NEWBURGH – The City of Newburgh’s current police and fire chief positions are held by people serving in acting capacities. It is unclear as to when the posts will be permanently filled.
Both jobs require permanent appointees to be city residents. None of the three people who passed the most recent fire chief civil service test or the two who passed the pólice chief exam live in the city.
City Manager Michael Ciaravino would like to appoint the most qualified individual regardless of where they live.
“We need an individual that perhaps reflects the diversity of the City of Newburgh; bilingual candidates are always preferred,” Ciaravino said. “We are also looking for candidates at the end of the day that know the community, that work to build the relationships and will be able to promote what we have begun here in earnest in the last couple of years, that is to have a police department and a community that knows each other and trusts each other.”
The current acting fire chief, Terry Ahlers, lives in the Town of Newburgh and does not want to move into the city. Acting Police Chief Joseph Cortez, who is bilingual, was born and raised and still lives in Newburgh, but does not have the required tenure as a lieutenant to hold the post permanently.
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