Hiring process for new fire chief begins; decision expected in May

By Neil Zolot

Everett is starting its search for a new Fire Chief. “It’s nice the process is moving forward after seven years,” Councillor-at-Large Stephanie Smith said at the City Council meeting on Monday, February 12, a reference to inconsistent methods used to pick chiefs and acting chiefs since the retirement of David Butler in 2016 – leading to variously designated appointments of Anthony Cerli that year, Scott Dalrymple in 2021 and current acting chief Sabato LoRusso last year.

Based on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between City Hall and Local Firefighters Union 143, the standard Civil Service test process will be augmented with the Assessment Center evaluation. “We have secured the Assessment Center in partnership with Civil Service,” Human Resources Director Terri Ronco explained. “In May we should have a resolution to the hiring process.”

Parow Consulting has been hired to help manage the process. “This company has done similar assessments in the past,” union head John Rossi explained. “They’re a vendor of Civil Service and will work with Civil Service to come up with a list for the job. Civil Service will also get information from the candidates, which is common with their exams. The final candidates will be a combination of the Assessment Center and Civil Service rankings. They’ll put it together to come up with a certified list.”

Only Fire Department employees at the Deputy Chief level will be eligible to apply. Erin Deveney, Chief of Staff for Mayor Carlo DeMaria, reported that several in Everett are interested.

Traditionally, the person scoring highest on the Civil Service test is chosen by the Mayor. “I hope he picks the top guy on the list,” Ward 6 Councillor Peter Pietrantonio said. “If the Mayor picks someone else, why are we paying the Assessment Center?”

“The Mayor has appointed the highest ranked person on the list for other positions,” Deveney answered. “There’s nothing to suggest the Mayor will do anything other than appoint the top ranked person, although people may not like who ranks first.”

The list, however, will not be based just on the test score, but a wider evaluation. “How you score is not the sole factor,” Deveney said.

“The Mayor makes the ultimate decision,” Union Treasurer and Secretary Sean Hogan added. “We assume he’ll take the top person on the list.”

Nevertheless, Pietrantonio also worried, “You can’t teach experience.”

Rossi answered, “Civil Service takes experience into account.”

The May date is to allow candidates to prepare for the screening process. “It’s time for the candidates to study,” Rossi explained. “We hope it will be mid-May or mid-June at the latest.”

The MOU was finalized in 2022, presumably to eliminate ambiguity in the selection process following the appointments of Cerli and Dalrymple. “We’ve been trying to move forward and get this done,” Hogan said.

Although thought to be an acting chief, Cerli was a permanent chief. “The administration’s position is that he was appointed permanent chief,” Deveney explained. “Admittedly, there was a great deal of controversy about that, but from the administration’s position and how we handled it, Cerli was a permanent chief. The Mayor used the Assessment Center and he wasn’t the only person to go through the process. We didn’t just use the Civil Service test to decide. The Everett Fire Department pursued multiple avenues to contest the process. The City had success, but the Mayor decided to negotiate the Assessment Center process so we wouldn’t have to go through that again. The last decision was in the city’s favor, but we were already in negotiations with the union. It was the best way to move forward.”

Despite mid-Fiscal Year cuts in aid from the state, the Fire Department is receiving grants and aid, which were approved by the City Council on February 12, including accepting:

• a $50,000 Massachusetts Department of Fire Services grant to enhance the efficiency of fire alarm dispatch operations and facilitate quicker and more accurate documentation and dispatch of apparatus
• a $37,500 Massachusetts Department of Fire Services grant for managing hazardous waste
• a $20,150 Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency grant for emergency management preparedness
• a $10,153 Massachusetts Department of Fire Services grant for replacing worn out hoses, nozzles and valves
• a $1,000 donation from the Mayor and Stacy DeMaria through the Honey Dew Family Foundation for the Fire Victims Fund
• a $195 donation from Everett employees for the Fire Victims Fund

A request to transfer $115,000 from the Budgetary Fund Balance or Free Cash to the Fire Department Maintenance and Operating Funds accounts was sent to the Ways and Means Subcommittee for consideration.

In other action, the City Council passed a request from the Mayor that the Fire Department’s 1995 spare/reserve ladder truck be classified as surplus equipment.