So, it will be Everett Pierce at the fire station.

I wish him well. He has a great resume and has had a wonderful career. I hope that he comes to Nantucket with an open mind, a sense of humor, some independence, and a big, fat wallet. He is going to need all of those skills to make it to his retirement.

From reading the comments in the paper, it sure looks as if Everett is ≥the cleaner.≥ He comes to Nantucket with a bunch of experience and not much of a shot at staying in the community. He has five and a half years until retirement. He is not going to make enough money to buy a house. So, without ties to the community and without much of a future out here, Everett should have a free hand to do anything to the Fire department.

I donπt know if that is a good thing or not, but reform was clearly on the Town Administratorπs mind when she hired him. The ≥Report≤ was clearly the guiding force in the hiring and it must be blistering. The town went back to the well twice to find this candidate after getting Town Meeting to revoke itπs previous ≥home town≤ rule. The town fathers really wanted Bill Parcells, Mike Keenan, or Hubie Brown to come in and clean up.

I havenπt read the report. Perhaps they are right.

But if that is Everettπs charge, he is going to need all of his resources to make it happen. He is coming to a tight community that will view him with some suspicion. Some of his workers will remark ≥that the boat comes around Brant Point and it goes around Brant Point.≤ His $85,000 will pay for the winter rent and groceries, with maybe a little left over to visit the grandchildren.

In other words, in the middle of March when he has to fight for funding, continue to negotiate a contract with firefighters and evaluate his charges, he will go home to a cold, drafty house that can never be his, talk to the grand-daughters on the phone and read a few negative stories in the paper. Like all of us, he will have some bill <IMG SRC="jeep.gif" ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH=157 HEIGHT=88>s that he canπt fully pay on the kitchen table.

If it were me, I would think about sending out the resume.

For fifteen years, I have heard the wise old island Solons speak of an impending crisis. Municipal employees, whether they are teachers, fire fighters, cops, or town administrators are going to retire and the new group will not be able to move here and make a career. Two stark choices appeared. First, the town could hire more Nantucketers for the jobs, since they already had housing and roots. If they werenπt ready for the jobs, the town would have to grow them into it. Second, the town could hire off-island folks and pay them enough to move in and stay.

For fifteen years, this crisis has been over the horizon, but now it is upon us. The Police Department addressed this problem years ago and began to aggressively hire locals for the force. Danny Mack, Angus MacVicar, Travis Ray, Steve Tornovish and others that I canπt remember put on the blues. So, while the Police Department still has hiring issues, it has a core of young cops who are unlikely to move on. Until recently, the schools also were aggressive on local hires. Nancy Larrabee and Lynn Kalman become principals before they were certified and then took care of the paperwork later. Other teachers came into the system with little or no background in education, then got certified through some aggressive professional development. The schoolπs policy of local hiring and professional development is a feather in the Superintendentπs cap.

However, in defending the decision not to rehire Russ Leverault, the Superintendent also gave voice to the counter-argument. In over-riding the principalπs recommendation, Alan and Marcia used an ≥island factor.≤ He defined this factor as an undue favoritism towards locals.

Now, this ≥island factor≤ is present in almost every hiring business on Nantucket, including the town. Locals are known quantities. We know them, warts and all. As a result, their warts will make the boss hesitate. Off-island candidates are resumes, smiles and blank spaces. Administrators project their wishes onto the blank spaces and get those wishes reflected back at them. No warts if you donπt look for them. As a result, when tough work needs to be done in a department, the bureaucracy will tend to go off-island first. The on-island talent will be the fall-back position. ≥After all,≤ they will say, ≥he isnπt going anywhere.≤

I fear that the off-island urge could lead to a real purge of quality and public safety problems. Combine a hesitation for on-island talent with tight budget conditions, mix in some staff housing and travel expenses, and you get a Rotating Flying Squad of cops, firemen, D.P.W. and teachers. Summer Specials all year long.

I hope that Everett Pierce was hired as a Fire Chief/Mentor rather than as a Fire Chief/Housecleaner. If his charge is to support and educate the current fire staff, then he will have a lot more success. Developing the fire fighters we currently have will create a long term, veteran, professional staff. His effect will be profound ten and twenty years after he retires. But, if his charge is to kick toukas and take names, the town will start a new search next summer.