The Committee for Ordinances & Rules is delaying a recommendation on a new hiring policy until it can be publicly vetted.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — City Councilors on Monday asked for an additional month to begin a long awaited review of a proposed ordinance that would solidify an affirmative action policy for city hiring.

 

A policy was put forth by the city's Affirmative Action Advisory Committee and accepted by the council in December, and, in January, a petition was put forth by Councilor Churchill Cotton and NAACP chapter President Dennis Powell to codify the policy into ordinance.

 

Councilors on the Committee for Ordinances & Rules say they only received the proposed ordinance language from the city solicitor's office a week ago, insufficient time to be able to offer it a proper airing at this month's subcommittee meeting.

 

A desire for public transparency was highlighted as a particular issue.

 

"The public hasn't had access to it," Council President Melissa Mazzeo said of the ordinance text, recommending its inclusion in the agenda package for August's committee meeting.  

 

Councilor Kathleen Amuso also felt the issue merited close attention and expressed support for leaving the petition tabled for the moment. 

 

"It's too important an ordinance not to do it properly," agreed Cotton.

 

"I think it's so important for everybody to be able to follow along on the same page," concluded Mazzeo.  "It's just one more month, if everybody can just hang tight."

 

An apparent lack of diversity in personnel within the city of Pittsfield, one of the county's largest employers, has been a subject of frequent criticism since the reorganization of the Berkshire NAACP at the end of 2012. In 2013, the Affirmative Action Advisory Committee was formed to look into reviving a previous personnel policy that had been developed but not implemented by any of the past few administrations.

 

Alleged discrimination in city hiring practices was also a key component in the complaint filed last year with the city's Human Rights Commission by Medford resident owner Doreen Wade. 

 

"There's a fair amount of distrust with city government," Cotton noted.  "This won't solve all of it, but it'll help some of it."