By Donna Porstner
Staff Writer
January 17, 2006
STAMFORD -- After being accused of nepotism, the Fire Commission will not hire the mayor's nephew and a fire commissioner's son tonight as planned.
Chairman Richard Lyons said members will not discuss hirings or promotions at its monthly meeting at the direction of city Director of Human Resources Dennis Murphy, who is investigating the commission's hiring practices.
Mayor Dannel Malloy last week called on Murphy to investigate the fire and police commissions -- the only two commissions with hiring authority -- amid allegations that the Fire Commission hired friends and relatives over more qualified applicants.
Lyons said his commission is no longer authorized to fill two vacant positions expected to be given to Brien Malloy, the mayor's nephew, and Christopher Brennan, son of fire Commissioner E. Gaynor Brennan.
"There are no vacancies to be acted upon," Lyons said yesterday.
He could not explain how the commission lost its approval to fill the positions. Lyons referred all questions to Murphy, who could not be reached for comment. The Government Center was closed yesterday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Murphy is halting all hiring and promotions until he can establish new procedures for hiring, including drafting specific questions to be asked during the interviews and criteria for rating each applicant, according to a source who asked not to be identified. There are rumblings that the city might require all 120 firefighter applicants who took the Aug. 6 firefighters' exam to reinterview with the Fire Commission.
There have been two vacancies in Stamford Fire & Rescue since Dec. 5, when the city's Human Resources Department sent Lyons a letter saying the commission, which had already filled four openings in November, was authorized to fill two more entry-level firefighting jobs.
The two openings were expected to be filled by Brien Malloy and Christopher Brennan because, as alternates, they are next in line for jobs. The city's Human Resources Department sent both job offers in anticipation of their appointment at the Dec. 13 Fire Commission meeting. When the commission did not appoint them, the offers were withdrawn.
At the time, Lyons said the commission did not do any hiring Dec. 13 because he had not received the letter in time and did not know there were jobs to fill. He said the commission would discuss filling the positions at its January meeting, which is tonight.
It is unclear what business the Fire Commission will take up when it meets at 5:30 p.m. at fire headquarters. The agenda filed with the city clerk lists five items: chief's report, personnel issues, old business, new business and minutes.
Under the state's Freedom of Information laws, public boards and agencies must list any business they plan to discuss on an agenda issued at least 24 hours before the meeting to give people who might be interested an opportunity to attend. Members must take a vote during a meeting to discuss any items not on the agenda.
Not having an item listed on an agenda has not stopped the commission from taking action in the past.
It hired four firefighters at the November meeting when, according to the agenda, it was scheduled only to interview job candidates.
The agenda for the November meeting, never filed with the clerk but obtained by The Advocate last week, appears to have been written after the meeting. It lists the members who attended and those who were absent. It also makes a notation that Commissioner E. Gaynor Brennan, who was listed as present, recused himself from the selection process.
Last week, Malloy announced plans to improve the Fire Commission's record-keeping by assigning a city employee to take minutes at its meetings. By not having paid clerical staff to assist the commission, the city appears to be in violation of the city Charter. The Charter requires the director of administration to assign clerks to all appointed boards and commissions, including the Fire Commission.
Lyons was chairman of the city's Charter Revision Commission in 2004.
William Callion, the city's director of public safety, health and welfare, said Friday he could not comment on the Fire Commission's record-keeping because he has never seen any of its agendas or meeting minutes in his 2 1/2 years on the job. Callion, a former member of the Fire Commission, said he attends their meetings about once a year.
Callion said Friday he did not know whether the commission was expected to do any hiring tonight. He also did not know whether there are any vacancies for the commission to fill, saying he would ask the fire chief.
Even if jobs are open, Callion said the commission should hold off on hiring until Murphy's investigation is complete.
Christopher Munger, a Republican who lost to Malloy during the last mayoral election, said the Fire Commission should start from scratch and ask fire chiefs in neighboring towns to sit on the interview panel. Munger said that's how it was done a few years ago when his son Bryan, a city representative, was hired by the Turn of River Fire Department.
"I think the process should be done over and I think they've got to bring in outside people to conduct the interviews," Munger said.
City Rep. Joseph Coppola, R-15, a former Belltown Fire chief, agreed that Stamford Fire & Rescue should bring in outside experts who can be impartial. But he said he doesn't think restarting the entire process would be fair to the job applicants.
"It's not their fault," Coppola said.
If the mayor punishes anyone, Coppola said, it should be the Fire Commission.
"I think if I were in his position, I'd look at the people on the Fire Commission and wonder if it's time for a change," he said.
Coppola said he doesn't understand how the city can have mayoral appointees with no public safety experience hiring firefighters.
"Public safety is not something the average citizen, who has no training in, should be involved in," he said.
Coppola said Malloy made the right move by investigating.
Munger said he has no doubt Malloy will come up with a solution.
"He's running for governor," Munger said. "He's got to look good and he's got to clean up that mess."
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