By Matt Viser
The Boston Globe
Mayor Thomas M. Menino has appointed a former Naval officer from Rhode Island as his new fire commissioner, the first time since 1968 that a mayor has picked someone from outside the department.
Roderick J. Fraser Jr., 42, spent 20 years in the Navy, most recently as commander of a fighting frigate assigned to protect offshore oil terminals in Iraq.
Fraser has no experience in municipal fire departments, but Menino said he was looking for someone who could prepare the department to deal with terrorist threats and institute changes in a firefighting force that has been criticized for cost overruns and abuses of overtime and sick leave.
“He has a different view of what’s going on,” Menino said. “Fresh face. Fresh voice. Fresh ideas. That’s what he is.”
Fraser is being greeted warmly by city watchdogs, who said an outsider may be capable of making changes that previous commissioners largely have not.
“That department probably more than any department in the city needs a fresh look,” said Jeffrey Conley, executive director of the Boston Finance Commission. “That was never going to happen by continually having commissioners that rose their way through the ranks, who had been part of the union their whole lives.”
The previous commissioner, Paul A. Christian, retired in January after 38 years in the department. Hired in 2001 amid hopes that he would make major changes, he met with stiff union resistance.
A report commissioned by Menino in 2000, shortly before he hired Christian, recommended that the mayor look outside the department for a commissioner.
Fraser, who will start work Tuesday, said yesterday that he will spend time getting acquainted with the department.
“I don’t have any ideas for new change, but we’ll take a look at that,” he said. “I have a lot to learn. It’s a big department. I want to get out and meet everybody and see what everybody does.”
For years Menino has wanted to curb expensive policies at the department, including those that allowed firefighters to swap shifts or get bumps in pay when filling in for colleagues who called in sick. Some say the city should make other cost-saving measures, such as closing down some fire stations and eliminating the fire alarm division, which maintains the city’s rarely used alarm boxes.
The Boston Firefighters Union yesterday gave Fraser mild public support, saying the union wants to “prepare our department for an inevitable terrorist attack.” The union also added a warning.
“If Mr. Fraser chooses to partner with us in this endeavor, he will be a great fire commissioner for the city of Boston,” Edward A. Kelly, president of the union, said in a statement. “If he chooses to hinder us, we will sink his battleship.”
Menino said he will name a fire chief to help in the day-to-day running of the department and to implement Fraser’s decisions. Acting Fire Commissioner Kevin MacCurtain will initially take that role, Menino said.
Yesterday’s appointment fills one of several key openings in the city, including police commissioner and superintendent of schools. The mayor also has yet to appoint a chief of staff or a press secretary.
In Iraq, Fraser commanded the USS Underwood with a crew of about 200. At one point in his career, he was director for several firefighting training courses at a Navy school in Newport, R.I. He has a master’s degree in national security affairs and strategic planning from the US Naval War College.
He is a native of East Millinocket, Maine, and Fraser and his wife, Angela, have two children. They currently live in Cranston, R.I.
The last fire commissioner to be hired from outside the department was James H. Kelly, who was appointed in 1968 by Mayor Kevin H. White after serving 14 years as a state representative from Jamaica Plain.
He resigned in 1975 over allegations that he pressured firefighters to contribute to White’s 1971 reelection campaign in return for promotions.