Peeler pal highly rated for fire post

AARON LEO aleo@ctpost.com
Thursday, July 29, 2004 -

BRIDGEPORT — Earl King Jr., who served a federal prison sentence for bagging crack cocaine for the Peeler drug ring, is among the top 20 candidates to become city firefighters.

Russell and Adrian Peeler were convicted for their roles in the brutal 1999 slayings of Karen Clarke and her 8-year-old son, Leroy "B.J." Brown Jr., in their Bridgeport home.

King, the son of a city police detective who grew up and played Little League baseball with Adrian Peeler, testified at his murder trial.

Another convicted felon, Edward Valderrama, of Old Town Road, is also on the list, ranking 91st. King is ranked 16.

City civil service standards since 1936 have barred convicted felons from being firefighters. However, there is no such prohibition in city regulations or in the City Charter.

But after naming the ex-convicts last month to the hiring list, the Civil Service Commission voted Wednesday night to review the decision at an Aug. 10 special meeting in City Hall.

The panel then tabled the issues after a closed 2-hour session.

"I had discussions with the city attorney's office and several things came to our attention," John C. Colligan, the city's former civil service director, said Wednesday before entering the session closed to the public.

Colligan, who opposed the appointments, continues in office pending selection of a replacement.

"This was a decision of a very significant nature," he said, noting that Fire Chief Michael Maglione was not consulted at first about the appointments.

He added that the Police Department's Office of Internal Affairs, which conducts criminal background checks for the civil service office, has since presented new information.

Valderrama's lawyer, John Gulash, and King's lawyer, Susan Wallace, both chose closed sessions for discussion of their clients' cases. The reason for Valderrama's conviction was not known.

Maglione addressed the commission during the closed session.

Leaders of two minority firefighter groups, the Firebirds and the International Association of Black Fire Fighters, attended the meeting to support the candidates.

Critics of the appointments at the session were lawyer for the Bridgeport Firefighters for Merit Employment, a group dedicated to adhering to civil service rules of hiring and promotion and one of 19 white firefighter candidates suing numerous city officials, boards and agencies for alleged violations of their civil rights.

They are also challenging the fairness of the testing process. The two felons are ranked higher than the 19 white candidates.

Rankings are based on scores from an oral exam.

Colligan told a reporter asking Wednesday to review the two convicts' applications to send a written request to the civil service office. He said he needed to seek legal advice about the possibility of releasing those records.

In response to another question, Colligan said he did not know of anyone lying on the criminal background section of the civil service applications.

Aaron Leo, who covers regional issues, can be reached at 330-6222.