For those who have watched the Auburn Civil Service Commission for some time, the decision to not grant city officials permission to hire lateral transfers for the Auburn Fire Department should come as no surprise. Forget for a moment whether the decision of the three man appointed and paid commission is right or wrong. A more basic question might be what is their role - to make public policy or to ensure fairness and equality in the way hires, are made, not in who is hired?

At issue now is a request from City Manager Mark Palesh, endorsed by Mayor Michael Quill and both fire and police chiefs to allow the city to hire individuals for the fire department who are certified firefighters and employed elsewhere. As with past requests, the latest being in October, the commission again rejected the request. Oversimplified from news reports, they are concerned about local people who have already taken a test and could be hired - but who, with mandated training could not be on duty until at least the fall, according to Fire Chief Michael Hammon, costing the city thousands of dollars in extra overtime - and raiding other communities for employees.

At least one commissioner may contend that they ruled on laterals in October and the city's management should have expected as much again. One claims they should have hired the four firefighters, approved two weeks ago, last year. Only two problems with that argument. The first being that since last October, when the city's management had hoped to be able to negotiate a deal that would have addressed the overtime issue through a restructuring of a collective bargaining agreement, the union has made it clear they will not negotiate - thus clearly changing the dynamic for what can and can't be done.

More importantly, it's additional evidence that this commission has become a power unto itself. It is not within the commission's purview to determine budgetary issues such as when to hire or whether the city, as a policy, should be able to hire those from other departments (that occurs against Auburn regularly).

The bottom line is that last week's decision is just another in a consistent long line of decisions that tries to set policy for the city. The mayor and members of the city council, if they have the political courage, can have a final say in the matter, in the long run. They should not re-appoint members to the commission who disagree with what they or Palesh are trying to do when it comes to setting fiscal and public polices. Yes, the commission is supposed to be independent, an arbiter of fairness - however what it has become is a power unto itself, that puts its own will above the elected and appointed leadership of the city on issues allowed by state law.

Cosentino is a former mayor of Auburn and can be contacted at cozguytho@aol.com