ADAMS, Mass. — Adams is considering leaving Civil Service requirements to make it easier to hire officers.

 

Town Administrator Tony Mazzucco broached the possibility during joint Selectmen's and Finance Committee's fourth and final budget hearing held on Thursday night at the Visitors Center. That public hearing reviewed the public safety and library budget sections of the proposed $15.5 million town budget.  

 

Mazzucco said the police personnel services budget will increase 4.34 percent from the fiscal 2017 budget of $1,561,748 to a requested $1,629,512 in fiscal 2018.

 

Mazzucco said one of the larger increases in the budget is the temporary budget, to pay reserves, that is slotted to increase 77.78 percent from $45,000 to $80,000 next year. He said this coupled with leaving Civil Service will allow the town to bring on reserve officers and possibly hire them quicker.

 

"Civil Service is very restrictive, and it is a system that is a century old, designed for a different time, a different area and a different community," Mazzucco said. "This will increase our flexibility tenfold, and if I know I have a retirement coming up, we can take a reserve, put them on more patrols and send them to the academy or go out and hire a full-time officer and be able to bring them in in that transitionary period."

 

He said the increased line item would allow the Police Department to build a "minor league team" of reserves who don't just fill in when needed but go on patrol and gain experience.

 

Police Chief Richard Tarsa said he has wanted to leave Civil Service for some time now because it has made it nearly impossible to hire and maintain officers.

 

"It is such a hindrance, and it literally ties my hands," he said. "Since I have stepped into this position I can look you in the eye and say I have turned down at least 20 people that weren't on the list, that never took the Civil service test, and they have gone on to work for other departments ... we have lost good, qualified candidates."  

 

Mazzucco said the rigor that goes along with hiring an officer will remain the same but instead of waiting months to take a test and get results, this can be streamlined. He said the town has waited 10 months to bring on a new officer using the Civil Service process.

 

Also, the town would not have to pick from a very limited Civil Service list and when trying to attract command positions, the town can use a test that runs closer to department policies. 

 

"We can use an assessment center who will look at our police policies and base the test on our policies. Right now it is one state test," Mazzucco said. "That is what you want them to know ... they are passing a state test made by people who probably have never been to Adams and do not know our challenges."  

 

Mazzucco added that it will also be easier to hire officers from other states. He said with Civil Service, this is nearly impossible and oftentimes when hiring from another state, the town can bring on a veteran officer who does not have to go through the police academy. This saves the town money. 

 

There is really no downside to leaving Civil Service, he said. The only major change would be that new hires, if terminated, cannot go to Civil Service if they want to appeal the termination. Mazzucco said in most cases, police officers go through their union, which offers the same legal protection.

 

The police operating budget will decrease 7.25 percent from $89,665, to $83,165.

 

Mazzucco said the town does plan to replace a police cruiser, using free cash, for $40,500.

 

The other line items in public safety had small increases or stayed flat.

 

In parking management, Mazzucco said he wrote in a $7,400 line to hire a seasonal meter clerk. 

 

The town averages $11,000 in parking fees and he hopes next year, it will at least break even.

 

"For this to work, we have to break even and, hopefully, make more than that to make it worth doing," Mazzucco said. "You don't do this to make money, you do it to regulate the parking, but we never really have a problem with that. There is always a place to park."  

 

He said his main reason for trying the meter clerk is to attempt to stop the many complaints he receives that run from those who want meter readers to those who don't want meters at all.

 

"You almost want to say the solution is to do it because we get complaints, either way ... there is no system that will make people happy, so we will try it to say we try it," Mazzucco said. 

 

The final part of the budget the boards looked at was the library budget.

 

The personal services budget will increase 3.62 percent from $161,146 this year to $166,976 next year.

 

The operating budget will have a very slight .25 percent increase from $79,985 to $80,185.

 

Town meeting will vote on the budget in May.