Ronnie Polaneczky: To save those who live here, hire those who live elsewhere
WHEN Deborah Payne died on New Year's Day, after waiting more than an hour for an ambulance, her death underscored how badly the Fire Department needs to overhaul its overburdened Emergency Medical Services.
WHEN Deborah Payne died on New Year's Day, after waiting more than an hour for an ambulance, her death underscored how badly the Fire Department needs to overhaul its overburdened Emergency Medical Services.
Especially in need of resolution is the department's dilemma of not being able to find new paramedics to replace the ones who flee the job at an alarmingly high rate, leaving EMS chronically understaffed. The problem was one of many detailed in a damning assessment of EMS by the city controller, released just two weeks before Payne died.
It's easy to assume that there's simply a shortage of paramedics willing to work in this city. But what we'll never know is how many might be willing to apply here if we'd waive the job's Philadelphia-residency requirement.
Not for good. Just for six months, the way we do for many city jobs deemed too important to leave vacant.
Like police commissioner and managing director, for example. Both positions have just been filled by outsiders Charles Ramsey and Camille Barnett, respectively, who are now in the process of moving here.
True, paramedic positions are civil-service jobs, not exempt ones, like Ramsey's and Barnett's gigs. Civil-service jobs require a one-year pre-residency.
Nonetheless, what paramedic in his right mind would move to Philly on the promise of maybe passing all hiring requirements a year from now?
If we can be reasonable about residency for those who help run our town, can't we be the same for the heroes who save our lives?
This week, City Councilman Jim Kenney plans to introduce a bill to give civil-service employees a six-month window to move into Philly after hire, just as exempt employees have.
This will be Kenney's third attempt to tweak the requirement. His first try, in 2001, passed in Council unanimously but was overridden by Mayor Street, who felt it would put Philly residents at a hiring disadvantage.
Me, I think he was just worried that too many outsiders would dilute his power base. But maybe I'm just suspicious.
Kenney couldn't snag the votes to override the veto; a second attempt at the bill, in 2004, also flopped. But at least it was co-sponsored by then-Councilman Michael Nutter, who can give a new bill the mayoral blessing if it passes in Council.
If it doesn't, I asked Kenney's legislative aide, Sarah Sachdev, would Kenney at least consider introducing something to loosen the rule for paramedics only, given the EMS staffing crisis?
"Legislatively, we could break it down," said Sachdev, "but we don't want to," because change is needed across-the-board to broaden the city's hiring pool and attract new residents.
Councilwoman Joan Krajewski, though, who has already called for a probe of EMS, said she'd support a more flexible residency requirement.
"As long as there's a timeline" to move into the city, she said. "We have to listen to these men and women in EMS who know what it'll take" to fix the system.
Turns out, though, that Council doesn't even need to approve a waiver for paramedics. What's needed is actually more simple.
An act of leadership.
"I won't say it's done every day, but it's not unusual to waive the civil-service residency requirement," City Council communications head Tony Radwanski told me. Back when he was first deputy city controller, Radwanski spent his days enforcing the requirement, so he saw it through many permutations.
Indeed, the city's Web site lists quite a few jobs - including social-worker trainee and community-health RN - for which the residency rule has been waived.
All a similar waiver would require for incoming paramedics, Radwanski said, would be for Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers to request it of the city's personnel director, who'd then submit the request to the Civil Service Commission. Hearings would be held and, if no big problems arose, the waiver could go into affect in about four weeks.
When I ran this past Ayers, though, he said he'd wait and see what Mayor Nutter's policy is on these things.
"If he makes that option available, I'm sure we will be the first to know about it," he said.
Which is an awfully passive response, given the crisis in EMS.
I'm sure Deborah Payne would agree, if only she were still here. *
E-mail polaner@phillynews.com or call 215-854-2217. For recent columns: