Chief’s Contract Comes Under Fire

Alders praised the hiring of New Haven’s new fire chief — but not the $2,000 monthly housing allowance that came with it.

The Board of Alders last month enthusiastically voted to approve the hiring of the new chief John Alston Jr., who retired from the Jersey City Fire Department in New Jersey to become New Haven’s top firefighter.

A hearing two weeks ago left alders on the board’s Finance Committee, many whom are part of the leadership team that meets with the administration weekly, feelinghoodwinked as they prepared to deliberate on whether to approve the contract. They ultimately voted to recommend approval of the agreement and the budget transfers to cover it; the contract now goes to the full board for approval.

But the clash was just the latest between the administration and alders who have sought to adhere to a 2013 charter revision that gives them more say in hiring top officials such as the chiefs of fire and police, the chief administrative officer, the community services administrator, the controller and the economic development administrator.

Alders felt hoodwinked because Mayor Toni Harp’s administration agreed to pay Alston more than the $125,000 that they had originally budgeted for the fire chief position. But Alston also was able to wrangle additional perks from the administration, including the $2,000 a month housing allowance.

The full Board of Alders already approved Alston as the new chief. In fact, he was appointed interim chief and started the job early because of the dearth of top leadership at the fire department. But alders have not yet approved the employment agreement ​‚which calls for Alston to receive a salary of $158,500. In addition to that salary, Alston is to receive a retirement contribution of 7.5 percent of his salary, five weeks vacation per year, up to four weeks of paid training time, and use of a city-owned vehicle. They told Harp administrators at the hearing that approving the appointment before they got to see the agreement is a backward process.

Alston is to receive the monthly housing stipend for his initial term and the first six months of his second term should he be reappointed to the position of fire chief in Feb. 1, 2018. If for some reason he is not reappointed fire chief, the chief would receive a golden parachute in the form of a consulting fee agreement that nets him an amount equal to six months of his annual salary. The severance deal was another source of tension for alders who see such agreements as obligating the city to pay future money for people who no longer work for it like ousted Police Chief Dean Esserman, while also paying for that person’s replacement.

To cover the cost associated with Alston’s handsome salary, the full Board of Alders must approve a transfer of funds that amount to $103,000. The Finance Committee voted to recommend that the full board approve not only the terms of the agreement, but also an ordinance amendment authorizing a budget transfer of $51,500 from the fire department’s suppression holiday pay account; $33,500 from the department’s administrative salary account and another $18,000 from the department’s ​“administrative other contractual” account.

Alders gave Harp administration officials an earful about the fact that they had not seen the details of the contract until well after an offer was made to Alston, and still hadn’t seen the full details even after his appointment had been announced and sent to them for approval.

They were especially miffed that during the six-month search for a new fire chief, the administration asked for a $20,000 increase to bump the budgeted salary up to $145,000 to make the position more attractive. But at that time there was no mention of a housing stipend offer to sweeten the deal, or a generous future severance package; and the administration never came back to alders when stakes got higher. They also still don’t know whether Alston plans to accept city health benefits, which would further raise the cost of employing him, or make use of his retirement medical benefits from Jersey City.

Don’t Hate The Player

Several alders raised concerns that the administration is setting a precedent for future top hires from outside the city by offering such a generous housing stipend. The city still has to hire two assistant fire chiefs; one of those positions will not be a union bargained and tested position. The city also has to hire a new police chief.

“He has resigned or retired from his current job in New Jersey, and he will be getting a substantial pension he worked up to, so he will not be hurting for money from the New Jersey side of his financial resources,” Hill Alder Dolores Colon said of Alston. ​“It would seem to me that we have been shaken down. We have been played like a violin or something. I think he’s holding us by the ankles and shaking us for whatever he can get out of our pockets.”

“Other cities would have paid a lot more, and I think we got the optimal deal,” responded city Chief Administrative Officer Mike Carter.

“Despite our ability to pay and besides having deficits and having to squeeze our budgets from other angles like a toothpaste tube to get ourselves in a budget,” Colon shot back.

“We’re going to work on that,” Carter replied.

Colon, who said she supports hiring Alston, was referencing a quarterly report that the committee had just received from city Budget Director Joe Clerkin. Clerkin reported that if present trends continue, the fire and police department could end the fiscal year in the red to the tune of about $4 million, much of it caused by overtime. Carter responded that as top administrative positions are filled people would be working less overtime, so that deficit could be whittled down to between $100,000 and $200,000, or it could even turn into a surplus.

Annex Alder Alphonse Paolillo Jr. was not buying it. He asked how the administration justified making such transfers when it already knows the fire department is running a deficit.

He pressed an argument repeated several times during the meeting: That the administration had put the cart before the horse by making such a generous offer to Alston. And that they had done that assuming that alders would just go along.

He said in reality the board probably should turn down the agreement and the transfers that cover it, but it is likely going to support it because Alston was the best candidate. He also is already on the job.

“For a department that we have seen run deficits year after year after year to tell us that we have money in holiday pay line items — they really need to do better than that,” Paolillo said. ​“We need to show a lot of caution this year. These benefits transfers lead to deficits and increases this year.”

“He Knew He Would Have To Move”

Carter and city Human Resources Manager Stephen Librandi told alders that in negotiations Alston brought up the idea of a housing allowance. Carter said Alston intends to buy a home in New Haven; he currently is renting in the city. Alston and his wife own a home in New Jersey, but can’t move fully until she is able to retire in another year and a half. The housing stipend covers the cost of maintaining two homes.

East Rock Alder Anna Festa said Alston was aware that he would have to move to New Haven if he was to be fire chief. Carter countered that during his time working for AT&T relocating scientists and engineers he made ​“offers similar and much richer.” Festa said that she too had worked in the corporate world, specifically GE Healthcare, where people were paid only for their moving expenses. The debate highlighted the wide latitude and differing approaches that corporations can take when hiring people who might be perceived as top candidates for a competitive executive position.

“He knew he would have to move to New Haven if he got the job,” Festa said. ​“It’s not our problem that he has two houses to support.”

“I Let You Down”

Because Alston was savvy enough to ask for the stipend and the city agreed to it, it’s definitely the city’s problem now much to the consternation of alders, who know they can’t take it off the table if they want Alston to stay.

Festa said she was further upset that when Harp administration officials asked for the additional $20,000 because not only was no housing allowance mentioned, but alders were left with the impression that the salary wouldn’t go higher than that — and if it did, the administration would come back before signing any agreements. She said the administration had plenty of time to do that.

“I want to know who his negotiator is when I go ask for a job,” Festa said. ​“This is by no means an insult to Chief Alston. I don’t doubt he’s the best. He’s coming from New Jersey, which is an expensive state, but $2,000 a month is a bit steep. I’m a little disappointed in you guys that you didn’t come back to us before this when you almost promised us that you would do that. Personally, I’m a little upset by you not keeping your word as far as I’m concerned.”

Carter apologized. He vowed that going forward alders will be involved early when it comes to employment agreements and will participate in the screening process of candidates.

“I let you down,” he said. ​“I was doing the bench-marking, and looking at ranges, and I thought we were within the range. What we were going to offer Mr. Alston was significantly below what he was making in Jersey City. But it is tough to find people like Mr. Alston, who can basically do a lot of things for us and will save us a lot of more money. I apologize for disappointing you.”

Alders said they didn’t want apologies. They said they want the administration to change its behavior.

“We’ve done our due diligence and we’ve treated John Alston with respect,” Paolillo said. ​“The administration not submitting [this agreement] in the correct order actually does a disservice to your candidate. The mayor calls for community involvement, but there was no community involvement here. This was not a community based process.”