The head of Jersey City’s firefighter’s union has come out swinging against Councilman Steven Fulop’s opposition to the promotions of five Jersey City Fire Department captains to battalion chiefs and the councilman’s charge that the department is top heavy with “cronyism.”
Fulop issued a press release on Monday that stated in part, “The Jersey City Fire Department has some of the hardest working people in the county. It also has a higher percentage of management than almost any other department in the country. The City Council cannot afford to fund this next slate of promotions.” He continued to make an issue of the promotions at Wednesday’s City Council meeting.
“We can’t afford these [promotions].” – Yvonne Balcer
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Mayor Jerramiah Healy swore in the five new battalion chiefs – Paul Drennan, Charles Lind, Jr., Matthew Ferro, Steven McGill and Michael Borrelli – at a City Hall ceremony on Monday.
Healy, before the ceremony, issued a press release claiming the promotions were done to address overtime costs that arose because the captains were filling in for battalion chiefs who have recently retired. He pointed out that the new battalion chiefs will forgo a salary increase until July 1, 2011, and said the five promotions will save an average of $30,000 a month in overtime costs.
“During this difficult economic time, it was great to see this collaborative approach to address escalating overtime costs by the fire officers, the union officials and city administrators,” said Healy in a statement.
The mayor’s rationale failed to sway Fulop, who was prompted to speak at Wednesday’s meeting after longtime resident and activist Yvonne Balcer, during the council meeting’s public speaking portion, opposed the promotions. Balcer said they will cost the city more money in future years because of retirement and pensions, at a time when city workers have been laid off and residents are paying higher taxes.
“We can’t afford these [promotions],” Balcer said. She suggested that the Fire Department should be all-volunteer to help the city save money.
Fulop had to defend her and himself when Joseph Krajnik, longtime head of the firefighters union Local 1066, defended the promotions and confronted the councilman during the public speaking portion.
Commotion on promotions
Krajnik, a firefighter for 34 years, harangued the council and Fulop in a booming voice about the importance of the promotions since over 50 firefighters have retired in the past year. The retirees received over $5 million in payouts, but also shrank the department’s staffing.
There are currently about 500 employees in the city fire department, with 364 fire officers and approximately 125 supervisors.
“We are at a critical stage in the deployment of the Jersey City Fire Department,” Krajnik said.
Krajnik said the captains who were promoted had been serving in the battalion chief position for over a year. Krajnik said he has been meeting with city officials and top brass in the fire department about hiring 84 firefighters in the next year to make up for the shortage.
He also said he would meet with anyone in the public, such as Balcer, to discuss the needs of the department. He took offense at her comments about a volunteer fire fighting force, saying the idea was “insanity.”
Krajnik grew angry when Fulop responded to his comments and called for a reevaluation of the fire department’s organizational structure, pointing out that there are about 2.5 firefighters for every officer. Fulop also said the promotions were done due to “cronyism.”
Krajnik yelled over Fulop’s remarks, demanding he “show some numbers” and calling him a “liar.”
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.