Municipal officials to present at meeting of Civil Service reform commission July 12

The Special Legislative Commission to Study and Examine the Civil Service Law will meet on Monday, July 12, to hear from municipal officials and others on challenges facing local government in recruiting and hiring police officers and firefighters under Civil Service law.

Local officials and the commission will also talk about personnel practices that have been developed to improve the process for cities and towns that remain in Civil Service and those that are exempt.

Municipal officials are welcome to attend the virtual public event, which will be livestreamed, beginning at 2 p.m.

The MMA representative on the 29-member commission, Danvers Assistant Town Manager Jen Breaker, will lead a panel of municipal officials to talk about the experiences of cities and towns in navigating recruitment, hiring and other personnel practices related to public safety personnel.

There will also be presentations by the state’s Human Resources Division on Civil Service law and by the Attorney General’s Office on enforcement.

The special commission was established by Chapter 253 (Section 107) of the Acts of 2020, the policing reform law. The co-chairs are Sen. Michael Brady and Rep. Kenneth Gordon.

The commission is charged with studying the employment, promotion, performance evaluation and disciplinary procedures for Civil Service employees and for municipalities not subject to the Civil Service law, and procedures of the department of state police.

The commission is also charged with making recommendations for changes to the Civil Service law to improve diversity, transparency and representation of the community in recruitment, hiring and training of Civil Service employees, including, but not limited to, any changes to Civil Service exams, merit preference status, eligible lists, and appointment from eligible lists by hiring authorities. The commission shall make recommendations to improve diversity, transparency and representation of the community in recruitment, hiring and training for municipalities not subject to the Civil Service law and for the Department of State Police.

For more information, contact MMA Legislative Director John Robertson at jrobertson@mma.org or MMA Research and Administrative Assistant Alandra Champion at achampion@mma.org.