laws in said city and county shall be made by the Board of Election Commissioners, and demands on the Treasury authorized or allowed by it for such purposes shall be paid upon demands signed by the President and Secretary of said Board, and after being duly audited.

ARTICLE XII.

OF THE CIVIL SERVICE.

SECTION 1. It is hereby declared to be the intent and purpose of this Charter that the Government of the City and County of San Francisco and each and every department thereof shall be managed and conducted on business principles. The salaries and compensation of its clerks and employees shall be fixed and regulated from time to time at no higher rates than those paid for the rendition of similar services in commercial employments in said city and county. There shall be no discharge or removal of such clerks or employees in any of the departments of the city and county government, after their employment as hereinafter provided, for political reasons, or for any other reasons than for dishonesty, inefficiency, insubordination or habitual discourtesy to the public. To the end that efficiency and faithful service may be encouraged the salaries of all clerks and employees in all the departments of the city government hereinafter mentioned shall be fixed and regulated upon a graduated scale, by which such salaries shall be increased by length of service faithfully rendered.

SEC. 2. For the purpose of applying and carrying into practical effect the principles set forth in the preceding section, immediately upon the taking effect of this Charter the Mayor shall appoint three persons known by him to be devoted to the principles of Civil Service Reform and opposed to the system of rewarding political party services by political appointment, who shall constitute and be known as the Civil Service Commissioners, one for three years, one for two years, and one for one year from the time of appointment, and until after their respective successors are appointed and qualified; and in every year thereafter the Mayor shall,

in like manner, appoint one person as the successor of the commissioner whose term shall expire in that year, to serve as such commissioner for three years, and until his successor is appointed and qualified. Two commissioners shall constitute a quorum. All appointments to said commission, both original and to fill vacancies, shall be so made that not more than two members shall at the time of any appointment be members of the same political party. Said commissioners shall hold no other public office or employment. Each commissioner, before entering upon the duties of his office, shall take the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the State.

SEC. 3. The Mayor shall remove any Commissioner for incompetence, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office, but for no other cause. The Mayor shall report in writing any such removal to the Supervisors with his reasons therefor. Any vacancy in the office of Commissioner shall be filled by appointment by the Mayor.

SEC. 4. Said Commission shall classify all the offices and places of employment mentioned in section twelve of this Article with reference to the examinations herein provided for. The offices and places so classified by the Commission shall constitute the classified civil service of said city and county; and no appointment to any such offices or places shall be made except under and according to the rules hereinafter mentioned.

SEC. 5. Said Commission shall make rules to carry out the purposes of this Article and for examinations and appointments in accordance with its provisions, and the Commission may, from time to time, make changes in the original rules.

SEC. 6. All rules made as herein before provided, and all changes therein, shall be printed for distribution by said Commission; and the Commission shall give notice of the place or places where said rules may be obtained, by publication in the official paper, and in each said publications shall be specified the date, not less than thirty days subsequent to the date of such publication, when said rules shall go into operation.

SEC. 7. All applicants for offices or places in said classified service, shall be subjected to examination, which shall be public, competitive and free to all citizens of the United States, with specified limita

tions as to residence, age, health, habits and moral character. Such examinations shall be practical in their character and shall relate to those matters which will fairly test the relative capacity of the persons examined to discharge the duties of the positions to which they seek to be appointed, and shall include tests of physical qualifications and health, and, when appropriate, of manual skill. No question in any examination shall relate to political or religious opinions or affiliations. The Commission shall control all examinations, and may, whenever an examination is to take place, designate a suitable number of persons, either in or not in the official service of the city, to be Examiners, and it shall be the duty of such Examiners, and if in the service it shall be a part of their official duty, without extra compensation to conduct such examinations as the Commission may direct, and make return or report thereof to said Commission, and the Commission may at any time substitute any other person, whether or not in such service, in the place of any one so selected; and the Commission may themselves at any time act as such Examiners, and without appointing Examiners. The Examiners at any examination shall not all be members of the same political party.

