National firm eyes replacement police director

TRENTON » The city has turned to an outside search group to find a permanent replacement for acting police director Pedro Medina.

In the months since he took over, it has become increasingly clear how unlikely it is that the Mercer County undersheriff will take a more than $30,000 pay cut to leave his cushy county post to take on what Mayor Reed Gusciora described as one of the city’s “toughest,” most demanding jobs.

Gusciora told The Trentonian on Monday he doesn’t expect Medina can afford to become the permanent successor for Ernest Parrey Jr., leaving the door open for someone else as a national search group eyes additional applicants for a job that has already attracted considerable interest.

“He’s is staying on for the interim. He’s not letting us down. He’s working as if he’s the police director,” Gusciora said. “He’s very supportive of the city of Trenton. But I don’t expect him to stay on. I think he’s made it clear that he enjoys what he’s doing. The police director, in theory, would be the police director for the next four years.”

In previous interviews, Medina, a retired Trenton cop, refused to say definitively whether he was interested in staying on permanently as police director.

“I would never say never say never,” he said in July.

Further adding confusion to the matter was a provision in a Memorandum of Understanding that left open the possibility of Medina spurning the county in favor of TPD.

The county has been paying Medina’s six-figure salary while he’s been on a three-month loan to the city police department as part of the parties’ MOU which expires Sept. 30.

Gusciora said the county has agreed to allow Medina to remain police director on a “month-to-month” basis until the mayor finds a replacement.

Finding qualified directors to fill out Gusciora’s cabinet was a task being handled by the mayor’s transition team, which sorted through applicants’ resumes to narrow down a pool of candidates for the mayor to interview.

But the mayor decided to turn to a search group through the U.S. Conference of Mayors, a group highly recommended by city mayors across the nation, for help finding Medina’s replacement.

A spokesperson for the nonpartisan group didn’t immediately respond to a phone call requesting comment.

The city already provided the search group with information about the qualifications it desires in candidates, Gusciora said.

The search group is still hasn’t submitted a compensation proposal detailing how much it will charge the city for its role in helping out in the job search, Gusciora said.

“I heard about this group, I don’t want to say late in the game, but I would like to see what they come up with,” the mayor said.

Gusciora stressed he hasn’t “signed” a financial agreement when asked why the city tapped the group prior to knowing how much it would be charged for the group to conduct and compile information on prospective candidates.

Gusciora said he heard from other mayors the search group charges modest, community tailored search fees.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Gusciora said. “Some people they charge; some people they don’t. For New York City, they know New York City can pay New York City prices.”

Gusciora said it was “not true at all” that he sought out the search group to identify more candidates because he wasn’t satisfied with the quality of candidates who have already applied.

The city didn’t use a national search group when it identified Derrick Sawyer as the replacement for ex-fire director Qareeb Bashir.

The mayor said Sawyer, a former Philadelphia fire commissioner, was still going through the hiring process and hadn’t started working for the city.

He couldn’t say when his first day will be or when City Council may schedule a confirmation vote.

Gusciora said the city deserves “top-notch talent” for directors but has complained the pay isn’t commensurate with other cities in New Jersey and elsewhere.

While Medina has caught some flak for decisions he has made since taking over, it appears pay is the big sticking point preventing him from accepting the permanent gig.

Per a county spokeswoman, Medina, who didn’t respond to a phone call and text message requesting comment, makes $141,542 as the No. 2 to Mercer County Sheriff Jack Kemler.

Comparatively, city directors make $108,543 a year.

The Gusciora administration proposed an ordinance change that would have to be adopted by the legislative body to raise directors’ salaries in the coming years.

The proposal calls for directors to be paid in the range of $127,853 to $166,119, also outlining a big bump for Gusciora.

The mayor, under terms of the proposal, would potentially rake in more than $200,000 a year, topping Gov. Phil Murphy’s annual salary, by the end of his four-year term.