Favors R Us

There is a fine line between an elected official doing a constituent a "favor" and outright cronyism. The case of William Hayhurst III and his burning desire (no pun intended) to continue his family's representation on the Boston Fire Department makes us wonder just where that line is located.

The View is admittedly a step behind on this story due to a New Year's trip to New York. For the gory details on this fiasco, read Harry's take at Squaring the Boston Globe.But given that the star of the show is Plymouth's own State Senate President Therese Murray, the issue begs for a local look.

In a nutshell, Hayhurst wants to be a Boston fireman. Among other qualifications, he cites the fact that the BFD has had a Hayhurst on its roster since 1913. He took the exam, but after three tries he ended up in 623rd place. Hey, its a "highly competitive" exam. Hayhurst's father had been a Fire Department Captain until his death in 2002. While the elder Hayhurst served a long and honorable career, it was determined, under civil service procedures, that he had not died in the line of duty. Had he done so, his son would have been eligible for top of the list status on that basis.

Enter Senator Murray, who with the support of the Boston City Council, passed a state law to provide William with a bump to the top of the list. I was impressed that the new law was passed in a record time of under two hours (that is not a typo). And all this on behalf of someone who may or may not be a family friend of Murray.

So now, William is in line to be the next person hired by the BFD and perhaps you feel a warm glow believing that Murray has used her office to right a grave oversight. Although it was determined that the elder Hayhurst did not die in the line of duty, Murray says that she suspects a strong link between his fatal cancer and his job. Who knew that our Senate President had such analytical talents? On the other hand, you might not feel as supportive of this slick parliamentary remedy if you end up being the guy or gal who gets bumped off the hiring list because there is a new guy in first place. In addition, the residents of Boston who look to their municipal public safety workers for protection, might well be concerned as to the capabilities of their newest fireman to-be given his poor performance on the qualifying exam. Then there's the rest of us who cringe at this blatant end run around established law.

Now William must get hired and pass through the Firfighters Academy. Should he have difficulty getting through the training program, perhaps Senator Murray could whip up another state law.