The city's goal for minority officials is 13.1percent of the total, and for police and fire,25.5 percent of the total, But some say the goalsfor each EEO category distort the real picture.

For example, Cambridge's goal for minorityofficials, 13.1 percent, is based on nationallabor-market participation by minorities inexecutive, administrative and managerialpositions, derived from census data. That figureis still well below the 28.4 percent of the citythat is Black, Hispanic or Asian.

In other words, even if the city attains itsgoals in the EEO categories, minorities will stillbe underrepresented in some of the highest paidand most powerful city jobs.

"The areas in which there remain matters ofunderrepresentation including hiring persons ofHispanic and Asian descent, and in hiring in theofficials and administrators category, and in thedepartment head or policy-making level," Gardnersays.

"We as a city are not deficient," agrees Gomes."The only deficiencies we have is [with] officialsand administrators."

"Given all the progress that's been made, it'sunderstandable that the criticism is directed atthe higher-level positions," Gardner says, adding,"My sense is that the city is well ahead of mostpublic institutions in the community in terms ofthe progress is has achieved."

Gardner notes that approximately 75 percent ofall city jobs are regulated by civil servicerequirements set up by the state and administeredby the Massachusetts Civil Service Commission,Essentially, his hands are tied by governmentmandates, he says.

Although civil service regulations weredesigned to prevent corruption and patronage, theyseem to have the unintended effect of restrictingthe city's efforts to find qualified minorities.

"Civil service rules very carefully control theordering of Candidates on a list," Gardner says."Instead of being able to select 100 resumes andfilter them out ourselves...if you're filling onejob, you get three names and that's all you get."

But minority residents, while acknowledging therestrictions, say the civil service system isitself unsupportive of diverse hiring.

Lee says many minority teenagers don't knowabout the exams, although the situation isimproving.

"When I was growing up in Cambridge and duringhigh school years, minority students were nevertold about the importance of taking the civilservice exams," he says. "But there were numerouswhite kids who were encouraged to take it andlater on you would find they have positions incivil service."

Graham agrees. "By the time Blacks knew aboutcivil service, they were something like 16,000 onthe list," she says. Thus, she says, minoritiesare often kept from promotion by seniority rulesand lack of information.

Occasionally, other barriers combine with civilservice requirements to prevent deliberateminority hiring. "We don't necessarily know theracial identity of any candidates till they'reselected for an interview," Gardner says.

By the time the applicants are winnowed down tothe finalists, there are often no minoritycandidates.