Hiring Outside of Mass. City Angers Firefighters

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Nov. 05--The city is planning to hire a pair of firefighters from out of town in the coming weeks, bypassing seven local veterans at the top of the Civil Service list in what critics say is the latest in a series of such personnel choices.

And the firefighters union, the head of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post, and mayoral challenger Ken Sarofeen all say the city should fill those spots with residents coming out of military service.

But Mayor Carolyn Kirk says the firefighters from Woburn and Worcester have something the local guys don't -- they're certified paramedics, and that's a deciding factor for filling out the department's roster.

The two potential hires, said Kirk, will bring the department to benchmark of 20 paramedics. That staffing level will keep both ambulances running on each of the Fire Department's four shifts.

With that limit met, she said, the city can move away from hiring firefighter-paramedics and start hiring, and possibly training, local firefighters -- with returning veterans at the top of the list.

But Phil Bouchie, president of the firefighters union, said the city should already have been hiring residents and provide paramedic training for all upcoming hires, not just after the two paramedics.

Don Sutherland, post commander of Gloucester's Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1624, said city officials should make an effort to get returning veterans back to work. The cost for paramedic training comes out of local firefighter candidates' pockets, and takes a year to complete -- a year some of them can't afford, he said.

"These kids are just getting home from a tour of service," he said, "they can't get a job, that's what the (civil service) list is for."

The city uses two Massachusetts Civil Service lists when hiring new firefighters.

For the last several hires, the city has worked off a list of firefighters with paramedic certification, and the top choices on that list now are coming in from Woburn and Worcester.

On the straight firefighters list, however, the two paramedics rank well below a litany of Gloucester residents, seven of them veterans.

But of those seven, according to a firefighter rankings list, just one had basic Emergency Medical Services training, and none have paramedic certification. So they have remained on the waiting list.

According to state law, returning veterans will top civil service lists regardless of scores on civil service exams, though veterans are ranked according to their scores as well.

Kirk said the city wanted at least 20 firefighter-paramedics in the department to keep the ambulance service running optimally. She said each of the department's "shifts" -- or groups of firefighters -- should include at least four paramedics to run the city's two ambulances, for 16 paramedics active at a given time overall. The additional four, she said, will cover when another paramedic isn't on duty.

Bouchie, however, said the department is already at a solid level of paramedics, with 19 active, not including EMS Coordinator Sander Shultz.

Bouchie said the city should fill open positions with returning veterans, adding that out-of-town paramedics usually leave the department after five or six years. Local residents, he said, are more likely to stay with the Fire Department for the long term.

"Let them serve the city of Gloucester for 20 years like they served their country," he said. "We at least deserve to give them that."

He said the city should use its training budget to cover the costs.

Sarofeen, who briefly raised the issue during Wednesday night's Gloucester Daily Times mayoral debate, also said city should provide paramedic training for residents in the Fire Department, rather than hiring certified paramedics from out of town.

"It don't think it's right for our veterans to be passed over," he said.

But Kirk said the city's fiscal state will allow it to provide that training for future hires, after it bolsters the paramedic numbers to 20. She said that 48 percent of police officers and firefighters the city hires, or promotes, are veterans -- a number, she said, to which the city will be adding.

She said the city will soon be in the position to provide paramedic training to Gloucester veterans the department hires.

"With the next hires we make ... we can make a commitment to Gloucester veterans," said Kirk.

Steven Fletcher may be contacted at 1-978-283-7000 x3455 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @stevengdt.