By Tom Nash A potential firefighter candidate's plea to get on Somerville's reserve list led to a new clash in the Board of Aldermen over how the city uses the civil service system last week. Iraq veteran Sean O'Brien sent a letter to the Board of Aldermen earlier this month asking them to allow him on to the firefighter reserve list. He took the test after the current group of 10 candidates because he had not yet returned from Iraq, but the list was compiled just two days before he was certified as a candidate.

O'Brien's father-in-law, former Alderman Andrew Puglia, spoke on his behalf at a Feb. 24 committee meeting where the candidates were being interviewed. After Fire Chief Kevin Kelleher said changing the list would disrupt candidates' admission into the state's fire academy, Alderman-at-Large Bruce Desmond submitted a request to make a new list.

At the board's Feb. 25 meeting, Gewirtz highlighted O'Brien's situation as a reason to question why the city uses the reserve list as a hiring pool to replace retiring firefighters. The list, she said, is meant to provide temporary replacements only.

"This (system) wasn't designed so that every person who wants to become a full-time firefighter needs to go on this reserve list first," Gewirtz said. "What's happened in this situation is that people could be on this reserve list forever."

Personnel Director Jessie Baker and Kelleher defended the way the city uses the reserve list, with Baker adding 42 other municipalities use the system to fill gaps left by retirements. Mayor Joe Curtatone added that the method saves the city money, and that Gewirtz's understanding was out of date.

Gewirtz has long been a critic of Mayor Joe Curtatone's push for city positions, including the police chief and janitorial services, being taken out of civil service. Her questions led to a heated back-and-forth over the merits of the system in general.

"It's well established how archaic the civil service system is," Curtatone said as he explained the city's procedure.

"That's not true," Gewirtz interjected.

"I'm sorry, it is," Curtatone responded. "(The reserve list) is not the bucket brigade that's being alluded to. These are firefighters ready to do the job. We could not rely on just following the typical procedure and waiting months to fill vacancies … It's just not efficient."

Curtatone said the city has worked hard to eliminate "politicizing the process," adding he took exception to Gewirtz bringing up O'Brien.

"There are no guarantees you'll get hired here," he said.

Gewirtz countered by saying O'Brien's veteran status should be taken into account before he gets shut out of the certified list. "That's the part I'm taking issue with here," she said. "At what price expediency? Who pays?"

"The taxpayer will pay, the system will pay," Curtatone responded. "Your actions belie those concerns. We're not going to turn the clock backwards here. It sets a bad precedent to talk about this person. If they're great candidates, they'll be a firefighter. That's all I can tell you."

The 10 firefighter candidates were approved unanimously, while Alderman-at-Large Bruce Desmond's resolution calling for a new certified list was approved.

Curtatone reiterated after the meeting that Gewirtz's assertion that the city is improperly using the system is based on state requirements for intermittent reserve lists, which the city does not use.

"Firefighters are at risk if we don't fill these positions," he said. "We have followed every rule and regulation of civil service … We've worked hard and long these past six years to make sure cronyism doesn't get involved in the process."

For her part, Gewirtz says the underlying issue of whether the city is appropriately using the reserve list remains, and that initiatives from Curtatone's administration to take the police chief and janitorial positions out of civil service remain troubling.

"I do get concerned when I hear things like 'civil service is archaic,'" she said. "We need to make sure that we follow the letter of this law so that we do better in Somerville — so that everyone has a fair shot."