House Speaker Robert DeLeo now says he wants all hires at the state’s Probation Department to be subject to Civil Service requirements, an approach he raised concerns about less than a week ago.
DeLeo initially was deep in the bunker when a scathing report detailing a patronage pipeline between the Legislature and now-suspended Commissioner John O’Brien was released on Nov. 18. But lately he has gradually pumped up the volume about changing the system. Late this afternoon, he announced he will file legislation making new candidates for probation positions subject to Civil Service requirements.
“By placing the system under Civil Service, we make these candidates subject to the same uniform hiring and promotion criteria as other similar state employees,” DeLeo says in a statement. “The public expects state agencies to employ the best candidates before them. In addition, job candidates have a right to expect fair play in hiring.”
But last week, in an interview with his friend and high school classmate, Dan Rea, the speaker said he had concerns about involving Civil Service.
“That’s probably an easy way out,” DeLeo said when Rea broached the idea. He said local officials have had problems removing workers who are covered by Civil Service. “If you want to fire that person or get rid of them because they’re not performing properly, it’s a whole lot harder if they are part of the Civil Service Commission,” he said.
Asked about his apparent change of heart, DeLeo emailed that his answer to Rea’s question was based on his experience as a Winthrop selectman. He said further reflection convinced him that Civil Service offers an immediate remedy.
“I shared that concern because I know what I went through as a member of the Board of Selectmen in the town of Winthrop in terms of changing people over,” he said. “But this is a situation that, on thought, that requires more immediate attention. We’ve got to try to restore confidence in how we do business in this building, how probation does business. And I think that with the Civil Service Commission, in terms of the hiring process, that we can begin to restore some of the confidence that people may feel may be lacking right now.”
In a press release announcing his stance on Civil Service, DeLeo promised to work on a larger bill restructuring the Probation Department and its oversight but offered no specifics about whether he favored locating the agency in the executive branch, as Gov. Deval Patrick wants, or keeping it within the judiciary. The executive branch already oversees the Parole Department, whose employees are subject to Civil Service. Most judges – including Justice Roderick Ireland, Patrick’s nominee for chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court – favor keeping control of probation in the judiciary.
DeLeo has sent mixed signals since the report by independent counsel Paul Ware was released last month. While decrying the “severely flawed governance of probation,” he has avoided acknowledging any improprieties on the part of legislators, including himself. Ware’s report cites DeLeo as one of the top 10 lawmakers in making recommendations for hiring at the probation department, including his godson.
In a brief meeting with reporters last week, DeLeo defended the practice. “Sure,” he said when asked if he wrote a letter for his godson. “I always recommend people who I know.”