Fire Chief Candidate Wows ​‘Em

Answering tough questions about how he might change the culture of a fractious fire department, would-be fire chief John Alston Jr. not only impressed alders but earned their unanimous recommendation for the job.

The vote to confirm him for the position came at the end of a two-hour hearing Thursday night at City Hall.

That was the upshot of an Aldermanic Affairs Committee confirmation hearing at City Hall Thursday for Alston, a 31-year veteran of the Jersey City, N.J. fire department, whom Mayor Toni Harp has chosen to be the Elm City’s next fire chief. The unanimous vote to confirm came at the end of a two-hour grilling.

If confirmed by the full Board of Alders, Alston would step into the role vacated by former Chief Allyn Wright, who retired in January, and retired Assistant Chief Ralph Black, who stepped into the role as interim chief and was in the running to become the permanent chief before dropping out amid pressure from the fire union. (Acting Chief Matthew Marcarelli this week put in retirement papers.)

Alders Thursday night used superlatives like ​“flawless” to describe how Alston handled the confirmation hearing, where many of the questions put him on notice that some people — including members of his rank and file — view him as an outsider. And outsiders haven’t fared well when it comes to the politics of city government.

If Alston, currently the deputy fire chief in Jersey City, is ultimately confirmed by the full Board of Alders, he take office on the heels of the recent exits of the police chief, and soon, the superintendent of schools, both of whom were brought from outside the city as change agents.

Brass Tacks

Edgewood Alder Evette Hamilton bluntly told Alston Thursday night that he will face opposition. She asked how he plans to discipline firefighters who violate rules.

“The fire department has done things a certain way for a long time,” she said. ​“Change is not always easy. I hope you don’t have a thin skin.”

He responded that if a firefighter’s action is not in the service of the community, then that behavior doesn’t belong in the department.

“The second thing that struck me is that you said that I was going to have opposition,” he said. ​“I already had opposition before I got here.”

That response drew chuckles from the alders and firefighters not only from the city, but from all over the Northeast who crowded the aldermanic chamber to hear from Alston.

“I read too,” added Alston, an International Association of Fire Fighters master instructor, who has trained fire departments across the country and abroad in South Africa and Mexico.

“What it boils down to, when it comes to discipline, it is what is fair, right and appropriate,” he said. ​“It has to be fair, right and appropriate. And if it’s not that way, it my job to assist in making it that way.”

His response drew applause from the crowd. That happened several times through the roughly two-hour hearing, which culminated with a standing ovation.

Alston would immediately have to choose sides with either the Harp administration or the fire union over a proposed plan to put Engine 9 out of commission at the Ellsworth Avenue firehouse and replace it with a smaller paramedic unit. City officials say the plan will save money and lives; the union vehemently disagrees.

Committee Chair Rose Santana asked how he would make such decisions given the way popular community support for engines has blocked such plans in the past.

“My decision making is always based on facts, science and circumstances,” Alston responded. ​“We also have national standards.”

Alston said he would want to see New Haven’s incident data — the information that tells everything about how long it took firefighters to respond, the type of incident and how it was resolved — before deciding whether to make changes at a particular firehouse. He said he would want to know how to duplicate the services that Engine 9 provided and still deliver the three to four minute response time.

“The traditional fire services has moved toward EMS,” he said. ​“And that’s a fact. That’s indisputable. So why not put more EMS wagons on the street as opposed to engine mutual aid? But that’s not a decision I would make in my first 100 days. I want your data, and I want to study it.”

Alston, a husband and father of two adult sons, one of whom is a firefighter, also was peppered with questions about his plans for outreach to the community, for helping current firefighters advance, and for attracting more people to the service.

He said he discovered he wanted to be a firefighter after local firefighters took him on a ride-a-long when he was 4 years old. He talked about getting firefighters out of the firehouse to educate people about smoke detectors and creating safe evacuation plans in case of a fire emergency. He also talked about his passion for growing firefighters, and praised the city for creating a public safety-oriented academy at Hillhouse High to seed the next generation of firefighters and EMS technicians suggesting that a similar program should exist at every public high school.

Alston told alders that if they made him chief, they would not have to look for their next chief outside New Haven.

A Home Run

Newhallville Alder Alfreda Edwards told Alston that she considers him well qualified for the job.

“Just put your mouth where you just put it,” she said.

She wasn’t the only person who seemed impressed. Only five people from the public testified at the hearing, and they all praised Alston’s qualification.

Fire Capt. Gary Tinney, northeast regional director of the International Association of Black Professional Firefighters, said Alston has the grant writing skills and connections to bring more resources to the fire service. He said he could not only make changes, but end the divisiveness but could put an end to the divisiveness that has long plagued the department.

Fire Lt. Rafael Zayas told alders that he believed Alston is the best candidate for the job.

“We need the proper training,” he said. ​“We need the proper equipment. I believe that with his experience, his grant writing and his qualifications we’ll be able to get there.”

Not a bad way to end a day for a man who started the day helping guide his own fire department’s response to a train derailment hours before he had to be in New Haven for a press conference announcing him as the new fire chief. As the Jersey City Fire Department’s deputy chief of special operation he was helping coordinate that department’s work with the New York City Fire Department and 17 other committees, serving as the operations section chief for the first two hours of that event.

New Haven Fire Fighters Local 825 President Frank Ricci didn’t testify. When the Independent caught up with him, he said that Thursday’s hearing was the first chance the union got to hear from Alston but it looks forward to working with him.

Should Alston be confirmed he will be paid $158,500. He would receive additional benefits including a $2,000 monthly housing stipend, which is good for his entire first term and the first six months of a second if he is reappointed. A Board of Alders Finance Committee will have to approve transfers requested by the Harp administration to cover those costs. 

When Mayor Harp introduced Alston during an afternoon press conference Thursday she called the announcement of Alston’s appointment ​“an exciting new chapter in the proud history of the New Haven Fire Department.”

​“Chief Alston is a multidiscipline executive fire officer,” Harp said. ​“His notable service and extensive knowledge covers a broad range of what New Haven absolutely needs in a fire chief. Expertise in fire fighting tactics fire prevention and community risk reduction while essential, are no longer enough for those who lead fire departments in modern American cities.”