UFOA Board Elects Hagan To Succeed McDonnell

The Chief-Leader/Eric Weiss DON'T WANT MEMBERS 'DEUTSCHE-BANKED': As the new president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, Alexander Hagan vowed to advocate for more building inspection training for officers, many of whom fear since the Deutsche Bank building fire that they may face discipline if Firefighter inspections are not carried out correctly.

The executive board of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association Sept. 1 unanimously elected Capt. Alexander Hagan as its president. Although he had served only one year as a Captain's representative, he spent the past 15 years as a delegate.

Mr. Hagan, who had been based at Ladder Company 43 in Spanish Harlem, was elected to the board last year when Michael Currid retired. In his year-long term as president of the 2,500-member union, he expects to tackle several difficult issues including the continuing fall-out from the Deutsche Bank building fire where the failure of the Fire Department to inspect the site before the blaze in which two Firefighters were killed led to the public discipline of seven UFOA members.

Wary of Future Agency Cuts

He also noted that even though Mayor Bloomberg's proposal to close 16 fire companies this year was tabled, the union would have to stand guard for proposed operational cuts to the FDNY in the next year.

Mr. Hagan said that officers are not fully trained on how to do building inspections and that the department should offer more instruction, especially considering that officers are now fearful that if they don't do them properly they will be disciplined, or as he put it, "Deutsche-Banked."

"You go out, we've seen that these guys have been held to a high standard," he said in an interview at the union's lower Manhattan headquarters. "They give us a checklist and substitute that for training."

As far as possible firehouse cuts, the new UFOA leader vowed to "help educate the people of the city as well as some of our elected officials about the danger of cuts in the fire service."

He said that Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta erred when he justified the closing of four companies at night—a cut that was averted—because they had not responded to many incidents. Mr. Hagan asked rhetorically whether Mayor Bloomberg canceled his fire insurance if he didn't have a fire in his apartment, saying that fire company productivity can't be measured in the number of responses.

Reduced Pension Concerns

The UFOA, he said, will also continue to fight against the proposed Tier V pension that would force future uniformed responders to work 25 years and reach age 50 before they can retire. Governor Paterson's veto of a Tier II extender bill in June placed those hired beginning July 1 in Tier III, requiring them to work 22 years to qualify for a full pension, compared to more-senior workers who are entitled to retire after 20 years on the job at any age. Mr. Hagan explained that certain elected officials and the public often misunderstood the current pension entitlement, calling it too generous, because these civil service jobs are so physically taxing.

"We work in places that are dark and dangerous and hot and dirty, and not only do we die—not only do we have line-of-duty funerals—we have a tremendous number of people who get sick and spend their retirement suffering," he said. "The 20-year retirement is really some kind of cruel hoax. It's to get rid of you after the 20 years when you're old and can't carry 140 pounds of gear. It's to bring in young people."

Mr. Hagan, who became a UFOA member in 1983 when he was promoted to Lieutenant and was known for attending nearly every union meeting, said that adjusting in the role of president after being out of the field for just a year would be a challenge.

"I know that with the assistance of the other board members that operating as a team we can be successful," he said.

McDonnell Returning to Field

Mr. Hagan replaces Battalion Chief John J. McDonnell, who will return to the field and began his last stint as UFOA president in 2007. Unlike in many other unions where local presidents are elected by a membership vote, the president of the UFOA is elected by the board, whose members represent their respective ranks.

Also elected to year-long terms were Battalion Chief George Belnavis as vice president, Lieut. Edward Boles as treasurer, Capt. Patrick Reynolds as recording secretary, Battalion Chief James Lemonda as financial secretary, Deputy Chief Richard Alles as Sergeant-at- Arms and Pension Board Trustee, Capt. John Dunne as Pension Board Trustee, Lieut. James McGowan as Pension Board Trustee and Lieut. Stephen Carbone as Lieutenants' Representative.

While not represented on the board, Supervising Fire Marshals and FDNY Bureau of Health Services officers are covered by the UFOA.