Worcester Should Abandon Civil Service, Committee Recommends

WORCESTER, MA — The Worcester Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) on Monday voted to recommend the city leave the civil service system, a move aimed at diversifying the pool of applicants for police and firefighter jobs.

The vote on Monday comes after more than a year of studying the issue. City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. asked the committee to look at leaving civil service in August 2020 during a renewed interest in civil rights issues across the nation.

The D&I committee has, in general, found that the civil service system hinders diversity in hiring. But the committee has also struggled to get information about how Worcester uses civil service. D&I has asked the city to provide a wide range of data, including exam scores and performance, and data about linguistic and ethnic diversity among police and firefighters. So far, the city hasn't provided any of that information, Chair Leigh Woodruff said.

The committee has largely relied on publicly available information about problems in civil service, including a landmark 2004 white paper by the Pioneer Institute.

RELATED: Worcester's Civil Service Exit Still Under Review After 15 Months

There were few members of the public at Monday's D&I meeting — public interest in the issue has been a longstanding problem, Woodruff has said — although two Worcester firefighters did attend to speak in favor of civil service.

"It provides a fair and balanced way for our members to be promoted and go through the system and also be appointed by the Worcester Fire Department," Worcester firefighter and union leader Terrence Baudin said.

Worcester Police Chief Steven Sargent has also said he supports civil service, but thinks the system could use modifications.

Massachusetts created its civil service system in the late 19th Century in an effort to reduce cronyism in public employment. Every two years, the state offers a multiple-choice civil service exam to people who want to work as either police or firefighters, among other public safety roles. The state uses those test results to rank candidates. Veterans and children of people who either died or became disabled while working in public safety generally go to the top of the list.

A growing number of cities in Massachusetts have abandoned civil service because it restricts the pool of candidates, leading to a lack of diversity. Nearby communities like Framingham, Marlborough, Grafton and Webster have all left the system.

The D&I committee in September voted to recommend other non-public safety employees, like cafeteria and parks workers, leave civil service. Those employees are technically hired through civil service, but don't have to take the civil service exam, and don't get enhanced protections under the system.

Monday's vote was only a recommendation to Augustus. The committee also voted to recommend Augustus hold a series of public hearings about whether Worcester should leave civil service.

"We're only five people out of a couple of hundred thousand in Worcester," Woodruff said Monday before the meeting. "It really seems like this is something we should have a broader array of voices speaking to before a decision is made."