Safety officer limitation may be age discrimination
Published on April 15th, 1998
STONEHAM, MA - The Finance Board deferred to the judgement of the Board of Selectmen, last Monday night, to decide action on warrant article l6 regarding increasing the age of eligibility for the hiring of civil service positions.
Article l6 was brought about by a citizens' petition calling for the town to eliminate the hiring age for civil service positions and, instead, base hiring decisions on other criteria, such as test scores and physical capability.
According to Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting, the civil service statute which restricts hiring for civil service positions to a maximum age of 32, also allows municipalities to overturn it if desired. The authority allowed to cities and towns is new, however, and therefore, there is "no huge history" to track the effectiveness of hiring older civil service employees in communities that have abolished the 32 year age ceiling, such as the city of Boston.
According to Nutting, Stoneham's Police and Fire Chief have indicated that they are not in favor of doing away with the age limit, since both already are faced with aging departments. In fact, Nutting stated, the current average age in the Stoneham Police Department is 5l.
Nutting want on to say that there are currently no physical fitness standards to which fire and police personnel are held. If such were implemented, the town would bear the financial burden of such. This, however, might need to be looked at in light of the costs associated with injured personnel.
"It's a hard issue," stated Nutting who also provided an up side to eliminating the age limit by saying "with age, comes wisdom."
The Finance Board voted in favor of deferring the matter to the Board of Selectmen to decide an appropriate recommendation. Town Meeting voters will be able to decide for themselves, based on that recommendation, on May 4.
Also last week, the Finance Board heard from School Committee member Jeanne Craigie regarding the upcoming sessions with the Finance Board, School Committee, and the Board of Selectmen with regard to the school department's Fiscal Year l999 budget.
The session is expected to bring the committees together in developing one budget number that will address, as best it can, the needs of the schools and the ability of the town to allocate sufficient funding. In earlier sessions, it was determined that a gap of up to $l.6 million existed in the preliminary numbers approved by the Selectmen and School Committee.
Craigie stated that the School Committee will present a number that is "closer," but advised "there is still a gap." She also said that the committee has been investigating creative solutions to bring the numbers in line, particularly on the revenue side, in the form of added or increased fees to students.
Craigie stated that while "the public schools are not a money maker," the School Department must wrestle with the challenge of assuring that Stoneham students are educated the way the state wants."
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