New Fire Chief Secretly Sworn In

The word "transparency" should never pass the lips of Mayor Harp or any of her minders again. She clearly doesn't know the meaning of the word, let alone practice it. Once again, it's another self inflicted problem.

I am pleased that we now have a chief. I am not pleased that the process was secretive and a surprise. This mayor has not learned that public business must be done in public, and the appointment process can not be tainted. If I was an alder I would be outraged. What exactly does sworn in on an acting basis mean? Can he legally be paid by the city when the process has been circumvented? What a way to start a new job in a city department that attracts lawsuits like fleas on a dog.

Who is taken bets on how long he last ?

Not crazy about doing this in secret but it needed to be done. The status quo could have been maintained had the acting chief not retired. Someone has to be in charge. This chief du jour thing was doomed. If the BOA wants to get involved in every move, they need to act faster when necessary.

Other Notes:

The Register is reporting that the financial package for the new chief was to be submitted to a committee of the BOA for further review and approval. Was this done? If not, why not? And if it was submitted, did the committee meet and approve it?

@alphabravo etc - There is never a good excuse for secrecy or violating the approval process for approving hires or spending money. Never. That there was a lapse in leadership at the NHFD is due once again to the lack of leadership, experience and integrity in the mayor's office and among the plethora of people who do her bidding.

The current mayor of the city of New Haven appears to think that she can do what she wants when she wants without care or concern for the New Haven Charter, established precedent, respect for the authority of the Board of Aldermen and the Board of Education, and the opinions and rights of the people of New Haven.
The Board of Aldermen needs to place Toni Harp in check with a reality check, and the people must do the same, lest for the first time in our history we submit our authority to a monarch. We would be fools and imbeciles to do such a thing.
This is not a time for apathy and carelessness.
There should be no secrets, no surprises from our government. The Charter and the rule of law and proper procedure must not be disregarded.
If we cannot expect transparency from our government, then we must demand it or replace it.
The latter might be our only alternative.

"Why the swearing-in on an acting basis? Grotheer said it was important to make sure the fire department had someone running it." How dumb is that? You bring a guy in from out of town, pay him all this money, plus an extra $2,000 per month for nothing, only to hire him on an acting basis. If all you wanted was a fire chief on an "acting" basis, why didn't just show some appreciation for acting Chief Matthew Marcarelli? The man at least deserved to have been treated with a level of decency for holding down the proverbial fort. You now bring in a new chief who doesn't even know where Dixwell Avenue's located. Plus, the city could've saved itself a bunch of money had they kept Marcarelli. If the man was hired to be the new chief then just say so. What's with this "acting" mess?

Now some will read my aforementioned comments regarding Chief Marcarelli and say, he quit on his own. And they would be correct. However, what they would fail to acknowledge is that the man had pride and didn't in no way appreciate the manner in which the new guy was hired and subsequently hidden from the entire department staff for more than 2 weeks. Thus, his understandable decision to leave. Not to mention the benign private ceremony held under the cover of darkness. I'm sure Marcarelli would've stayed on had he been approached and welcomed as a part of the team. But the man was rebuffed.

The salient question every sensible person should be asking regarding this administration is, "who's on first?" You have to be a certain age to remember the Abbott and Costello sketch to understand the question.

According to the charter, all mayoralty appointments are subject to Board of Alders approval before a selection hire is official. All acting selections are subject to the BOA as well before officialdom is declared. The Mayor is over reaching her authority. There is a serious issue involving the conditional offer to Alston.

Together with the offer of a $158,000 a yr. salary plus 7% of salary in benefits, there is the precedent setting $2,000 a month housing stipend for his initial term which extends to Feb. 2018 (15months). According to the charter a department head has to reside in the city within six months of employment. Why should taxpayers foot the bill for nine months of additional housing allowance when the responsibility clearly belongs to the department head at that point?
These are important questions the BOA needs to resolve before the conformation of Alston. The Mayor is setting a dangerous precedent that all new future appointees will prescribe to and upwards. The Mayor apparently has no salary/benefit ceiling she will not crack. Let us hope that the BOA will stand up for the beleaguered taxpayers of New Haven and demand transparency with accountability.