Approval of two-thirds of the City Council was needed to pursue removal of the fire chief from Civil Service.
Holyoke City Councilor Kevin A. Jourdain said Civil Service as it applies to the fire chief is an anachronism.HOLYOKE – The fire chief will continue to be a position the city fills by using the state Civil Service system, the City Council decided Tuesday.
The council voted 9-5 against asking the Legislature to repeal the act that established Civil Service as the method used to fill the job of fire chief.
Under Civil Service, individuals are employed based on how they score on competitive examinations.
Supporters of stripping Civil Service said it is an outdated process that restricts the city to only in-house candidates for an important position that instead should be filled by seeking as a wide a net as possible.
Also, they said, the city is handcuffed by being virtually unable to fire a fire chief if such a step is needed because just cause is a difficult-to-meet threshold for removal under Civil Service.
“It’s very hard to substantiate a ‘just-cause’ standard....This is an anachronsim,” Councilor at Large Kevin A. Jourdain said.
But those who voted to keep it said Civil Service has been effective. The system protects a fire chief from being removed because of political whim, they said.
Also, said Ward 1 Councilor Donald R. Welch, “I believe that it gives an incentive to someone in the department to rise through the ranks and become chief.”
A two-thirds majority of the 15-member council – or 10 voters – was needed to seek repeal of a special legislative act, City Clerk Susan M. Egan said.
Voting against the proposal to remove the fire chief from Civil Service were councilors Aaron M. Vega, Patricia C. Devine, Rebecca Lisi, Todd A. McGee, Brenna E. Murphy, John P. O’Neill, Peter R. Tallman, McGiverin and Welch.
“Civil Service is there for a reason,” Devine said. “It prevents politics from playing a role in appointments.”
Voting in favor of the proposal were councilors Diosdado Lopez, Anthony M. Keane, Timothy W. Purington, Linda L. Vacon and Jourdain. Councilor James L. Leahy was absent.
The police chief is hired outside the restrictions of Civil Service and that process has worked well, Lopez said.
“I think this would be good down the road,” he said.
Jourdain said the argument about Civil Service guarding against politics sounds good, but is naive, because politics can affect any government decision.
“There is no taking of the politics out by having Civil Service,” Jourdain said.
The fire chief here is chosen by the three-member Fire Commission, which is appointed by the mayor, from a list of Civil Service-test-ranked employees of the Fire Department.
The Fire Commission is in the process of hiring a permanent chief. William P. Moran, deputy chief, has been provisional chief since September.
Commission Chairwoman Priscilla F. Chesky told The Republican last week the commission had halted its chief appointment process to see what the City Council would do regarding the Civil Service issue.
The yearly salary for fire chief will be $100,000 to $110,000, Chesky said.
The commission will use the process known as an assessment center, in which a private company is hired to put candidates through role-playing and other tests, to choose a chief. The goal is to have a permanent chief by July 1, she said.
The commission is using the assessment center, which is permitted under the Civil Service system, because commissioners believe it will reveal more about candidates’ qualifications than the traditional Civil Service written test, Chesky said.