William C. Shelton (The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.) I really do get tired of writing columns critical of the mayor's actions and the aldermen's inactions. I much prefer to celebrate Somerville government's triumphs, like the comprehensive planning effort or the middle-school multimedia program.

So I was going to take a pass on the city's Reserve Fire Force. But the venom and disinformation on display at the February 25th Board of Aldermen meeting obligates me to get at the underlying facts.

The administration says that the Reserve Fire Force isn't a fire force, it's a list of names from which the mayor appoints permanent firefighters in the order that he chooses. No one can now become a firefighter without being on the list.

Those on the list are noteworthy for how many of them scored poorly on the civil service exam and how many are related to people already on the city payroll. And they need not re-qualify for the civil service list every two years, as other firefighter candidates must.

Massachusetts General Laws provide for the creation of a "reserve fire force" if "the city council, with the approval of the mayor, accepts" the specified statutes. The primary statutory requirement is to make appointments to the reserve force from the civil service firefighters list.

In February 2008, the mayor asked the aldermen for a vote to accept the relevant statutes. He told them that a reserve force would hasten efforts to hire fighters for vacant positions that could otherwise take "months" to fill. It would reduce the time new hires would wait for available slots in the Fire Academy. And it would reduce overtime costs. The aldermen did as asked.

In fact, nine months passed before the first group of new firefighters was appointed. And in the following fiscal year, overtime costs increased.

Following the Board of Aldermen's vote, city staff submitted a requisition to Massachusetts Human Resources Division (HRD) to fill ten reserve fire force positions. In May 2008, HRD sent a certified civil service list of 42 candidates. The city was required to make its selection from the 21 highest scorers who still wanted the job.

At the same time, HRD sent postcards to everyone on the list stating that if they wished to be considered for appointment as a "permanent reserve firefighter," they must appear at City Hall and indicate their interest. Only 21 showed up, and 16 of them were in the bottom half of the list.

This lack of response from candidates who were motivated and scored well is rare. They probably didn't want to permanently be a "reserve" fire fighter. And the city made no effort to inform them that they could only become a permanent firefighter by first being on a "reserve" fire force.

So three-quarters of those in the top half of the list did not respond. It would be interesting to know how those who did respond learned about the reserve force's significance.

On November 13, 2008 the Board of Aldermen confirmed nominations of ten new fire fighters to the reserve force. Eight of the ten had been in the bottom third of the civil service list. City records show that they were appointed to the reserve fire force the next Monday, and as permanent firefighters the very next day.

An eleventh candidate was appointed to the reserve force on February 23rd 2009 and as a permanent firefighter on February 27th 2009. Since the certified list that he was on had expired months earlier, his appointment appears to have been illegal.

On February 25th of this year, the Board of Aldermen confirmed another 10 nominees, bringing to 21 the number of firefighters appointed since instituting the reserve force. Of that number, 11 have close relatives who are city employees; 6 have close relatives working for the Fire Department.

Candidates with a parent who was a firefighter killed in the line of duty have first preference on any list. This applies to none of the new hires.

No one would probably have noticed were it not for Sean O'Brien. (Disclosure: I know and like Sean and his family.) He grew up in Somerville, joined the Marines, and served two tours in Iraq disarming explosive devices. Wanting to become a Somerville firefighter, he took the exam in September, 2009. In November, he was placed in the number one spot on the civil service list.

Also in September, the city had obtained a new certified list from HRD. That list expired in December. But instead of asking for a new list, on Christmas eve city staff asked for an extension of the old list. A new one would have ranked Sean in first position.

In January, Sean wrote a letter to the mayor explaining his background and his position on the list. He requested a meeting with the mayor. The mayor did not respond to Sean's letter, and the city did not request a new certification.

Appointment of ten new candidates to the reserve fire force was on the February 25th Board of Aldermen's agenda. Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz asked probing questions regarding the purpose, use, and efficacy of a reserve fire force. In anticipation, the administration had the city's personnel director, fire chief, chief labor council, and the mayor himself on hand.

City Personnel Director Jessie Baker told the Aldermen that 42 other Massachusetts municipalities use a reserve fire force. That's not quite true. Over the years, 43 of 351 Massachusetts municipalities voted to accept the relevant statutes. But only a minority of the 43 maintain and make appointments from a reserve force.

A survey of 50 cities and towns conducted for this column was weighted toward those municipalities that Baker referred to. Of that sample, 14 have accepted the statutes but now have no reserve force. Lawrence, Lowell, Peabody, Everett and Revere appoint firefighters from a reserve force.

Everett had abandoned the practice, but reinstated it under Mayor David Ragucci. The FBI subsequently took a keen interest in his hiring practices. Chelsea had a reserve fire force but abandoned its active use when, weary of corruption, it's citizens voted to adopt a council-manager form of government.

I have not named any of those appointed to Somerville's reserve force. My quarrel is not with them. They simply follow the rules of the game as it is played in Somerville. My quarrel is with those who manage the game.

Without naming him, Alderman Gewirtz cited the case of Sean O'Brien as an illustration of the concerns that she specified regarding the purpose and use of the reserve fire force. Mayor Curtatone heatedly suggested that she was attempting to "politicize" the process by inappropriately focusing on one individual in the context of a Board meeting.

Yet to my mind, the concerns that she raised remain unanswered. Or as I've suggested, the answers offered are questionable and raise further questions.

At that meeting, Mayor Curtatone asserted "It is well established how archaic the civil service system is." He subsequently told my colleague Tom Nash, "We've worked hard and long these past six years to make sure cronyism doesn't get involved in the process."