Pittsfield Councilors Query Code Changes for Police Chief Hiring
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — City councilors believe that there needs to be more thought made to code changes that facilitate the city's search for a new police chief.
Last month, the Ordinances and Rules subcommittee rejected a request for a salary increase to the position and tabled a request to remove the management residency requirement and replace it with a 20-mile radius requirement.
"We're making changes for one of our top positions," Ward 1 Councilor Kenneth Warren said. "We should put a lot more time and thought into what we're doing."
Human Resources Director Michael Taylor explained that both items are directly related to the city's police chief position, which Michael Wynn retired from this month.
Capt. Thomas Dawley is the interim chief and a search for a permanent chief will occur next year after the mayoral election.
"Both of these items are specifically aimed to address that process," Taylor explained.
"One to reclassify the position to make this job from a salary standpoint, not only more competitive externally but also internally, especially with the recent settlement of some union contracts, and then also address the residency requirement that has been outlined in city ordinance for decades."
The city wants to reclassify the position from a Grade M11 salary that would pay between $115,214 and $149,778 in fiscal 2024 to a Grade M12 salary that ranges between $133,500 and $173,550.
It was supported by the Personnel Review Board in May.
Taylor said it would be ideal to promote the position from within the department to allow the opportunity for growth and advancement of existing staff.
"We certainly have people within the Police Department, captains, lieutenants, sergeants, that have a wealth of experience in that department and we would hope, obviously, to provide them that opportunity," he said.
"So it's important that this pay scale for the police chief is certainly competitive, as we continue to settle union contracts and incentivize those individuals to stay so it needs to be internally competitive."
Taylor reported that the "gap continued to close" significantly between positions, especially when you look at the incentives in police contracts such as compensation for education, bilingual proficiency, and special certifications.
"We've been a little bit behind on catching up with that so this reclassification would certainly help," he said.
Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey said the city is seeing 7 to 18 percent increases in pay.
"I'm just getting concerned that if we approve this step increase that we'll also see these additional increases on top of what their base salary is that'll just blow our budget," he said.
Taylor pointed out that the person appointed as chief will be in negotiations with the future mayor and that position will be entitled to a cost of living adjustment as well as the choice to maintain the same state performance management system and awards merit.
"That's where my concern is. I'm looking at our budget and the reason I voted against our budget was because of some of the massive increases we saw in salaries. It was just in the city side, without including some of the positions that were non-management, was $1.7 million," Kavey said.
"So with a step increase like this, I'm just concerned that even when we started $150,000 we'll see them surpassing some of the other communities that you had mentioned that are larger in size than us."
Warren said the city has a habit of being more reactionary than proactive and does not think there needs to be a rush for the salary increase.
He would like to hear what the mayoral candidates think of it.
"I'm not ready to just jump into this and raise this significantly without really doing a deep dive and possibly maybe, we're always talking about stakeholders, we want to talk to stakeholders, we want to talk to the public," he said.
"I think we need to really look at this and talk to people who can give us some input so we're doing the right thing rather than just raising it to raise it."
The councilor said he is likely to support some kind of raise but does not support the way it is presented.
Ward 6 Councilor Dina Lampiasi is concerned about the increase without a broader conversation about what it looks like.
"If we have trouble recruiting and that's explicit to us, I think that that would give us as a council more assurance that we're doing the right thing," she said.
"For me after the budget that we just passed, it was really difficult for me when I was looking at salaries. As much as I think it's important that we pay people well to attract talent here, I've been a very strong advocate of that my entire time on the council but the reality is that we're looking at what we are for the tax increases."
Taylor believes this increase is already factored into this fiscal year's budget.
The councilors all expressed concern about expanding the residency requirement to 20 miles around the city.
There was a concern that 20 miles may not be close enough to respond to an emergency and that the chief could have unreliable cell phone service during the commute and be unable to work.
Warren pointed out that, before cell phones, people wanted officials to have an investment in the city by owning a home there and being a part of the community.
"I know that doesn't mean that you can't get good people that live outside that jurisdiction, but if you check other communities, some will have this restriction. Some won't," he said.
He suggested looking at other communities to see what their restrictions are.
Lampiasi also said that living in the community that a chief serves helps create a better bond with residents.
"I do think that the public expects for a city employee or a police chief or any other position to face the same restrictions or taxes or policies that they as a resident of that community are experiencing and that's only attained when those positions reside within the community that they're serving," she said.
"However, on the other hand, I am sympathetic to the idea that it broadens our talent pool. I think we all want the best talent in this position. It's an extremely important position for our city and for our residents and it makes it really difficult but for me, I know that I need more conversation around this and why we would be making this change for the long term in order to support that at this time."
Councilor at Large Peter White said he would comfortable with a smaller radius, possibly one that includes towns that border Pittsfield.
The councilors felt that there was not enough supporting information for the request and asked for it to come back with a better explanation and for city officials to attend and answer questions.
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