Town votes to keep age limit
Published on May 6th, 1998
STONEHAM, MA - The question of whether the town is discriminating in its hiring practices of public safety officers was asked Monday night at the Annual Town Meeting.
Voters replied to the question with a resounding no, voting for indefinite postponement of Article 16 which would have done away with the town's maximum hiring age of 32 and allowed older applicants to become freshman on the Police and Fire departments.
The proponent of the article was Pond Street resident Esther Bersani, who, herself, would like the right to apply and be hired as a public safety officer even though she is over 32 years old.
Bersani explained that most of the communities in Massachusetts have already accepted Mass General Law, Chapter 31, Sections 61A and 61B which allow applicants of all ages to be considered for such positions as police officers and firefighters. These sections also stipulate that , as part of the weeding out process for the positions, applicants must take part in health and wellness exams and pass physical fitness standards.
"Everybody wins," Bersani said of the Mass General Law. "I'm sure some of you are worried about firefighters and police officers who are on the job now and probably couldn't pass the test.
"We have to start somewhere."
Police Chief Eugene Passaro spoke out against the article just as he had done last week before the Board of Selectmen, but did admit to seeing the proponent's side of the issue.
"If I were in her position, I would probably be up here trying to do the same thing," Passaro said. "The problem comes in us trying to serve you.
"We're working with less officers than we had in the 1960's and the jobs gotten tougher. These people (the present force) is doing a great job, but there's a saying in police work that 'It gets dryer and warmer,'" he told the voters.
This saying means that, as officers get older in age, they expect their duties to be less strenuous. They don't expect to be walking the beat in sub-freezing weather or in a downpour.
The problem, Passaro explained, is that the present force is middle aged and the officers are not getting any drier or warmer.
"If this continues... we're going to have much greater aging in the Police Department and Fire Department," he continued. "We need people who can take the rigors of the job."
Spring Street resident Kathleen Sullivan told the town meeting attendees that if the state standards were endorsed, the force may not be younger, but would likely be smarter and better. She explained that, in addition to the physical tests applicants must pass, there are written and psychological tests that they must pass.
"If that person passes those tests, that's the type of person I want," she said. "We have an aging Police Department. We have an aging Fire Department. Does that mean they're not good?
"No, they are good."
Sullivan said that, just because the positions will be opened to everyone does not mean the person that the departments hire will be 32 years old or older.
Selectman John Biggio told the voters that the Board had sided with Passaro and Fire Chief Lawrence Lamey in opposition of the article and urged voters to do the same.
"We did an awful lot of discussing on this," Biggio said. "There are a lot of costs to this and a lot of problems that could result from it."
He said that injuries are more commonplace when there are older employees and an older employee base was, therefore, more likely to yield cases of injury, resulting in added compensation which the town must spend and would also cause reduced manpower in the public safety departments.
Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting also agreed, saying, "This is difficult because, on the one hand, you don't want to discriminate on age and on the other, there are a lot of costs.
"I don't think you want a 65-year-old person trying to save you out of your second floor window."
Voters eventually voted down the article when approximately 75 percent voted in favor of indefinite postponement.
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