# Civil Service Commission questions hiring process for East Longmeadow police officer



## niteowl1970 (Jul 7, 2009)

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/03/civil_service_commission_quest.html

EAST LONGMEADOW - The state Civil Service Commission has challenged the Board of Selectmen's decision to bypass patrolman Daniel Bruno for a sergeant's position and ordered his name be placed at the top of the hiring list for the next open sergeant spot.

The ruling, issued Feb. 9, 2012, found in favor of Bruno. However, it said commission members found it "troubling" that he had Western New England University president Anthony S. Caprio make personal calls to selectmen in order to "tip the scales in his favor." Two of the selectmen have ties to the university.

Selectman Paul L. Federici has a daughter who attends the university, and Selectman Enrico J. Villamaino's family business, E.J. Villamaino Paving, has contracts with the university. Bruno is a graduate of the school and his mother is employed by Caprio's office. Caprio could not be reached for comment.

The Civil Service Commission is a state judicial agency whose mission is to hear and decide appeals of public employees under the protection of civil service laws. As a result of the ruling, Bruno was promoted to sergeant in February and is expected to be sworn in next month.

The board initially voted to bypass Bruno on Feb. 8, 2011. Federici voted in favor of Bruno, while members Villamaino and James D. Driscoll voted to promote another officer, Steve Manning. The report questions the board's reasons for bypassing Bruno, who was also passed over for the position in 2002 and 2006.


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## Guest (Mar 27, 2012)

Imagine how bad the nepotism would be if there were no civil service to fall back on?

I really wish that CS could order that the bypassed officer be promoted immediately and given seniority over the hack. Can't afford two sergeants? Should have thought about that before you started playing games. Either pay two, or demote the hack.


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## frapmpd24 (Sep 3, 2004)

Delta784 said:


> I really wish that CS could order that the bypassed officer be promoted immediately and given seniority over the hack. Can't afford two sergeants? Should have thought about that before you started playing games. Either pay two, or demote the hack.


That's the only way municipalities are going to learn, especially the cites and towns that are repeat offenders. Generally, the bypassed person gets placed on the top of the list for the next process, whenever the hell that is, and the municipality suffers no penalty, hardship, or otherwise for their conscious disregard for the process.

This is a prime example of the benefit of damages in a civil case. If there was a provision for damages, maybe even personal liability for politicians, they might think twice before playing games with people's careers.

For example, in the case of consumer law (Chapter 93A), companies, landlords, manufacturers and the like can be saddled with double or treble damages for deceptive or unlawful acts or practices. The damages can be very hefty and certainly deter repeated acts by hitting offenders where it counts - in the wallet. Maybe it's time to strengthen such damages for civil service violations.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Edmizer1 (Aug 27, 2006)

Dan has a reputation as a good cop and I hope it all works out for him. Selectman Driscoll is an ethical disaster. Everybody knows it, but he just keeps getting elected. I almost threw up on my keyboard when I read his comments defending the selectboard's decision. CS has its problems, but sometimes issues like this need to have a way to be corrected.


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