Public Safety Hiring Age Waivers
At a glance
- What: two home-rule petitions asking the Legislature to waive the maximum hiring age: Docket No. 1961 (Pepén) for a Fire Department candidate who just missed the maximum age of 36, and Docket No. 1962 (Santana) for a Police Department candidate over the limit. Neither applicant is named here.
- Where it stands: both passed on October 21, 2026 on suspension of the rules (No. 1961 on a roll call with 11 votes in the affirmative; No. 1962 by voice vote). They go to the State House for action.
- Context: Murphy said the Council is also pushing at the State House for broader changes to the age limits, and another councilor noted that an earlier Council-backed bill had covered the Police Department only.
Key points
- Pepén said the Fire Department candidate is a longtime city employee who passed the entrance exams this summer.
- Santana called the age cap arbitrary and described a candidate with translation and health care experience who took the civil service exam on October 2.
Official minutes record
From the official minutes of the October 21, 2026 City Council meeting, which are the authority on motions and votes; the captions are less exact on tallies.
- Docket No. 1961 (Fire Department petition, offered by Pepén): the rules were suspended on his motion and the petition passed, 11 yes (Breadon, Coletta Zapata, Culpepper, FitzGerald, Flynn, Louijeune, Murphy, Pepén, Santana, Weber, Worrell), 2 not present (Durkan, Mejia).
- Docket No. 1962 (Police Department petition, offered by Santana): the rules were suspended on his motion and the petition passed; the minutes record no roll call.
- Both are petitions for special laws to waive the maximum age for one named candidate each; the candidates are not named here.
Sources
- 2026-10-21 - City Council (captioned recording)
- Minutes, October 21, 2026: https://boston.legistar1.com/boston/meetings/2026/10/14268_M_City_Council_26-10-21_Meeting_Minutes.pdf
Discussion time
About 6 minutes across 1 meeting (from transcript timestamps; approximate).
| Meeting | Minutes |
|---|---|
| 2026-10-21 - City Council | 6 |
Log
- 2026-10-21 - City Council - Both petitions passed on suspension of the rules, No. 1961 with 11 votes in the affirmative and No. 1962 by voice vote. Official minutes: No. 1961 passed 11-0 with Durkan and Mejia not present; No. 1962 passed without a recorded roll call.
- 2026-11-04 - City Council - No. 2096, a petition for a special law waiving the maximum age for Jean Hermilus to join the Boston Police Department, passed on suspension with 12 yeas.