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WEST HAVEN, August 25, 2010 — A different fire official will now serve as the liaison to the emergency call center, but West Haven Deputy Chief Scott Schwartz will retain some of his duties and be available to help the center’s new director with the transition, fire commissioners said Tuesday.

Allingtown Fire Chief Peter Massaro was named the new liaison to the 911 center after an Emergency Reporting System Authority meeting last week.

Schwartz, who was removed from his post as co-supervisor for the call center in a controversial move Aug. 9, will continue to assist in union negotiations and the hiring of new dispatchers, said Bruce Sweeney, the chairman of the fire commission in Schwartz’s district. Sweeney said Schwartz will largely be doing the same job he did before he was removed, except this time on an as-needed basis.

"We told the deputy chief that when necessary, if the executive director needs his assistance, absolutely he goes to help," Sweeney said.

Schwartz declined to comment Tuesday. The position he vacated, which he said was a supervisory position, is now being referred to as liaison. Sweeney said he expected the job to be less time-consuming now that new ERS Director Abraham Colon is onboard to run the center.

Schwartz’s removal caused a stir, with the leader of the dispatchers’ union calling it a "major setback" that would stall the center’s progress. Some officials questioned whether it was a politically motivated action, since Schwartz had not backed the same candidate as Sweeney for the director’s position. Sweeney said the move was made because Schwartz was needed in the firehouse.

The Center District fire commission tapped West Haven Fire Chief Jim O’Brien to take his post at the call center. The board didn’t have the authority to appoint a replacement without the approval of the ERS board, Mayor John M. Picard said at the time. The ERS board voted Tuesday to name Massaro liaison, with O’Brien and West Shore Fire Chief David Collins supporting him.

John Biancur, chairman of the West Shore Fire District, declined to comment on the reasons Massaro was chosen for the position. Rich Garcia, who leads the dispatchers union, had questioned whether O’Brien could be the liaison because he sits on the City Council and has a vote on the dispatchers contract. O’Brien has said he’s happy to serve the department in whatever way is deemed necessary.

In a letter Biancur wrote Schwartz, the fire chiefs and fire commissioners, he praised Schwartz for his "significant achievements" in ERS and said he would have liked "nothing more than for (Schwartz) to continue with these duties" at least on an interim basis.

"Although a consensus was achieved as to whom the new Fire Department liaison would be, there was also a consensus that the removal of you was at best ill-timed and should have been handled in a more professional manner," Biancur wrote.

Sweeney said the call center position does not come with any extra pay, and the moves were made in consideration of what is best for the fire departments. Massaro said he doesn’t expect his ERS position to be time-consuming, and that he believes the fire departments and dispatch center will continue to work well together.

Posted by Veronica Silva Cusi, news correspondent
Source: http://www.nhregister.com

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