A former Pittsfield, Massachusetts city councilor has filed a petition with the city to review its hiring practices.
James Boyle was a Pittsfield City Councilor in the 1990s. He filed the petition with the city after nine white, male firefighters were hired.
He believes more minorities and women should’ve be given the opportunity.
“These were missed opportunities. They don't come along very long. We probably won't be hiring firemen, especially nine firemen, for the next 20 years. It was a missed opportunity that we should have taken advantage of,” Boyle says.
Boyle made the petition public last week in a letter to the editor in The Berkshire Eagle. In the letter, he calls on residents to write to state and federal leaders to suspend the city’s funding until Pittsfield leadership complies.
Mayor Linda Tyer says that could seriously hurt the city. Speaking at a press conference Wednesday, Tyer said Boyle’s call to action could suspend much of the funding to housing, infrastructure, blight prevention, gang deterrence, small business development and environmental issues.
“I am not averse to critique," Tyer says. "I welcome criticism and the civic engagement of those in the community that we serve every day. But this letter was not that. Rather it contained some egregious hiring practices. And it virtually ignored all the steps we have taken here inside of local government to create and support a more diverse government and school department, school community.”
Tyer says Pittsfield has promoted diversity training at public schools, city hall and public safety departments. Officials say that the number of minority city employees has increased since its affirmative action plan was updated in 2014.
Last year, out of the 480 total city workers, 10 percent were minorities.
“The hiring of firefighters and police officers is directed and constrained by the state’s civil service process,” Tyer says.
The civil service test costs $250 and can be taken an hour away in Springfield. The candidates who score the highest are placed at the top of the list for the city to choose from.
“The nine candidates who were recently appointed each earned their appointments fair and squar,” Tyer says.
This isn’t the first time Pittsfield has faced criticism over its hiring process. The previous mayoral administration was investigated by the Pittsfield Human Rights Commission after a woman seeking a city hall position sent complaints to state and federal authorities.
There are two members of the Berkshire County NAACP on the city’s affirmative action board.
Dennis Powell of the NAACP says there will always be room for improvement.
“Are where we should be? No. Are we where we were? No,” Powell says. “Progress, I am happy to say, has been made. But the process is a slow process and it’s a slow process because it was never practiced in years past.”
Boyle says he will continue to submit his complaints and circulate the petition to organizations that help fund Pittsfield’s programs.
