Swampscott Fire Chief Eager To Break From Civil Service System

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — Swampscott Fire Chief Graham Archer has long thought the town should be able to hire the best fit for the job — not just one of two people with the highest test scores — when it comes to the fire and police departments the same way every other town office does.

Convincing unions and town leaders who have seen it done another way for their entire careers — as part of a civil service system that dates back more than a century — to push for a change was another matter.

But Archer grew convinced in recent years that if could sit down with those glued to the status quo a consensus could be reached on how a change could result in more diverse departments that are more responsive to residents' needs. Archer was pretty sure he could convince them to leave the state's civil service system that requires hiring and promotions to be almost strictly test-based.

"Civil service is too restrictive," Archer told Patch on Thursday. "It was a useful institution a hundred years ago when they implemented it. Before that, my perception is the chief could go out and hire his nephew and fill the department with anyone he wants at his discretion.

"Today it doesn't fit in the modern world. (Hiring the right person) goes far beyond a simple aptitude test and having people fill in the right boxes."

Archer and Swampscott Police Chief Ronald Madigan first had to convince that to the corresponding unions in town. Once that was accomplished, the matter was brought to town meeting where residents backed the break from the civil service system by a 178-54 vote this week.

"After discussing it a while, and drilling down into it, we found a harder and harder time — including unions who were initially reluctant to (change) — justifying it," Archer told Patch. "The unions, I think, walked into it reflexively looking to defend the status quo. But at some point our eyes all opened and we said: 'How can we improve this?'"

Archer said the union support was key to convincing town residents to make a recommendation to the state legislature that Swampscott be allowed to leave the system that was put in place in the 1880s to prevent nepotism and corrupt hiring practices.

"They are likely to cede to the will of town meeting," Archer said of the state. "Nothing is ever done until it's done. But getting the buy-in and the agreement to the unions was a monumental step. Getting us to come to town meeting without an objection was huge. The town didn't want to do this over their objection."

Archer said that while details of the new system still have to be worked out, he envisions it being like most any other hire in town in which qualifications, experience and the needs of the department are primary determiners of who gets the position or promotion. He said a test could be one component of it, but he would be in favor of using the scores more as a threshold that all applicants have to clear rather than a candidate ranking system.

"It wouldn't be the single, high-stakes, winner-take-all test that is the civil service test," he said.

He said realizes that "not everybody is doing back flips" over the switch, but that most understand the rationality behind the change.

"It's been a growing trend," he said. "I can't say it's been a tidal wave of them. We're not the first (town), but I would say we're toward the forefront. Pressure has been on in the State House to reform civil service departments at the same time more mayors and town managers are talking about looking into it."

At a time when some police and fire departments have felt the backlash of reform-minded residents amid several high-profile national cases of police brutality and systemic racism, bowing out of the test-based program could allow cities and towns to more freely shape those departments in the images of those communities.

"Absolutely, it's been a very different year for police officers," Archer said. "We've got great, great police officers in town. I have worked with many of them a long time — I've been here for 32 years. The Swampscott police I see now, for my money, is the best I've ever seen it. It's real community policing. They engage people, they know people, and seeing them suffer the slings and arrows based on national actions is hard.

"But there is a movement for some change and Swampscott can't stand apart from that. People are looking for more inclusiveness and departments that more closely reflect the community they are serving.

"It's not just racial diversity, it's gender diversity. It's diversity of experience. All the things that give you a well-rounded department."