Paterson fire chief to get over $219,000 for his leave time
PATERSON — The city is paying recently retired Fire Chief Brian McDermott $219,329 for his leave time, according to public documents released this week.
That sum includes $115,849 for 120 units of unused leave time, in essence vacation days; $9,654 for the two weeks’ pay held back for all Paterson employees when they start work for the city; and $93,826 for 720 hours of terminal leave, a payout Paterson gives retiring public safety workers who don’t take sick days during their final three months on the job.
McDermott, who retired effective Aug. 1, received the first of three equal installments of the $219,329 payment last month, officials said. He will get the second installment a year after his retirement and third check two years after leaving the city payroll, officials said.
McDermott’s payout is smaller than the $300,806 that Paterson provided his predecessor, Michael Postorino, when he retired in 2017. Former Paterson Police Chief Mike Baycora got $194,883 for unused leave time when he retired last year, part of a lawsuit settlement.
“I am blessed to have spent 28 years with the greatest fire department in this country, culminating successfully as the organization leader through one of the most difficult times in its history: the pandemic,” McDermott said when contacted Wednesday.
“The retirement payout was fairly negotiated and agreed upon as terms of my agreement,” the retired chief added. “I’m thankful for being able to lead such a prestigious organization, and I only wish the best for the organization’s future of firefighter safety and health.”
The news about McDermott’s payout comes as city officials are engaged in a dispute over how much to pay his successor.
McDermott was making $263,556 when he retired and Postorino $258,583.
Mayor Andre Sayegh’s administration is proposing that the next chief should be paid $225,000, a reduction that administration officials say is needed because of Paterson’s longstanding financial problems.
Administration officials said the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, which oversees the city payroll as part of the state transitional aid Paterson gets, has determined that the chief’s salary should be $225,000.
Alex Alicea, the acting fire chief, makes about $210,000, which was his salary as a deputy chief, officials said. But council members overwhelmingly raised objections to giving Alicea a lower salary than what his predecessors were making, especially because he grew up in the city and would become Paterson’s first minority fire chief.
Councilman Michael Jackson recently drafted an ordinance that would set the fire chief’s salary somewhere between $275,360 and $290,000. Jackson attempted to get his colleagues’ support for the proposal at last week’s meeting. But council President Alex Mendez said the plan needed to be vetted first by the council’s finance committee.
Mendez did not respond Wednesday when asked about the status of Jackson’s proposed fire chief salary range.
Jackson has said Alicea should get more money than his predecessors because he would be a homegrown chief, invested in the best interests of the city. Jackson had been a frequent critic of McDermott.