PROVIDENCE – Two very different pictures of the hiring process for the new Providence Police community relations leader were painted on Tuesday night as those involved recounted their sides of the story before the Providence City Council Finance Committee.
Public Safety Commissioner Steven M. Paré vehemently defended the process and the pick of city recreation director Michael Stephens for the job, calling allegations about the transparency and fairness “an outright lie” and “offensive.”
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But others on the hiring committee described a disorderly process clouded by lack of understanding about the qualifications needed for the job. And without a paper trail, the controversy amounted to a he said-she said debate that left council members with more questions than answers.
Chief among them: When was the position intended to be filled by a sworn law enforcement officer changed to a civilian post? And who decided that?
The original police major position, as funded by the city council in its fiscal 2021 budget, required a sworn law enforcement official to fill the post. But Stephens, Mayor Jorge O. Elorza’s pick for the job, has no law enforcement experience.
Elorza’s decision quickly drew backlash from a number of local and national police organizations, as well as members of the City Council. The council subsequently proposed renaming and reclassifying the position under its fiscal 2022 budget from sworn officer to civilian, with a corresponding salary reduction.
The controversy took a new turn last month when Council President John J. Igliozzi alleged the hiring process was rigged: Namely, that Stephens was part of the hiring committee before becoming a candidate and was not one of the finalists recommended to the mayor.
Paré on Tuesday said Stephens was part of an initial Zoom call to lay out the goals and mission of the hiring committee, but then withdrew and was replaced for the subsequent four meetings. Other hiring committee members who spoke on Tuesday corroborated that Stephens was only part of the first meeting, but were unclear exactly when he resigned and when he became a candidate.
Further muddying the waters was the way the 43-person applicant pool was winnowed down to a group of finalists. Kira Wills, another member of the hiring committee, said five of the eight hiring committee members did not hit the requested “reply all” in emails sharing their top candidates, leaving others in the dark.
Wills voiced concern about this in an email to the mayor and law enforcement leaders, she said. She never heard back.
After an initial round of interviews, the committee picked three finalists, one of whom got unanimous support for his years of experience in all levels of law enforcement and extensive research into budgets for addressing community relations, Wills said.
Stephens was not one of the top three, but in a subsequent meeting got added to the list, which seemed “very strange,” said Wole Akinibi, who also served on the hiring committee.
Also up for debate was who knew – and when – the role advertised as a police major was open to non-law enforcement applicants. While Paré insisted it was open to all from the start, he also agreed that legally, a police major must be a sworn officer.
Wills said she and other members also thought the post was open to civilians, describing other applicants’ with resumes padded with doctoral degrees and conflict resolution experience but not law enforcement jobs.
Discussion grew heated at times, with raised voices and interruptions from various speakers. Councilman James Taylor again reiterated his call for Paré to resign, while Councilman Nicholas Narducci called the entire process “a waste of time” given the lack of integrity.
“It was not transparent, there was no documentation, and people were shut out because criteria of job changed in the middle of the process,” Councilwoman Nirva LaFortune said. “It almost seems like it was an arbitrary process.”
Stephens, who was not at the meeting, previously declined to comment. Elorza in an emailed statement on Oct. 22 after Igliozzi’s allegations said the accusations were “simply false” and suggested Igliozzi raised questions because he did not want to increase the salary for the position as Elorza had requested.
The finance committee voted to continue the meeting after several hours of discussion.
Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Lavin@PBN.com.
