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Date: 6/30/2020
CHICOPEE – Mayor John Vieau and City Council President Shane Brooks both took aim at a discussion about Civil Service as the city’s means to hire police officers during a council budget meeting discussing the proposed police budget.
The councilor in question – Joel McAuliffe – asked Police Chief William Jebb about Civil Service, which was not part of the discussion.
Jebb’s answer was critical of Civil Service and the subsequent post on Medium written by McAuliffe (https://medium.com/@JoelforChicopee/chicopee-police-chief-william-jebb-says-its-time-for-department-to-leave-civil-service-20d71ab036f8) so concerned Vieau he called it “fake news.” McAuliffe wrote the story in the third person and the piece resembled a news story.
Brooks apologized to Jebb for a discussion outside of budget issues. He said, “It felt like there was a predetermined agenda” and added the subsequent post on Medium was “premeditated.”
He believes there will be distrust among department heads if they were going to be asked about subjects outside of the budget at a budget hearing. He called McAuliffe’s actions “a publicity grab in order to get a headline.”
McAuliffe recently wrote legislation to activate a police commission for the city to help oversee the department.
Vieau said that leaving Civil Service would “impact hundred of employees.” During a press conference, neither the mayor nor the chief disputed problems with the Civil Service process. The removal of the system would require a change in the city’s charter, Vieau noted.
“A charter change is not an easy task,” Vieau added.
Vieau and Jebb explained the city receives a new list of candidates every two years and must interview about double the candidates than the available openings. Those rejected candidates go to the top of the list for the next round of hiring.
“We may not get the best candidates due to Civil Service,” Vieau explained. The mayor also said the present system prohibits the city from accepting lateral transfers of officers from other cities and towns.
Vieau said the efficiency of Civil Service has been discussed and Brooks said eliminating Civil Service would be a “thoughtful process.”
Jebb said he had been “set up” by a city councilor. The chief said he had started a conversation about Civil Service with former Mayor Richard Kos. “I stand by it: Civil Service needs to be reformed.”
He noted though to change the system by which police officers and firefighters are hired has “so many moving parts.” There is not only an issue with changing the city’s charter but also negotiating with unions, he added.
Jebb believes with the discussion about police reform at the state level, which might include Civil Service, “the conversation was way too early to have.”
McAuliffe posted on Facebook on June 26, “Let me be clear – I support removing the Chicopee Police Department ONLY from Civil Service. I support replacing it with a merit-based system similar to what Northampton has with a Civilian Police Commission to oversee hiring and discipline. That last part is why you are seeing folks come out with strong opinions against my proposal. I’m happy to have this discussion. I’ll debate the issues, and keep it about the issues. The city of Chicopee and our residents deserve nothing less.”
In response to an inquiry from Reminder Publishing, McAuliffe said, “The chief’s comments were made in a public meeting that was televised on local access television and on Chicopee TV's facebook page. It should come as a surprise to no one that there would be significant interest in the subject within our community that would draw strong opinions from both those in favor of leaving civil service and those who support staying in it. I believe this conversation is important for our community to have – and we will have it. We cannot pretend that problems with the system don’t exist; over the years various decisions have made that evident. Now it is up to us as elected officials to be serious about working to correct those problems instead of ignoring them and hoping they go away.”