By Natasha Lee
Staff Writer
December 25, 2007
STAMFORD - Four Stamford Fire & Rescue candidates hired several months ago will be brought on board before the end of the month, city officials said Friday.
The Fire Commission selected the candidates from the hiring list in September, but the city was unable to hire them until funding was available.
The Office of Public Safety, Health & Welfare, which oversees the downtown fire department, was cut by $850,000 this fiscal year. City officials had hoped to hire the candidates by Dec. 31.
Public Safety Director William Callion said the new hires will reduce overtime spending, which should cover the $539,000 needed to pay their salaries and benefits.
Last week, paid firefighters who work at three volunteer fire departments joined a labor contract with Stamford Fire & Rescue. Under the new contract, 34 paid firefighters who worked at Belltown, Glenbrook and Turn of River volunteer departments will transfer to Stamford Fire & Rescue and will respond to calls in five districts. The new hires should bring the total number of downtown firefighters to about 276.
The contract must be approved by the Board of Finance and Board of Representatives, which meets next month.
City officials did not say whether the candidates were notified of their start dates. City Human Resources Director Dennis Murphy did not return two telephone calls.
Callion said the department will meet the end-of-the-year hire deadline.
"The more you have a full complement of people, the less overtime you're running, and a fuller staff will allow us to operate on a more normal basis," he said.
The four candidates will join four recently rehired veteran firefighters to fill eight vacancies.
In July, four paid firefighters at Belltown and Glenbrook volunteer fire departments were laid off after the departments refused a city plan to cut overtime spending and increase staffing in those districts.
Because the city pays the salaries of career firefighters stationed in volunteer districts, they were placed on a mandatory re-employment list that gives them priority as positions become available.
The veteran firefighters reported to Stamford Fire & Rescue on Thursday and are undergoing a week of refresher training, Chief Robert McGrath said.
In February, the new hires will start a 14-week course at the state fire academy in Windsor Locks and must complete a two-week training course with Stamford Fire & Rescue before they can respond to emergency calls, McGrath said.
The candidates are Christopher Brennan of Norwalk, son of former Fire Commissioner E. Gaynor Brennan Jr.; Paul Esposito of Stamford, son of city Rep. Paul Esposito, D-4; Dominick Errico of Stamford; and James Doherty of Fairfield.
McGrath said the group was expected to join Stamford Fire & Rescue by mid-June.
The rehired firefighters are three former Belltown paid firefighters - Fabio Basile and Paul Melchinonno, both of Stamford, and Michael Orawsky of Darien - and former Glenbrook paid firefighter Herman Naring of Norwalk.
McGrath and Callion said they are waiting for approval to hire two additional firefighters in January to fill positions that opened because of retirements.
"We'll always be a couple of firefighters short," McGrath said.
The fire commission must reinterview candidates from the hiring list, which includes 120 candidates grouped by written test scores, McGrath said. The list expires in September.
The commission's hiring practices have come under criticism in recent years.
In 2005, the commission was accused of nepotism and unfair hiring practices after applicants with lower scores were offered jobs over those with higher scores. The controversy prompted the commission to change its hiring polices, for the first time adding a score.
Starting salary for city firefighters is about $41,700. It increases to about $64,000 in five years.
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