Tawan Baxter, a chief payroll clerk hired in August, will be at the helm of the city's fire department until Saturday
NEWARK -- Fire Director James Stewart has rankled some in his ranks by naming a recently hired payroll clerk -- who also happens to be his future daughter-in-law -- to serve in his stead while he takes a vacation this week.
Tawan Baxter, who was hired as a chief clerk Aug. 24, was named acting fire director as of 8 a.m. Saturday and is set to remain in the role for one week, according to a Nov. 4 memo obtained by NJ Advance Media.
Fire Chief John Centanni, who signed the memo, is also away and named Deputy Chief Richard Gail was appointed to serve in his stead until Wednesday morning.
According to several sources, Baxter is engaged to Stewart's son Anwar Ahbanawa. A 21-year veteran of the fire department, Ahbanawa is now working in an administrative post in his father's office.
Fire Department spokesman Capt. John Brown said that Baxter was well qualified to temporarily take over for Stewart, having served in senior and executive positions in both the insurance and healthcare fields, including stints at Prudential, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and East Orange General Hospital. He declined to comment on any personal connections she had with department administrators.
"She comes with a very impressive resume, and she's in constant contact with the director," he said.
Stewart (City of Newark Press Office)Fire department sources, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal, said Baxter had been impressive running the department's payroll and performing other duties three months into the job, but that the announcement that a brand new employee would be overseeing the department had already drawn widespread complaints. As the top civilian official in the fire department, the director oversees discipline, promotions and other policy decisions.
The move is not without precedent in Newark -- former Fire Director David Giordano was known to name his secretary to serve in his stead during absences -- but those moves also caused discord among the rank and file, according to the sources.
"I'm not even sure why he would name her acting director. The rank and file would rather see a qualified person running their fire department for the week," one member of the department said. " It's keeping it in the family."
Baxter, who could not be reached for comment, earns an annual salary of $61,105, according to state civil service records. Fire officials said she will not receive an increase for serving in the interim post.
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Earlier this year, union officials complained about perceptions of favoritism within the department after a labor arbitrator ruled that a longtime battalion chief was denied a transfer to the arson unit because he was white.
Stewart, a longtime fire department captain who oversaw fire code enforcement in the city after retiring, has also faced discrimination claims and attention from law enforcement since being named director in December 2013.
Last year, a Star-Ledger report revealed he was the subject of investigations by both the state and Essex County Prosecutor's Office related to allegations that he tried to give firearms to employees who were not allowed to carry guns, and that he shoehorned an unqualified politically connected candidate into the fire academy.
In July, corruption detectives from the Union County Prosecutor's Office seized documents from Stewart's office as part of a probe into the department's Environmental Dumping Task Force and one of its members, Capt. Anthony Graves.
The status of the three probes is unclear, though no charges or indictments have been filed.
Dan Ivers may be reached at divers@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DanIversNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
