Pittsfield Committee Concludes Research on Civil Service

By Joe DurwinPittsfield Correspondent
12:56PM / Friday, April 04, 2014Print Story | Email Story

The Civil Service task force wants to meet with the city's police and fire chiefs again before making recommendation on whether to scrap the system for the top public safety jobs.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A city task force is preparing to conclude its mission to investigate an issue that has plagued municipal governance for several years.

The question of whether to have the jobs of police and fire chiefs in the Civil Service system has been a complex one, and the committee has heard arguments both for and against keeping the chief's position within the bureaucracy of a state agency that all parties seem to agree is badly ailing.

"We are at almost at the end of our evaluation, and we will have to make our recommendations," said Mary McGinnis, director of administrative services, on Thursday.

Civil Service systems originated in the late 19th and early 20th century, and proponents say it still offers a measure of immunity from political tinkering in public safety decisions. Several former Civil Service police chiefs, including the head of the Massachusetts Police Chiefs Association, however, have told the committee that most of the same protections can be provided with greater flexibility through modern professional contracts and transparent hiring practices.

"I think it's a terrible way to pick a chief executive," former Norwood Police Chief William Brooks said during a conference call with the group on Thursday. "To lock yourself into this numeric system is crazy."

Former Wellesle Police Chief Terrance Cunningham agreed, calling it "a heavily bureaucratic agency" that was often an impediment to towns finding the best candidate for their communities.

They described Civil Service in Massachusetts as a troubled, inefficient agency, and one whose methods are out of step with the actual qualification needs of communities in their police forces. Short-staffed centers, delayed testing, and a failure rate of around 80 percent were also among the complaints cited.

"Civil Service is in total disarray in Massachusetts," said MPCA director Wayne Sampson last week. "They only service public safety employees, and they're doing a horrible job at that."

Out of about 350 police chiefs in Massachusetts, only 75 are still part of the Civil Service system; 150 of those communities use Civil Service for all officers within their departments. In 2010, a survey of Massachusetts police chiefs found that of 100 respondents, a majority favored taking the chief position out of Civil Service.

After a 13-year period out of Civil Service, Pittsfield placed the position of police chief back in through a Special Act in 1992, but it was thought too restrictive by former Mayor James Ruberto, who placed Robert Czerwinski and Michael Wynn in command of the Fire and Police departments, respectively, in a provisional capacity, to circumnavigate those requirements.

The possibility of removing these two department head positions from the Civil Service system again came under serious discussion early last year, during the revision of the city's charter. While members of that Charter Study Committee remained divided over the issue of Civil Service, the new charter stipulates that the city begin the process of making confirmed appointments for these positions.

"As a task force we need to make a recommendation, but as a community we need to make a decision," said Chairwoman Pamela Green.

Green said there seemed to be an "overarching theme" that Civil Service is too problematic, but she wants the committee to deliberate further with its appointed members from the Fire and Police departments, both of whom were absent from this week's meeting.

"That seems to be the 800-pound gorilla in the room," said attorney Michael McCarthy. "The Civil Service system seems to be broken, and no one at the state level is looking to fix it."

"I think the pro Civil Service proponents cite two things, job security and predictability of promotion," McCarthy concluded. "I think the main points that all of the proponents of non Civil Service have made is that the same protection, and maybe even somewhat better protections, can be put in place through collective bargaining agreement."

"As long as there are protections in the contract, it doesn't seem to matter whether it's Civil Service or not Civil Service," concurred Personnel Manager John D'Angelo.

A draft summary of findings from the task force's investigation is being prepared by McCarthy for the group's review and final deliberation on what recommendations to make to the mayor at its final meeting on April 17.

Tags: acting appointments, civil service, fire chief, police chief,

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Elder Services Celebrates More Thann 50 Years While Navigating Federal Challenges

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
02:27PM / Sunday, November 01, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Elder Services of Berkshire County celebrated 52 years at its annual meeting Friday.

Guests gathered at the Country Club of Pittsfield to honor service members and hear about healthy aging in the county from keynote speaker Beth Dugan, a gerontology professor at the Manning College of Nursing and Health Sciences at University of Massachusetts at Boston.

Executive Director Chris McLaughlin welcomed everyone and recognized community partners and board members. He said the agency is supported by 135 employees and 260 active volunteers who help bring the nonprofit's mission to life.

"As the Aging Services Access Point and Area Agency on Aging for our 32 communities, Elder Services is the trusted resource for older adults and their caregivers, supporting their desire to remain at home safely," he said. "Whether it's a referral to a community resource or to one of our many programs, it's our job to meet people during some of life's most challenging times and to help them find solutions that enable them to remain independent," he said.

McLaughlin said he thought back on last year's meeting where they worried about cuts in federal funding and programs associated with the Trump administration's dismantling of the Administration for Community Living that never materialized. While that did not affect them he raised concern about Medicaid changes expected to take effect in January, including projected reductions in federal funding to Massachusetts and loss of Medicaid eligibility for some consumers because of the implementation of Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill."

"These changes will remove $3.5 billion in federal funding for Massachusetts and Medicaid eligibility for many, including some of our consumers, with disastrous consequences," he said.

Another challenge for the agency was a cap put in place on their enrollment for their home care program.

"Our state Home Care program, our agency's largest program, deploys homemakers, home health aides, and companions to the homes of Berkshire older adults and continues to grow at unprecedented levels," McLaughlin said. "The implementation of a cap on the number of Enhanced Community Options Program consumers we can enroll has basically cut in half the number of individuals we can service in this program. These individuals qualify clinically for nursing home level of care. This cap will remain in effect for the near future."

But they are still looking up for the future.

"We understand more than ever before that in 2027 there will be changes designed to limit state spending for older adults and this will be compounded by even more older adults becoming eligible for our services. We look forward to learning more about how the Rural Health Transformation Program will benefit older adults in Berkshire County. We are of course worried about how MassHealth changes will impact our consumers and whether the Commonwealth will reduce our funding to support those who will lose Medicaid eligibility," McLaughlin said.

"Despite these challenges we remain optimistic about the future and will respond to them as we always do, with purpose and resilience."

The nonprofit also highlighted its successes through the Hospital Liaison Program that works with local hospitals to help older adults return home rather than enter a nursing home. Although its original funding had ended, Berkshire Medical Center secured a grant expected to support the program for another 30 months.

Volunteers also helped more than 4,000 Berkshire residents make Medicare and other health-insurance decisions. One volunteer helped a woman undergoing chemotherapy qualify for assistance with co-pays and find grants to address an outstanding bill and was able to complete her treatments without the added stress.

The lunch also awarded Elder Services employees. Lauren Larison, Laura Sexton, Jillian Tatro, Christine Barcus, Lisa Jamros, Nichole Pervere, Janet Richardson, Fred Minkle Jr., Karen Decker, Larry Belanger, Diane Cote, and Mary Moran were recognized for five years with Elder Services. Linda Gilardi, Judith Desjardins, and Sara Dastoli were recognized for 15 years with the agency and Bill Marsh and Deb Aldrich-Jegtvig were celebrating 30 years of service.

The meeting included a change in the board with new President Kalee Carmel taking over for Barry Kriesberg, while recognizing Teresa Caldwell on her term ending.

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