SEC. 8. Notice of the time, place, and general scope of every examination shall be given by the Commission by publication, for four weeks preceding such examination, in the official paper, and such notice shall also be posted by said Commission in a conspicuous place at the City Hall and in their office four weeks before such examination.

SEC. 9. From the returns or reports of the Examiners, or from the examinations made by the Commission, the Commission shall prepare a register for each grade or class of position in the classified service of the city, of the persons whose general average standing upon examination for such grade or class is not less than the minimum fixed by the rules of said Commission, and who are otherwise eligible; and such persons shall take rank upon the register as candidates in the order of their relative excellence as determined by examination, without reference to priority at time of examination. When the examinations are oral they must be open to the public, and, when written, the examination papers

of each application shall be placed on file and kept in the office of the Commission and constitute public records open to the inspection of any citizen.

SEC. 10. The Commission shall by its rules provide for promotions in such classified service on the basis of ascertained merit and seniority in service and examination, and shall provide in all cases where it is practicable that vacancies shall be filled by promotion. All examinations for promotion shall be competitive among such members of the next lower rank as desire to submit themselves to such examination; and it shall be the duty of the Commission to submit to the appointing power the names of not more than three applicants for each promotion having the highest rating; but in fixing said rating, a uniform allowance of credits to be stated at the time of the announcement of said examination shall be made for each year of past service. The method of examination and the rules governing the same, and the method of certifying, shall be the same as provided for applicants for original appointment.

SEC. 11. The head of the department or office in which a position classified under this Article is to be filled shall notify said Commission of that fact, and said Commission shall certify to such officer the name and address of one or more candidates, not exceeding three, standing highest upon the register for the class or grade to which said position belongs, except that in cases where a choice by competition is impracticable, said Commission may provide by its rules that the selections shall be made by lot from among those candidates proved fit by examination. In making such certification sex shall be disregarded except when some statute, the rules of said Commission, or the appointing power, specifies sex. Said appointing officer shall notify said Commission of each position to be filled separately, and shall fill such place from the names certified to him by said Commission therefor. One of the candidates thus certified shall thereupon be appointed by said head of such department or office and employed on probation for a period to be fixed by said rules. Each candidate, unless he shall be sooner appointed or otherwise lawfully cease to be a candidate, shall be certified for appointment in the grade or class for which he is eligible, not less than three times, and no candidate shall lose

his place on the register by certification and rejection, except that said Commission may strike off names of candidates from the register after they have remained thereon more than two years. At or before the expiration of the period of probation, the head of the department, or office in which a candidate is employed, may discharge him upon assigning in writing his reasons therefore to said Commission. If he is not then discharged his appointment shall be deemed complete. To prevent the stoppage of public business or to meet extraordinary exigencies, the head of any department or office may, under such regulations as the Commission may by its rules precribe, make temporary appointments in the classified civil service, to remain in force not exceeding sixty days, and only until regular appointments under the provisions of this Article can be made.

SEC. 12. The provisions of this Article shall apply to the following offices and Departments of the city and county, to-wit: the County Clerk, the Assessor, the Tax Collector, the Sheriff, the Auditor, the Recorder, the Clerks of the Justices' Court, the Board of Public Works, the Police Department, the Fire Department and the Board of Election Commissioners. Provided, that the following deputies, clerks and employees in said offices and Departments shall be exempted therefrom, to wit: the Chief Deputy of the County Clerk, the Chief Deputy of the Assessor, the Chief Deputy and Cashier of the Tax Collector, the Under Sheriff and Chief Bookkeeper of the Sheriff, the Deputy Auditor, the Chief Deputy of the Recorder, the Superintendent of Public Works, the City Engineer and the Architect of the Board of Public Works, the Registrar of the Board of Election Commissioners, the Chief of Police, Chief Engineer of the Fire Department, and all clerks, laborers and employees in said offices and Departments not permanently employed at monthly salaries. All officers, Boards and heads of departments vested in this Charter with the power to appoint deputies, clerks, or employees in any of the offices or departments of the city and county government herein mentioned shall make such appointments in conformity with the rules and provisions prescribed by this Article. SEC. 13. No officer or employee in the classified civil