Sciuto v. City of Lawrence

• Decision Date: 17 August 1983
• Parties: Stephen S. SCIUTO, Jr., et al. 1 v. CITY OF LAWRENCE et al. 2
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

Page 1148

452 N.E.2d 1148

389 Mass. 939

Stephen S. SCIUTO, Jr., et al. ¹ v. CITY OF LAWRENCE et al. ²

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts,

Essex.

Argued Feb. 7, 1983.

Decided Aug. 17, 1983.

John A. Macoul, Lawrence, for plaintiffs.

Edward J. Grimley, Jr., City Sol., for City of Lawrence & others.

Anthony J. Randazzo, Jr., Lawrence, for Patrick Schiavone.

Before HENNESSEY, C.J., and WILKINS, LIACOS, ABRAMS, NOLAN, LYNCH and O'CONNOR, JJ.

WILKINS, Justice.

The plaintiffs seek rescission of the appointment of the defendant Patrick Schiavone to the position of police chief of the city of Lawrence. At the time of his appointment by vote of the Lawrence city council, Patrick Schiavone and the plaintiffs were captains in the Lawrence police department and the only persons on the civil service list eligible for appointment to chief. Also at that time, as had been the case for several years, Patrick Schiavone's brother Terrance was the director of public safety, and, as an alderman, a member of the Lawrence city council. The plaintiffs' principal challenges to Patrick Schiavone's appointment are founded, directly or indirectly, on the fraternal relationship of Patrick and Terrance Schiavone.

A judge of the Superior Court reserved decision and reported the case to the Appeals Court on a statement of agreed facts, constituting a case stated. The report stated that certain questions, set forth in the margin, ³ were presented for determination. We transferred the case here on our own motion.

As an initial matter it is important to state what we regard as before us. We believe that the judge and the parties intended to present for our determination only the questions that are set forth in the judge's reservation and report. It is true that the parties agreed to an "Agreed Statement of Facts Constituting a Case Stated" and thus might be regarded as having presented the entire matter for determination on the agreed record. However, the apparent purpose of the agreement as to facts was only to present facts bearing on the stated questions. The reservation and report says: "The following questions are presented for determination" and "[t]his report contains all the evidence material to the questions reported." The parties have argued these questions and no other issues. Therefore, we shall only answer the questions presented. We conclude that the plaintiffs have standing to raise the question of the lawfulness of Patrick Schiavone's appointment, that Alderman Schiavone violated the conflict of interest law when he appointed his brother to the positions of lieutenant and captain in the police force, and that the ordinance pursuant to which Patrick Schiavone was appointed chief of police is lawful.

The two plaintiffs moved up through various ranks in the Lawrence police department to become captains. Tylus became a captain in 1970; Sciuto became a captain in August, 1971. The defendant Patrick Schiavone became a permanent police officer in 1966. In December, 1971, he was appointed a sergeant. Alderman Schiavone, as director of public safety, appointed his brother Patrick to the position of lieutenant in December, 1977, and to the position of captain in November, 1978. In each instance, Patrick Schiavone's name appeared on a list certified by the personnel administrator of the Civil Service Commission (commission). In December, 1976, before either appointment, the then city solicitor gave a requested opinion to Alderman Schiavone that, if his brother were to pass a civil service examination and were to be certified by the commission, Alderman Schiavone could lawfully appoint his brother to a higher position in the police department, although such an appointment could be considered a violation of the standards of conduct set forth in G.L. c. 268A, § 23, "for which there is no statutory provision for disciplinary action." Patrick Schiavone's impressive rise in rank from sergeant to lieutenant to captain followed in the next two years.

In 1980, the position of chief of police became open, and the personnel administrator of the commission certified Tylus, Sciuto, and Patrick Schiavone as eligible for appointment. ⁴ The plaintiffs did not challenge Patrick Schiavone's eligibility to take the examination at or before the time he took it. After Patrick Schiavone's name appeared on the civil service list, Alderman Schiavone requested an opinion from the city solicitor, not the one who gave the earlier opinion, whether he could properly appoint his brother to the position of chief. The city solicitor advised that the appointment "might be improper." On August 14, 1980, on the suggestion of Alderman Schiavone, but without his further participation, the Lawrence city council, acting through the unanimous vote of its other four members, amended the revised ordinances of the city to provide that the city council, and not the director of public safety, would appoint the chief of police.

