PLYMOUTH, MA – As 2020 looms on the horizon, a request to extend the fire chief's tenure has surfaced.
Fire Chief Ed Bradley turns 64 on April 12, and figured he would be shown the door a year later, per state law that mandates police and fire chiefs' retirement at age 65.
He said Town Manager Melissa Arrighi asked him to stay on for another two years to help facilitate a seamless transition to a new fire chief.
"It's kind of an honor and kind of humbling," Bradley said Wednesday, adding that he's delighted to be of service to the town and his department.
The Select Board has sponsored a Special Town Meeting article that asks representatives to approve seeking a home rule petition to allow Bradley to serve the town through his 67th birthday. If approved, the move would need approval from the state Legislature as well as the governor.
"His fire expertise, overall municipal skill set, knowledge of the town, operational experience and overall excellent administration, continues to be an asset in one of the largest departments on the town side of government," Arrighi wrote in a memo to the Select Board and the Advisory and Finance Committee. "In addition, his energy, enthusiasm and commitment level are exemplary."
Bradley said a smooth transition is predicated on a robust candidate pool for deputy chief positions as well as the chief's, and this pool has been shallow until recently.
"We were unable to fill one of the empty deputy chief positions, and it was open for two and a half years," Bradley explained. "It's tough to fill the deputy chief position. We've run two deputy chiefs since the '80s. It's one heck of a town."
One of the problems is the deputy chief's base pay of $108,000 in Plymouth is low compared to other towns, he said. The other issue involves quality of life, and the enormous commitment the job entails because Plymouth is such a large town that continues to grow. Many fire personnel have children and even other part-time jobs, he said, so interest in promotions dwindled for a while. Few were willing to take the test for the possible promotion, Bradley said. And when four did take the test and two passed it, neither was interested in the job because the pay wasn't high enough and the time commitment was too demanding.
Plymouth's unrelenting growth is fueling the difficulty of these jobs.
"The building boom going on right now is greater than anything I've seen since I've lived here, and that goes to the late 1950s," Bradley said. "Every road proposed or building – everything goes to the Fire Department for approval and permits, so the work load is tremendous."
If Town Meeting approves the requested work extension, Bradley's retirement pension will still be based on his pay at age 65. The question of possible disability surfaced during the meeting, and Arrighi explained that, should Bradley become disabled during this extended period, he would not collect a disability pension; he would still collect his retirement pension.
Bradley noted that a disability pension is based on 72 percent of his pay whereas his pension is based on 80 percent of his pay.
He won't be able to collect both the pension and a salary during those additional two years.
Bradley noted that other towns in the region have successfully made similar requests. Weymouth just made headlines as its mayor backed off a request to extend that town's police chief's employment beyond the mandatory retirement age when officers anxious for promotions objected.
The Select Board voted unanimously to recommend Town Meeting approve the request.
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