Pay raise deferred for promoted NJ firefighters

June 23, 2009 04:48 AM

The Jersey Journal

BAYONNE, N.J. — Six Bayonne firefighters are being promoted to the rank of captain, but they won’t start hauling down bigger paychecks until July next year, officials said yesterday.

The six new captains — John Andreychak, Timothy Fitzsimmons, Kevin McMonigle, Jason O’Donnell, Bryan Stanislawski and Thomas Schork — will be kept for now at their current pay levels, which range from $78,982 to $85,121 a year, officials said.

In July 2010, they will be bumped up to the lowest captain’s salary. City officials declined yesterday to say what that number is, but seven captains who retired over the past year each earned roughly $120,000 a year.

A total of 16 firefighters — four of them rank-and-file firefighters and 12 officers — retired over the past year, officials said.

Bayonne officials said they don’t plan to make any new hires, saving the city roughly $1.88 million a year with the changes.

“We maintain our current number of fire captains initially at no cost to the community and later at a significant saving for years to come,” Mayor Mark Smith said in a statement. “It is clear that it is the best interests of the public’s safety to promote a limited number of qualified fire captains to maintain the department’s administrative viability.”

Steve Gallo, the mayor’s chief of staff, said the new captains will likely be installed on July 1.

“The firefighters being considered for these (captain) positions are high scoring, highly qualified men, who are ideally suited for the intense role of leading fire companies in difficult situations,” said Bayonne Fire Chief Greg Rogers said.

Rogers said the department needs 42 captains to keep the city’s 10 engine companies open around the clock.

“Through retirements and attrition, we feel the staffing levels are adequate to meet the public safety needs of the community in an efficient and effective manner,” Rogers said in a statement.

City officials said the change was agreed to by the Firefighters Superiors Union, but the president of Local 211, Brian McMonagle, could not be reached immediately for comment.

In April, the city administration dropped plans to reinstate the rank of lieutenant and slash the number of captains from 42 to 11 after McMonagle said the proposal would jeopardize the safety of residents.