Butler City Council voted 3-2 Thursday to promote firefighter Scott Longdon to the rank of lieutenant.

Longdon was promoted because of the retirement of Lt. Donald McCoy. Council members Kathy Kline, Michael Walter and Corey Roche voted for the promotion, while Mayor Tom Donaldson and Councilman Kenny Bonus voted against it.

Longdon was promoted without testing required by the city's civil service rules and regulations. The firefighters union has previously contended that the civil service rules and regulations, which were passed by council in 2015, were in violation of the union's collective bargaining agreement.

Kline also cited the CBA as her reason for voting for the promotion.

“It's like any contract,” she said. “You have to honor the contract.”

Roche shared her sentiment.

“What's the point of having a CBA if you're not going to honor it?” he said.

Walter said the civil service rules and regulations do not supersede the CBA.

“I know of no place that when a law goes into effect, it goes retroactive back into an existing contract,” he said.

Donaldson cited the civil service rules and regulations as his reasoning for voting no.

“The rules haven't changed,” he said.

Bonus said he listened to the opinion of city solicitor Jim Coulter in making his decision.

“Based on the opinion of (Coulter), it seemed we were in our rights to not give the promotion, and maybe we shouldn't give the promotion because it requires a civil service test,” Bonus said.

Thursday's motion mirrors a similar one from the summer of 2016, when council voted to settle a grievance by the firefighters' union and promote city firefighters McCoy and Jim Kaufman.

The grievance stated the civil service rules and regulations regarding promotions violated the union's collective bargaining agreement with the city.

At the time, Donaldson voted against the promotions and later refused to sign the settlement agreement.

He later filed a lawsuit against the city and Kline, Walter and Roche, contending that the motion promoting Kaufman and McCoy was a violation of the city's civil service rules and regulations.

The lawsuit aimed to nullify the promotions.

In May, Judge Marilyn Horan, who presided over the case, ordered Donaldson to amend his lawsuit to include McCoy, Kaufman, and the firefighters union, as well as councilman Kenny Bonus.

Horan said at the time that the firefighters and union have a right to be named parties in the lawsuit because they have vested interests in the outcome.

Bonus, who was not on council at the time of the motion, was included because as a councilman he would be required to take action in response to any decision in the case.

Donaldson said in a statement in June that he discontinued his lawsuit “for the good of my personal finances and for the good of the finances of the city.”