In a loud and angry exchange, council members Edwin A. Gomes, D-135, and Robert Walsh, D-132, admonished the commission for adjourning after a three-hour public session and brief closed-door discussions, without taking up their request to discuss the provisional status of the fire and police chiefs.

Walsh first tried to get the commission's attention by shouting, "Excuse me!"

Then he let loose.

"I left work an hour and half early to address this board," he shouted. "This shows disrespect" to the public and the council.

"I am totally disgusted," he added, as commission members packed up their belongings and started leaving.

The monthly meeting for July had started at 4:30 p.m. and ended about 8 p.m. June's meeting had been canceled.

City Attorney Mark Anastasi tried to break up the shouting match. He tried to persuade the commissioners to stay, but not enough of them remained for a quorum.

The hasty adjournment also angered the public.

A woman whose case was not addressed said she had to find child care so she could attend the meeting.

The unidentified woman complained after the meeting to Ralph Jacobs, the city's personnel director. He talked with her directly afterward.

Before adjourning, the commission mediated a three-hour debate between a lawyer for a convicted felon on the firefighter hiring list and the city.

The candidate, Earl King Jr., served time in a federal prison camp for bagging crack cocaine for the Peeler drug gang.

After deciding to let him remain on the list, the panel tabled other agenda items and adjourned.

Walsh, Gomes and Councilwoman Elaine Pivirotto, D-132, had requested that the commission respond to their demand to reconsider the provisional status granted to acting Fire Chief Brian Rooney and acting Police Chief Anthony Armeno. Among other benefits that come with provisional status, according to the council members, is a pay boost — Armeno's salary rose from $87,258 to $97,960 and Rooney's increased from $80,748 to $97,960.

They say the Fabrizi administration is violating the city charter by allowing both chiefs to remain provisional officials. The two were elevated to provisional status during the previous fiscal year, and the designation has been extended into the new fiscal year, which began July 1.

Mayor John M. Fabrizi on Wednesday disputed that provisional status has given raises to Armeno and Rooney. He said both received a salary boost when they were named acting chief, the title they both held before becoming provisional chief.

The only difference under provisional status, Fabrizi said, is that Rooney, who is now eligible for retirement, would draw benefits based on the provisional chief salary. If he retired as acting chief, his retirement would be based on his salary prior to becoming acting chief, Fabrizi said.

The mayor said provisional status can be conferred for four months in any given fiscal year, meaning both can serve until November of this year.

Staff writer Bill Cummings contributed to this report