BRIDGEPORT — A 69-year-old city Civil Service guideline discouraging the hiring of convicted felons as firefighters has been scrapped, the city's personnel director said.

Ads for the city's firefighter entrance exam since 1936 have stated that people with felony convictions would not be hired, although the provision does not appear in any city laws.

"That you will not see again," said Personnel Director Ralph Jacobs, whose predecessor, John C. Colligan, retired in March.

Colligan had said he recommended rejecting convicted felons when he became aware of that. But the Civil Service Commission could overrule his recommendation.

That means that two men with felony convictions remain on the hiring list of the top 100 of firefighter candidates, whenever the city chooses to hire from the list. The test took place in September 2002, and the list is valid for two years after the first hiring.

But Mayor John M. Fabrizi has said no new police officers or firefighters will be hired this year. By state law, convicted felons cannot become police officers because they are barred from carrying firearms.

The men's presence on the firefighter list sparked criticism from some city residents and officials, including other firefighters, who say felons cannot be trusted with public safety.

Earl King Jr., who was sentenced to federal prison in 2001 for bagging crack cocaine for the Russell and Adrian Peeler drug gang, was ranked 16th on the list.

The head of a minority firefighter group has said King served his sentence on a federal work farm and has since earned a college degree and stayed out of trouble.

Edward Valderrama, ranked 91st on the hiring list, is the other firefighter candidate. Valderrama was sentenced to four years in prison in 1986 for drug convictions, but now co-owns and manages two city businesses.

A felony is a major offense, not necessarily violent, that carries a penalty of a year or more in prison.

Jacobs said the City Attorney's Office sided with the state's policy that convicted felons should judged individually for employment, based on the type of offense and how long ago it was committed.

The City Council at the same time nixed a proposal barring people with violent felony convictions from civil service jobs.

The Civil Service Commission is reviewing whether to remove the two men from the list.

But the list is already under legal fire by a group of white firefighter candidates claiming in a federal lawsuit that the testing process is flawed.

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