On August 22, 1980, the plaintiffs commenced this action challenging past promotions of Patrick Schiavone as violations of the conflict of interest law (G.L. c. 268A, § 19), arguing that his appointment as chief would be unlawful, and contending that the August 14, 1980, amendment of the city's ordinances was invalid. On August 29, 1980, a judge of the Superior Court denied the plaintiffs a preliminary injunction. On September 2, 1980, the city council, in the absence of Alderman Schiavone, voted to appoint Patrick Schiavone to the position of chief of police. ⁵

1. The August 14, 1980, amendment of the revised ordinances, providing for the appointment of the chief of police by the city council, is lawful. The September 2, 1980, city council vote appointing Patrick Schiavone to the position of chief of police was consistent with the provisions of the amended ordinance. Alderman Schiavone did not participate in these votes. The fact that he suggested that the city ordinance be amended does not present grounds to invalidate the amendment. ⁶

A provision in a city ordinance giving the city council authority to appoint the chief of police does not offend the separation of powers principles of art. 30 of the Declaration of Rights of the Constitution of the Commonwealth. It is true that the appointment of a particular person to an office is traditionally the function of the executive department. See Commissioner of Admin. v. Kelley, 350 Mass. 501, 505, 215 N.E.2d 653 (1966). We are aware of no case, however, in which separation of powers principles have been applied in this Commonwealth to invalidate the allocation of power to a city council, or similar body, to appoint a municipal officer. The plaintiffs' art. 30 challenge to the ordinance, if accepted, would call into question the entire form of government in effect in Lawrence, where the city council appoints various city officials (including the city clerk, the city treasurer, and the city solicitor [see St.1955, c. 98, § 2] ) and where each alderman serves as the director and administrative head of a branch of the city government.

We find no merit in the plaintiffs' further contention that the difference in the process by which the chief of police is appointed (by the city council) from the process by which many other municipal officers are appointed (by city councillor-department heads) violates art. 10 of the Declaration of Rights. On its face, the amended ordinance does not single out any person for special privileges or advantages at the expense of the rights of another. See Commissioner of Pub. Health v. Bessie M. Burke Memorial Hosp., 366 Mass. 734, 741-744, 323 N.E.2d 309 (1975).

2. The plaintiffs' basic contention is that, assuming the amended ordinance is valid, Patrick Schiavone was not entitled to appointment to the position of chief of police because his earlier appointments to the positions of lieutenant and captain were made by his brother in violation of G.L. c. 268A. Under G.L. c. 31, § 59, Patrick Schiavone would have been eligible to take the civil service examination for chief only if at least one, and perhaps both, of these appointments had been made. ⁷ The plaintiffs argue that Patrick Schiavone was not entitled to be considered for appointment to chief because those earlier appointments, which were essential to his eligibility for appointment to chief, were made in violation of G.L. c. 268A.

The defendants argue that we need not reach these issues for a variety of reasons. They contend that the plaintiffs have raised their challenges to the earlier appointments too late, that the action is barred by laches, and that they failed to take seasonable appeals under G.L. c. 31, § 2(b ), to the commission when Patrick Schiavone's name appeared on earlier civil service lists for appointment to lieutenant and to captain. The plaintiffs were already captains when the earlier appointments were made. Thus, they would not have then been "persons aggrieved" who are entitled under G.L. c. 31, § 2(b ), to appeal to the commission from the personnel administrator's inclusion of Patrick Schiavone's name on the list of candidates. For the same general reasons, we see no basis for concluding that the plaintiffs were guilty of laches. They were not adversely affected by the earlier appointments at the time they were made, and their delay in making any challenge was not unreasonable.

The defendants also contend that the plaintiffs should have appealed to the commission under G.L. c. 31, § 2(b ), when Patrick Schiavone's name appeared with theirs on the civil service list for appointment as chief of police. We think the commission had no role to play either in deciding whether the appointment of Patrick Schiavone might violate the conflict of interest law or in concluding that, for this reason, his name should not appear on a civil service eligibility list. ⁸

The plaintiffs had standing to maintain an action challenging the appointment of Patrick Schiavone to the position of...