After nearly a decade of waiting and legal hassles, Firefighter Patrick Cardinali finally got the promotion he was waiting for – and thought he deserved. The Union City native and 18-year veteran of the Union City Fire Department was promoted to the rank of Fire Officer One in the North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue squad last week, ending years of strife over becoming promoted.
"It really has been a struggle, but I really feel good about it," said the 39-year-old Cardinali, a lifelong resident of Union City. "It really has been a long time coming. I’m grateful to Mayor [Brian] Stack and Director [Mike] Deorio for seeing this through."
Cardinali received word of his promotion last week, when the State Department of Personnel officially accepted his application of promotion. It was up to the state’s Department of Personnel to give the final approval to the raise and rank upgrade because of the set of circumstances that Cardinali had to endure over the last 10 years.
Cardinali first took the Union City lieutenant’s test in 1991 and finished No. 2 on the list. However, the city was not promoting any firefighters at the time.
"Our chief told me that I should get ready, that I would be the next to get promoted," Cardinali said. "But, for some reason, it died there. I sat No. 2 on that list for almost four years. It wasn’t meant to be."
Two other firefighters were promoted over Cardinali. He was sure it was because of his affiliation with the North Hudson Firefighters Association union, where he served as a secretary for many years.
"My name was on the petition to stop the regionalization," Cardinale said. "I’m pretty sure that was against me, about 99.9 percent sure it was political."
The Union City Fire Department was to become part of the North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue squad, along with four other municipal fire departments.
When the first Union City promotion list expired, Cardinali had no idea when he would get another chance to take the test. Disappointed and disgusted by the process, Cardinali didn’t pay attention to when the test was coming up.
"I think I had about a month to prepare," Cardinali said. "I really didn’t get a chance to study the 17 books I used to study the first time. My head wasn’t into it. I didn’t want to start over again. It destroyed me. It was the killer."
Cardinali didn’t place well in his second attempt at the promotion test, falling to 17th place overall. It was going to take some time to receive the promotion he long desired.
Then, the regionalization took place in January of 1999 and all promotions were put on hold in order to allow the state Department of Personnel to find a regional-wide promotion list, one that was inclusive of all five municipal lists.
It was then that Cardinali and two other fellow Union City firefighters, Arthur Lange and Joseph Isola, decided to sue the NHRFR for failure to receive their proper promotions.
"I didn’t want to file a suit and I didn’t want to go after the people in the regional," Cardinali said. "But I felt I was wronged, so I had to do it."
The case was being litigated for the better part of two years before all three firefighters reached a settlement with the NHRFR, clearing the way for their promotions. Lange was promoted in March and Isola was promoted in June.
Cardinali’s 10-year wait came to an end last week. He was sworn into his new rank, joining 11 other fellow officer firefighters who have attained the rank of Fire Officer One in the past two months.
The state Department of Personnel created the unique rank because some of the municipalities participating in the NHRFR had the rank of lieutenant and some had the rank of captain. The Fire Officer One rank is a company officer, a combination of the two ranks solely used by the regional department.
Cardinali comes from a family of public service. His father, Pete, was a Union City police captain who retired in 1988.
"I’m really happy," Cardinali said. "I’m a company officer and I go to different houses. I bounce around, wherever they need an officer. I know the guys from the union, so I’m really glad to see the guys. I always thought it was just a matter of time."