Firefighter alleges bias

Joe Sanford Jr. claims that an illegal Inwood Fire Department election cost him his position as 1st deputy chief, and he believes his race was a factor.

According to the Fire Department’s bylaws, nominations for department positions must be made in March, and elections must follow in April. Sanford was renominated in March for his second and last year as 1st deputy chief, but another nomination was accepted on April 2 — for Anthony Rivelli Sr. — which, Sanford claims, invalidated the April 5 election, which Rivelli won. “They violated their own bylaws,” Sanford said. “It made me feel like because I was black, no one was ready to make me chief and I did nothing wrong.”

Sanford, the first African-American 1st deputy chief of the department, made his way up the ranks in his 17 years as a volunteer firefighter after serving the required five-year probation period. He eventually became a lieutenant, captain and 1st deputy chief. He said he believes he was on his way to becoming chief of the department, but racial discrimination cost him the 1st deputy chief’s position.

“I went over the ranks like everyone else and was never in any trouble,” Sanford said. “It’s wrong what they did to me.”

Though he is still officially a member of the department, he has not returned to the firehouse since the election. “How am I supposed to feel comfortable fighting fires and thinking they all have my back?” he said. “I don’t feel safe at that place.”

Rivelli, an Inwood resident who has spent more than 30 years with the Fire Department, said of Sanford’s allegations, “It’s far-fetched, ludicrous and ridiculous,” Rivelli added, “This is something that should have never left the Fire Department.”

Inwood F.D. Chief Richard Magliaro described Sanford as an excellent firefighter who has never turned his back on the department. “I feel really bad that this happened to him,” said Magliaro, who nominated Sanford for 1st deputy chief in March. “I would really like it if we followed the bylaws, and if they’re not followed, it doesn’t pay to be there.”

Sanford’s attorney, Gregory Calliste, did not return calls for comment by press time.

According to Magliaro, the Inwood Fire Department has consulted their own lawyer. “The department’s lawyer thinks things were done illegally, and Joe’s lawyer thinks the same,” Magliaro said. “I hope Joe can work out everything in the long run. He’s put his heart and soul into the firehouse.”

Asked what may lie ahead, Sanford said he cannot imagine a life without fighting fires. “I’m going to be an active firefighter but at another fire department around me,” he said. “In the future I want to pursue a career enjoying what I’ve been doing for the past 17 years. I don’t want to walk away now.”