Clifton, NJ – Some residents say the city shouldn’t promote a captain in the Fire Department because of past behavior.
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But Norman Tahan disputes their assertions, saying he should be judged on his career as a fireman.
“My performance as a firefighter has been nothing but exemplary,” he said Saturday.
Tahan and seven others will take the oath of office today to fill supervisory vacancies in the Fire Department. Tahan will become deputy chief, City Manager Al Greco said. Two new captains and five lieutenants also will be sworn in.
Last week, residents Mary Sadrakula, Steve Goldberg, Diana Teleschiak and Fred Komarow sent an e-mail to other residents, asking them to write the mayor and City Council about their opposition to Tahan’s promotion. The letter makes several claims, including allegations that Tahan “publicly vilified” residents of the Rosemawr section of the city, posted “hateful comments” on an Internet forum while on duty, used two firehouses as a boat storage facility and drove a Fire Department vehicle for personal use.
“Norman Tahan has displayed nothing but racist and anti-Semitic, hateful disdain for the residents of Clifton, specifically the Jewish and the Muslim communities and the residents of the Rosemawr area,” Sadrakula said in an interview Friday.
Tahan disputed the veracity of some of the claims, saying the residents were misinformed. He also said he had apologized for words he posted on the Internet forum and that it was time to move on. He said he was cleared of any wrongdoing regarding the Internet postings.
The promotions will occur as a result of an agreement reached in April between the city and Local 21 of the Firemen’s Mutual Benevolent Association. The agreement restored the Fire Department to full strength in exchange for salary cuts. Job cuts and demotions were made in March to save money.
The promotion process has occurred according to state civil service rules, Greco said. For the deputy chief vacancy, he added, Tahan’s name was the only one on a certification list from which candidates could be selected and which requires extensive testing.
Tahan said he hoped most Clifton residents will accept his promotion.
“It’s a day when people should be happy,” he said. “It’s a good day for the department. It’s a good day for the citizens.”
According to JTA he Jewish community is planning to rally opposite City Hall that afternoon.
Steve Goldberg, one of the men organizing the protest, told JTA that Tahan has said “horrible things, racist things” over the years. Tahan also has called the heavily Jewish Rosemawr neighborhood “a city of child-haters,” Goldberg said, for attempting to block the construction of a school on the site of a park.