May 14—SALEM — Gender-specific words are being completely eradicated from Salem's ordinances, barring one notable exception: manhole.

The City Council voted unanimously Thursday night to change most of 619 changeable examples of gendered language in Salem's code of ordinances. Gendered language in the city's charter and zoning code wasn't changed due to the added complexity of making those kinds of changes.

But one proposed change had councilors at odds: changing "manholes" to the more verbose "maintenance holes (commonly referred to as manholes)."

First there was Tim Flynn, councilor to Ward 4 and a lieutenant in the city's fire department.

"We've had explosions, and I can tell you, if you're going to something like this at 4 in the morning, 3 in the morning, you don't want to hear 'maintenance cover.' It's going to mess people up," Flynn said. "Please, please, please don't do this. You're going to make our job harder, and you're going to make our job more dangerous."

Then there was Ty Hapworth, an at-large councilor concerned about how the discussion makes the city look.

"I don't know if I want the headline on this in The Salem News to say, 'we did gender-neutral language — except for manhole,'" Hapworth said.

The concern over removing "manhole" from the city's ordinances was first presented by Councilor-at-large Arthur Sargent on April 22, the night the issue first went in front of the City Council. Sargent noted that the phrase "maintenance hole" already references a different kind of in-street infrastructure, and that emergency responders looking for a manhole would instead seek out a maintenance hole if the change went forward, thus impairing emergency response.

Sargent led the effort to remove the manhole change in committee Thursday night, and the five-person body voted three to two on the change, with councilors Domingo Dominguez, Conrad Prosniewski and Sargent backing it. Members Hapworth and Patti Morsillo were opposed. Opposition emphasized that the change only affected the city's ordinances, and that the City Council doesn't govern how police, firefighters or other city employees speak.

When the issue went back to the full City Council, Hapworth pushed that the change from "manhole" to "maintenance hole" be restored, prompting a fresh wave of debate on the issue.

"I don't think that anybody in committee was looking at it from the gender definition of it," said Councilor-at-large Conrad Prosniewski, a veteran of the police department and advocate for keeping "manhole" on the books. "It was more of a public safety definition of the word."

Ward 7 City Councilor Steve Dibble mused that he was "amazed we're spending this much time on this."

"We've heard reasons why this should stay as it is. I reviewed the entire list, and I had no problem at all with the hundreds and hundreds of changes," Dibble said. "With this one here, I'd have to side with the common sense of our emergency crews."

Countering, Morsillo said she went through the city's code of ordinances during the meeting. "There's nothing in our ordinances that tells the police department or fire department how to send out calls at all."

"Councilor Flynn, if I could understand more how this change could affect the day-to-day operations of the police department and fire department, I'd fully 100% support your argument," Morsillo said. "I just can't understand how this would have any impact."

The final vote to re-replace "manhole" was five to six, with councilors Hapworth, Christine Madore, Morsillo, Meg Riccardi, and Josh Turiel voting in favor. Councilors Dibble, Dominguez, Flynn, Bob McCarthy, Prosniewski, and Sargent voted against changing the word back. The ordinance then cleared the body 11-0 with "manhole" kept in its current state.

Visit bit.ly/3uNHTAu to read live coverage of this meeting.

To respond to this story or suggest another, contact Dustin Luca at 978-338-2523 or DLuca@salemnews.com. Follow him at facebook.com/dustinluca or on Twitter @DustinLucaSN.