For a spell, lifting the hiring freeze

By Bridget Samburg, Globe Correspondent, 8/17/2003

The Board of Selectmen has agreed to temporarily lift a hiring freeze that went into effect in December 2002, leaving the town with 23 vacant positions.

The ban will be lifted until Sept. 30, at which point Town Administrator Richard Kelliher has recommended that the town re-impose the freeze in anticipation of additional state budget cuts, which would impact Brookline's bottom line as well.

"Generally it appears that other municipalities are doing what we're doing," Kelliher said of the town's plan to allow departments to fill vacancies while putting restrictions on hiring for the rest of the year.

The 2004 fiscal year budget includes funding for these 23 positions.

Kelliher said between November and March, when town officials are busiest crunching numbers and planning the budget, it is highly unlikely that any new hires will be approved.

But he said that in an emergency or urgent situation the Board of Selectmen can approve an individual hire.

Since the hiring freeze went into effect, Kelliher said, the town has hired an assistant transportation engineer and an emergency dispatcher.

Kelliher emphasized that several vacancies in the fire or police departments would not be considered an emergency.

Currently, there are 33 vacant positions. Ten were vacant at the start of the hiring freeze but had been pre-approved to be filled.

Positions can often take months to fill, particularly those such as fire or police personnel, Kelliher said.

"There is a possibility here that all these positions could be filled and that would take away some flexibility" for the next fiscal year, Kelliher said, suggesting the possibility of an additional $1 billion to $2 billion being cut from the state budget.

He noted that in a typical year 20 to 25 positions become vacant due to normal turnover.

Kelliher said the town also has asked departments to consider alternatives to hiring.

These might include consolidation of jobs and automated approaches to certain positions. Kelliher would not elaborate, noting that it is something the town is considering but has not finalized.

The Fire Department currently has nine vacancies, the most of any department.

The Department of Public Works has eight vacancies, the Police Department three, and the Information Technology department three.

Kelliher said the rest are spread throughout various departments.

Before last December's hiring freeze, Kelliher said, the town -- which has approximately 700 full-time employees -- was staffed to capacity.

The Board of Selectmen can decide to rescind hiring authorization on positions not filled by Dec. 1.