LEWISTON – Voters on Tuesday made good on the City Council’s plan to trim the Personnel Board.

By a vote of 6,521 to 4,661, voters approved a City Charter amendment that puts the responsibility of testing police and fire crews on the city’s human resources staff.

The Personnel Board was created to keep politics out of hiring and make sure police and fire crews met certain standards. The board, made up of three people, meets each spring to test applicants for police and fire department jobs.

State law has its own standards for police officers, and the Personnel Board is an unnecessary step that costs the city money, city officials said in proposing the change.

The city’s Human Resources Department handles most of the other functions that used to fall to the board. City officials said the testing can be handled by the Maine Criminal Justice Academy for less than what it costs to keep the board running.

The city must get voter approval for any charter change.