Melissa Bailey Photo
(Updated with Egan’s comments) Firefighter Pat Egan is moving from running a union to helping to run the department.
At a special meeting called Friday morning, the Board of Fire Commissioners voted unanimously to appoint Egan to an open assistant chief position.
That means Egan must step down as president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 825.
The day marked the end of a 10-year career as union leader. After the meeting, Egan went to union headquarters, above the Sovereign Bank at Grand Avenue and Ferry Street, to pass on the reins at a union executive board meeting. (He’s pictured before the meeting began.)
Union Vice President Jimmy Kottage said he is taking over as president of the union, “effective immediately.” An annual election will be held in December for the union leadership seats.
Egan’s new job carries a salary of $104,471, which is what the other assistant chief, Ralph Black, makes. The second assistant chief position opened up in July, when Ronald Dumas retired after 11 years in that post.
In a phone interview Friday afternoon, Egan explained his career switch.
“I’ve been in this position for 10 years,” Egan said. “I’ve worked very hard. I’ve certainly been a very active leader. I’m very proud of the job that I’ve done.”
Egan, who’s 40, said he reflected on the overall picture — including a need to provide for his family — and decided to make a change. He and his wife, Lisa, a partner at a law firm in Bridgeport, have two small children.
He said he will continue to fight for the best interest of the firefighters and city.
“My values in life don’t turn on and off with a position,” he said.
Egan was the last in a line of 10 applicants to be interviewed for the job. He met Thursday with Assistant Fire Chief Ralph Black, Chief Administrative Officer Rob Smuts, acting personnel chief Stephen J. Librandi, and Fire Chief Michael Grant.
Egan’s pending appointment has been rumored for weeks, after his made a major move this year that makes him eligible for the job: He relocated to New Haven from Cheshire. The city charter stipulates that department heads and their deputies have to live in New Haven city limits. Egan bought a house in the East Shore, at 640 Townsend Ave., on May 28, according to land records.
Egan said Friday that he didn’t move to New Haven explicitly to take the assistant chief job. His wife grew up in New Haven, he said, and they had been thinking of returning ever since his wife left a job in Hartford and took one in Bridgeport a few years ago.
“It’s obviously a good time to purchase a home. We’ve been looking at purchasing a home for a number of years. It was a good time to make the move,” Egan said.
“We found the perfect house,” he said. Both of his kids are in New Haven public schools.
Egan must relinquish his labor presidency because he is taking one of only two jobs in the department that are not part of the union — chief and assistant chief of administration.
The fire department has two assistant chiefs — one for operations, and one for administration. The administration assistant chief is in charge of the budget, personnel matters, planning, and day-to-day issues such as contracts for equipment.
Over the years, Egan has been one of the most outspoken and active union presidents. He negotiated contracts and worked on political campaigns. He showed up at public hearings whenever the department was being discussed, often watching closely when few others were in the audience.
Egan, an officer with 15 years on the force, beat out four captains, two lieutenants and three fellow officers for the job. Some other candidates had many more years on the force, including supervisory experience.
He responded to criticism that he lacks the experience to take on the new role.
“I feel I have a very good grasp on the knowledge of he skills and abilities needed for the position,” Egan said.
“I think I will do a good job as the assistant chief of the department,” he said. “I’m confident that the majority of people feel that way. I’m confident that over time, a greater majority would feel that way.”
Egan said as a leader of the union, he’s used to taking heat. “With leadership comes criticism,” he said. “Whether fair or not, that’s the way the world works.”
Chief Grant said while Egan doesn’t have experience supervising people in the line of command, “he has supervisory experience in the position he’s been assigned to — union president.” That will translate well to his new post, he said.
“There were some people who were very strong, but Pat was far and away the most knowledgeable and qualified,” added CAO Smuts.
Egan’s appointment was quickly approved without discussion by the fire commission.
Chair George Longyear called a vote. Commissioner Boise Kimber seconded.
“All in favor?” Longyear asked. Four commissioners — Kimber, Longyear, Wendy Mongillo and Paul Nuñez — raised their hands and said “aye.”
Longyear ended the meeting then. He didn’t ask for “all opposed” or “all abstaining.”
The fifth commissioner on the board, Robin Miller Godwin, leaned over to Longyear and told him that he did not finish calling the vote.
“I definitely did not say yes,” Godwin later clarified by phone. She said the process was different this year, but she was not told why, and she didn’t learn of who applied until Grant read the list of names during the meeting. “We didn’t have any information in regards to what was going on, and I wasn’t comfortable casting a vote one way or another.”
She said the decision was up to the chief, anyway — “it had already been said and done.”
From left: Chief Grant, Commissioner Kimber, Egan.
Historically, the position has been filled by the chief, with the approval of the mayor, without approval by the fire commission. This year, the city decided to include the commission in the process, but the decision was still at the recommendation of the chief, with approval by the mayor.
Grant was asked about rumors that the decision to pick Egan was made long ago, and that the interviews were just window-dressing.
“Absolutely not,” Grant replied.
“We had a very thorough interview” process, Smuts added.
Smuts was asked if it’s normal to interview a job candidate just one day before a selection is made.
“We normally do a quick turnaround,” Smuts said. “We knew that we’d be done with interviews,” so they scheduled the fire commission meeting for Friday.
Melissa Bailey File Photo
The new appointment represents a new relationship for Egan and city officials. Over the last 10 years, Egan has clashed with the city on a number of issues, including the city’s notoriously controversial hiring processes. In 2007, he sought to delay seating a new fire class based on surprise changes to the weighting of the oral and written exam components.
About seven years ago, Egan took out a full-page newspaper ad blasting the fire department for taking three engines out of rotation amid budget problems. Grant said Egan was just doing his job.
“Pat stood up for his beliefs as the leader of Local 825 — which he should do,” Grant said.
Smuts said despite the disagreements, Egan has worked well with the city.
“This relationship has been much more collaborative than people usually think of,” when they think of union-administration relationships, Smuts said.
Egan agreed.
“Sometimes people automatically view labor and management as opposite ends of the spectrum,” he said, that’s not the case.
“Sometimes you agree, sometimes you disagree,” he said, but most of the time, his union worked together with the city without conflict. “I think good management and good union can work together. Most of the time the goals are similar.”
The job was posted on Aug. 9. and offered only to internal candidates.
Twelve male firefighters applied for the job. Ten were interviewed over the course of three weeks, beginning on Aug. 31.
Here’s who applied:
Thomas Michaels
Miquel Rosado
Luis Rivera
William Augustine
Michael Blatchley
Salvatore Consiglio
Darrell Brooks
Jim Hynek
Julian Garay
Michael Walker
William Gould
Pat Egan
Two of these candidates — Consiglio and Brooks — declined interviews, according to Grant.
“I withdrew my name from consideration and the process due to professional and personal concerns,” Brooks explained by email.
After the meeting, Mayor John DeStefano issued a press release calling Egan a “leader and contributor who has a demonstrated track record of putting the safety of New Haven’s residents and the members of the New Haven Fire Department first.”
“He will make a terrific Assistant Chief,” DeStefano said in the statement.