By David Reid, The Republican (Holyoke, Mass.)
HOLYOKE, Mass. - A proposed police commission with the power to hire and fire police officers and to appoint police future police chiefs has been recommended by the City Council’s Ordinance Committee.
That may be as far as the measure goes, because Mayor Michael J. Sullivan, whose signature is needed to approve several minor but necessary charter changes, remains opposed to the idea of a police commission that usurps his power to hire and fire.
The Ordinance Committee voted Tuesday to send the measure to the law department to put it into legal form; the committee will take another look at it later this month before sending it to the full council, Ward 7 Councilor Marc E. Joyce, the chairman, said yesterday.
Although Joyce had warned fellow councilors during their debate Sullivan would not willingly yield his appointment powers to a commission, the committee proceeded to put even more teeth into the proposal.
Sullivan said yesterday he hasn’t seen a police commission that solves more problems than it creates. “It’s certainly not a panacea.”
The mayor said Police Chief Anthony R. Scott “is doing a wonderful job,” which has cut drastically the number of complaints he receives about police.
Sullivan accused councilors of trying to create another political body to micro-manage a department that needs experts like Scott in charge.
“So this is blatantly all about control,” he said. “And what it ends up being is a political minefield.”
In 1999, a weaker version of the police commission passed the council but died after then-mayor Daniel J. Szostkiewicz refused to sign it.
In that proposal, the mayor would appoint all five commissioners, subject to a two-thirds council confirmation.
Tuesday, however, committee members voted for the mayor and council to appoint two members each, with commissioners electing a fifth member.
If adopted, commissioners would earn $4,000 a year.
As now crafted, the measure has commissioners hiring, disciplining and removing police officers, hiring police chiefs and drafting department regulations. The mayor still would negotiate union contracts.
At-large Councilor Elaine A. Pluta said the effort in 1999 was to remove the mayor’s power to appoint the chief.
“That was the original thought behind the commission,” she said. “The commission should appoint the chief.”
While Joyce warned that Sullivan would likely scuttle any measure that curbed his powers, Council President Joseph M. McGiverin urged committee members to avoid soft-pedaling.
“We should draft the strongest possible police commission” and let the mayor react, McGiverin said. “If we go half way, then we’re being wishy-washy.”