As the Parks Department’s director of operations, Bernard P. Lynch received the same honor in 2013. The award, which celebrates exemplary service among city employees, cited Lynch’s “reputation as a firm but understanding leader” and described him as the “consummate employee” during 20 years with the city.

Ellen Lipsey was honored with a 2012 Shattuck Award because she “worked tirelessly for historic preservation” as executive director of Boston’s Landmarks Commission. After 27 years, Lipsey had told friends she planned to retire in a few months.

Mayor Martin J. Walsh Wednesday defended the layoffs of eight longtime city workers, dismissing criticism that veteran employees were abruptly terminated, including two recognized in recent years for outstanding service.


In an interview Wednesday, Walsh noted that the terminations affected eight people out of a municipal workforce of more than 18,000.

“It’s public service. It’s tough. Unfortunately, sometimes your service comes to an end,” Walsh said. “I don’t want to sound insensitive, but you have to make changes.”

Samuel R. Tyler, president of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, said Walsh’s administration should have been more respectful of longtime employees. The research bureau is a fiscal watchdog agency funded by business and nonprofits. The bureau has honored municipal employees with Shattuck Awards for decades. In public service, Tyler said, the “corporate model of you’re dismissed and out the next day doesn’t work as well.”

“This is a mayor who is thought of as a man of compassion,” Tyler said. “The stark firings are counter to that image. Particularly if you have people who are committed and they have done a good job.”

Lipsey and Lynch were part of a group of dismissed employees whose average age is 54 and who had worked an average of 21 years for the city.

The mayor rejected the suggestion that the firings were politically motivated. He acknowledged there “will be more changes,” but said he was “not sure” if more layoffs were imminent.


Other terminated employees included Steven Gregory Dolan, who had worked for the city for more than 39 years. Another, Paul F. McColgan, had 32 years of service. A woman who answered the phone at McColgan’s house said, “It was sudden, that’s all I can say.”

The mayor disputed a characterization of the layoffs in the Boston Herald, which quoted an unidentified Walsh aide who described the firings as a “Menino cleansing.” Thomas M. Menino, Boston’s longest-serving mayor, left office in January after 20 years and died Oct. 30. Walsh said the comment from his unidentified aide “bothered me.”

“If I found out who said that, they’d be laid off because that’s nonsense,” Walsh said. “There’s no such thing as a ‘Menino cleansing.’ There are changes. Every administration makes changes. There are certainly plenty of people working around me every single day that Tom Menino brought into that building.”

Political appointees not protected by union or civil service status work at the mercy of the election calendar, said Maurice Carroll, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. A new administration typically brings significant changes to the top of government.

“It would be surprising to me if they didn’t change,” said Carroll, who covered New York City Hall for decades as a reporter said. “A guy brings in his own people to do his own stuff. A president does, governor does, so why shouldn’t the mayor?”


In Boston, Tyler has worked for the research bureau since 1972, spanning four mayoral administrations. There have been significant staffing changes between administrations, Tyler said, but many left of their own accord. Menino dismissed some employees initially, but he knew many people in City Hall because of his time as a councilor.

“There really wasn’t this kind of situation — public firings, if you will,” Tyler said.

Walsh took office in January and brought a new wave of employees to City Hall, but it has been difficult to determine how many workers have been purged from previous administrations. The Globe filed a public records request Aug. 12 asking for details about city workers who have been fired. Walsh’s administration did not provide the information until Wednesday evening.

The records show that since Walsh took office, 150 workers have retired and 288 permanent employees have resigned or been terminated.

Employees have been let go as individuals or in small groups. In March, Walsh fired 14 employees at the Boston Redevelopment Authority. That remains the most significant staffing shake-up of his administration.

In the most recent round of layoffs, five of the eight employees were hired by Menino. Two dated to the administration of Kevin H. White, who left office in 1984, and one was hired during Raymond L. Flynn’s tenure.

At least six of the workers made modest political donations to Menino, according to records filed with the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance. Several had helped with Menino’s campaigns, but none were high-ranking political operatives. Lynch, from the parks department, lives in Hyde Park and was a friend of Menino’s.


Several of the fired employees volunteered for Walsh’s mayoral rival, former councilor John R. Connolly. At least three donated money to Connolly, records show, but not large amounts.

All eight fired employees had one thing in common: None donated to Walsh’s campaign during last year’s race for mayor, according to records. Walsh said the layoffs were “not about politics.”

“If it was about politics, these layoffs would have occurred back in March,” Walsh said, adding, “There are people that worked for John [Connolly] in my administration.”