City Councillors Criticize Police Recruits as Non-Residents

Although the 22 new Cambridge Police Department recruits include 17 minority officers, city councillors yesterday blasted City Manager Robert W. Healy for failing to hire more city residents.

Only 13 of the new officers live in Cambridge, according to a memorandum obtained by the Crimson.

Councillors praised the diversity of the recruits. Among the new officers are three Portuguese, three Hispanic, three Asian, four Haitian and four Blacks.

The four Haitian Americans officers are the first Creole-speaking members of the department, Mayor Kenneth E. Reeves '72 said at last night's council meeting. Cambridge has a large population of Creole-speaking Haitian immigrants.

Councillors last night criticized Healy for failing to hire more Cantabrigians. Although applicants who lived in Cambridge at least a year prior to the June, 1994 police exam received preference in hiring, residency is not required to be a police officer in Cambridge.

The new non-resident recruits live in several nearby communities, including Malden, Waltham, Brighton and Somerville.

One new officer, Jerry Jean-Baptiste, a resident of Randolph, said last night he hopes to move to Cambridge, but that high property costs have prevented him from doing so. New officers are paid $24,967 annually.

"I've never lived there, but I would like to live there," Jean-Baptiste said. "My wife is a teacher there."

Councillors last night said greater preference should be given to applicants who live in Cambridge.

"The residency preference doesn't go far enough," said Councillor Anthony D. Galluccio. "The day you swear them in, the day after they enter the academy, they leave [the city]."

Healy defended the hiring of the new officers, saying it is difficult to strike a balance between the city's desire for a diverse and bilingual police force and the need to hire cops familiar with the community.

"The alternative at this point would have been to leave the position vacant," said the manager, who directs the city's administration and finances.

Reeves hailed the diversity of the new recruits but also lamented this year's shortage of qualified Cambridge residents.

The mayor said the approximately 430 members of every graduating class at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, the city's public high school, need more information on the array of civil-service opportunities and that strong recruitment efforts are long overdue. "I don't know how in 1995 we're having this discussion," Reeves said.

But the city manager said hiring both Cantabrigians and minorities is often difficult. "I thought instead of criticism I would get some praise" for increasing the number of bilingual officers, Healy said. "I wish they were all Cambridge residents but that is not how the civil-service exam works."

"We do do recruitments. We do encourage people to take the exam," Healy added. "But you have to go with the top people who are qualified on the list."

Other councillors came to the manager's defense.

Councillor Timothy J. Toomey Jr. noted that several recruits originally lived in Cambridge but moved since taking the exam. Council member Kathleen L. Born said that many officers may have been born or lived in Cambridge but left due to the city's high living costs.

"If we're really serious about police officers living in the community, we have to do something about affordable housing," Born said. The councillor suggested that the city set aside certain affordable units for police officers.

Economic Development

Councillors passed several ordinances yesterday dealing with economic growth in Cambridge, as political debate begins over the city's 1996 fiscal years.

A number of council members asked Healy to be more aggressive in finding a grocery store for residents in Cambridgeport and Riverside.

Residents in the two neighborhoods were left without a market within walking distance after the Stop and Shop chain vacated its Memorial Drive building last summer. The council had denied the chain a zoning adjustment that would have allowed it to build a new superstore. The building is now occupied by a computer-supply store.

Councillors said they had hoped that a recently vacated building on Memorial Drive owned by Harvard Real Estate, Inc. (HRE) would serve as a new neighborhood market, but HRE has announced plans to instead grant a short-term lease to a plant nursery.

Assistant City Manager for Community Development Susan B. Schlesinger said last night she had met with officials from HRE, a University subsidiary, but that HRE does not want a long-term tenant. HRE has previously declined to specify its plans for the building.

"They indicated that since they have plans for the site, it wouldn't make sense for someone to invest a lot to build there," Schlesinger told the council.

The council unanimously passed an ordinance calling of Healy and Schlesinger to report on their efforts to encourage food markets to locate in Cambridgeport.

Councillor Michael A. Sullivan also sponsored a resolution calling on Healy to "establish a more competitive and aggressive economic development" plan, which was passed without dissent by the nine-member council.

Stride-Rite, the shoe chain, and the camera company Polaroid recently announced their plans to leave the city. Councillor Francis. H. Duehay '55 said more accurate information about the city's efforts to recruit business and chains is needed.

"Too often we are talking about fears and rumors and estimated projections," Duehay said.

Sullivan also proposed a resolution ordering Healy to meet with HRE to insure that the recently announced allotment by HRE of several units for affordable housing does not result in a decrease in the city's property tax revenue.

Reeves also proposed extending the contracts of City Clerk D. Margaret Drury and City Auditors James P. Lindstrom through May, 1998.