Many of the practices that have bogged down the hiring process were put in place in 1952 to fight cronyism and patronage, the tradition of handing out jobs based on a person's friends and family. (This battle was recently fought on the state level, too, with Gov. Wolf and Republican legislators on one side, and the Civil Service Commission, which handles much of the hiring for the state, on the other.) The report also cited the city government unions' reluctance to open the final decision beyond two candidates. Bob Coyle, president of city workers union Local 2187 of AFSCME District Council 47, declined to comment until he read the report.