DIRECT APPROVAL
City council gives unanimous vote to confirm directors for Water Works and Trenton Fire Department >>
TRENTON >> Within weeks of being appointed Philadelphia fire commissioner, Derrick Sawyer faced tough questions from residents and officials in the City of Brotherly Love about his department’s response to the raging Gesner Street fire that gutted homes and killed four children in summer 2014.
On Thursday, here in the capital city of New Jersey, Sawyer’s confirmation hearing resembled a brush fire, if one at all.
George Muschal, the firestarter councilman from the South Ward who made it seem like he would be sounding a four-alarm fire about the mayor’s new pick to lead the Trenton Fire Department, didn’t ask Sawyer a single question. And council followed suit, in hurrahing and applauding Sawyer and Dr. Shing-Fu Hsueh with unanimous approval.
It was welcome respite for Mayor Reed Gusciora, who faced stinging criticism earlier in the week after his acting directors walked out of Tuesday’s meeting before the final whistle.
While he talked a good game, Muschal basically waived the white flag when it came down to it, once Sawyer convincingly ticked off his educational and professional experiences, which included more than 30 years as a firefighter.
North Ward councilwoman Marge CaldwellWilson said the mayor couldn’t have found “anyone more experienced” than the two picks.
At-large councilman Jerell Blakeley commended the mayor for picking Sawyer, calling him a “distinguished appointment.”
Sawyer joined the Philadelphia Fire Department in 1985, rising through the ranks to become one of only two firefighters to hold every position in the department.
Then-Mayor Michael Nutter tapped Sawyer fire to take over as Philadelphia fire commissioner in June 2014, weeks before the devastating Gesner Street fire that resulted in protests.
Sawyer, who served as Philly fire commissioner through June 2016 until the new mayoral administration replaced him with Adam Thiel, said he spent much time doing community outreach to heal those wounds after an infant, his brother and twin 4-yearold sisters were killed by the raging inferno that consumed eight homes and damaged others in Philly.
The newly minted Trenton fire director admitted he expected a tougher confirmation hearing.
“It’s not for the faint of heart,” Sawyer, who has a master’s degree in homeland security from St. Joseph’s and undergraduate degree from Holy Family University, said after the meeting.
Sawyer, who took over for acting fire director Steve Coltre, has inherited a department facing what city leaders have termed a potential budget crisis.
Fire leaders have steadfastly complained the city has repeatedly asked the fire department to reduce operating costs over the years at the expense of city residents’ safety.
Sawyer hopes to help the fire department earn national accreditation and improve aging apparatus as well as build a stronger bond between the department and the community.
“It is a challenge,” he said. “We have to start building equity in the community so they understand we provide more than just fire service. Not everyone understands all the talent and skill the Trenton Fire Department brings to the community. We gotta tell our story better so they know all the things we do.”
About the only drama that took place happened at the start of the meeting, when Gusciora, following up on a C.Y.A. moment earlier this week that left him scrambling to save face once he was called out over his request for a statecommissioned forensic audit that’s not really a forensic audit, was completely M.I.A. as Sawyer and acting Trenton Water Works director Shing-Fu Hsueh were slated to address the council.
Apparently, the mayor was too busy meeting with his dinner-mate and political pal, Gov. Phil Murphy, at the Statehouse.
That meeting went longer than expected, preventing Gusciora from getting to the council meeting where his presence was demanded to pitch council on why Sawyer and Hsueh should be approved as the latest permanent members of his cabinet.
The presentations were initially scrapped, until council members huddled semi-privately on the side of the dais to discuss the holdup with the mayor’s chief of staff Yoshi Manale.
The advice-and-consent sessions were pushed back to later in the meeting to give Gusciora a chance to get to the meeting.
But though he showered them with praise during his remarks, the mayor’s picks needed little boosts as the council applauded their merits.
Hsueh, the former West Windsor mayor and a retired water quality expert who worked for the state Department of Environmental Protection, thanked council for their support in his quest to turn around the bedraggled water department, which has faced headline-grabbing snafus and repeated water violations.
TWW had to get help from outside engineering firms to the tune of millions that has worried city leaders.
“He’s been making great inroads into turning the water department and phasing out Wade Trim,” Gusciora said.
Since Hsueh came out of semi-retirement to take on TWW, he has attempted to get approval for 29 new hires for the water department and is spearheading millions in system upgrade in hopes of making the city the benchmark for water quality rather than the state laughingstock.
Hsueh was only supposed to be in the acting capacity for three months, but he decided to stay on to see the reclamation project that is TWW through the finish line.
He has spoken out in opposition against the privatization of the city’s water utility and testified earlier this year against Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo’s socalled TWW “takeover” bill.