NEWBURYPORT — Mayor Donna Holaday is pushing the City Council to pull a stalled bill out of a subcommittee and take action on it.
Ward 3 Councilor Bob Cronin said the Public Safety Subcommittee — which consists of Councilors Tom Jones and Brian Derrivan as well — will meet on Sept. 16 at 6 p.m. at City Hall to discuss a proposal to remove the city marshal and fire chief from Civil Service.
The measure was first introduced in October, before Cronin was even on the council. Ward 4 City Councilor Ed Cameron introduced the bill to remove the fire chief and police marshal from Civil Service, arguing it will allow the city to select from a wider range of candidates for the two key public safety positions.
Civil Service is a system that was designed decades ago to remove patronage and politics from the hiring and promoting of public employees, but many communities have abandoned it. Critics say it places too many restrictions on who can be hired and sometimes prevents the best candidates from getting the job.
Newburyport has traditionally hired leadership from within the ranks of its fire and police departments. Fire Chief Stephen Cutter is the fourth generation of his family to serve as chief. Police Marshal Tom Howard has worked in the Newburyport Police Department for 32 years and was promoted to marshal in 2001.
If approved by the council, the changes would take effect when the chief and marshal positions are next vacant.
Under the current system, officers take the Civil Service exam in order to qualify for promotions. The exam covers a range of information, including laws, administration and prevalent issues in society. The city can then pick from the top three scorers for the position of chief, which limits the candidacy pool.
Cronin, who currently works for the Middlesex Sheriff's Office as the assistant deputy superintendent in charge of the marine unit, was a member of the Andover Police Department from 1981 to 2007.
"I've experienced both sides of it," Cronin said, adding that he was in Andover when that town agreed to move the chief position from Civil Service.
"There's certainly pros and cons to both sides," Cronin said yesterday.
Cronin said he is leaning toward removing the positions from Civil Service, saying it does not eliminate in-house candidates, but rather opens the candidate pool up more.
In Andover, the officers had little reaction to it, he said, and while the new chief search was opened up and the candidacy pool was greater, the hire still came from in-house.
"I think there are now more communities where the chief is out of Civil Service than in civil service," Cronin said. "The trend is definitely moving away from Civil Service."
Holaday also pointed to the figures yesterday that show that only 85 Massachusetts cities and towns have the police chief as a Civil Service position and only 65 have the fire chief in Civil Service.
"What does that tell you," she said.
Holaday said she supports the move, as long as the City Council also adopts an ordinance that would prevent the process from becoming "politicized." The council needs to create a measure that also sets up a team approach for a search committee and interview process for the chief positions, which could include citizens, city councilors, the mayor and perhaps a chief from another community, Holaday said.
"As long as that piece is in place, which keeps it from being politicized, I think it makes sense," she said. "I believe the city should have more options than the top three candidates for the Civil Service test."
Under Cameron's plan, the mayor would be allowed to sign a short-term contract with the chief and marshal.
In an interview last year, Howard said a contract limit, such as three years or five years, could create "staleness" in the department and questioned what the incentive would be for a lieutenant to continue training and studying "if he knows he's at the end of his ladder."
A lieutenant with 20 years on the job wouldn't risk his job to take the marshal position with no guarantee after his contract ends that he will be kept, Howard said at the time, as his retirement would be in jeopardy and he could be out of a job.
Civil Service was first created in the 1800s, and Newburyport police became a Civil Service department in 1932.
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