Committee adopts special act to remove future Holyoke fire chiefs from civil service

The Holyoke City Council Charter and Rules Committee voted to adopt an order asking the city to pursue a special act that would remove future fire chiefs from civil service, an action proponents said would preserve the city’s residency requirement and give the Fire Commission broader hiring and disciplinary authority.

Councilor Kevin Jourdain, who introduced the order, told the committee the proposal would “give a lot more power and flexibility to the fire commission” and would let the commission “replicate the process that we have for police chief,” including negotiating a contract and using screening committees and interviews instead of being strictly bound by civil service point lists.

Jourdain said the change is aimed in part at preserving a Holyoke ordinance that requires the fire chief to be a resident. He said his understanding was that the current chief — hired in 2022 — had not moved into Holyoke within the year he was expected to, and that civil service rules may allow hiring from a radius outside the city. Jourdain framed the special-act approach as a way to preserve residency for future chiefs while “grandfather[ing] in” the incumbent: “I wouldn't take away his civil service status. This would only be for future fire chiefs,” he said.

Members of the Fire Commission who joined the meeting supported the change as a way to expand the commission’s options. Jeffrey Trask, identified in the meeting as a Fire Commission member, said the proposal would “give us the flexibility to hire … a candidate that is most qualified” and that a standing commission should help guard against patronage. George Metty, who also spoke in support, said the change would help management and discipline: “It's almost impossible” to discharge poor performance under current civil service protections, he said, while adding a caution that the process should keep patronage out.

Councilor Patty Devine, a former fire commissioner, described the constraints imposed by civil service lists and supported the committee action, noting that civil service placement rules can make selecting an outside candidate difficult: “If you go to say that the chief that you want is number 4 on the list, you better have a real good reason,” she said.

The committee approved the order in committee by voice vote. The action, as discussed at the meeting, would apply only to future fire chiefs and would not remove civil service protections from the incumbent. Proponents said the change would also allow hiring under contract terms that make discipline or termination of a chief more straightforward than the civil service appeal process.

Committee members asked for input from the law department and the Fire Commission during discussion; supporters said the proposal had been considered in earlier reform efforts but not previously adopted.

Supporters said the move aims to preserve the residency requirement embedded in city ordinances, expand candidate pools beyond the current department’s deputy chiefs, and allow the Fire Commission and mayor to select and, if necessary, discipline a chief under contract terms rather than through civil service appeals.

The committee did not adopt any other specific implementation language at the meeting. Further legal drafting and any required referral or home‑rule petition process were discussed as next steps but were not completed during the session.