About Our Newest Firefighter Appointee

You may have seen this item on JSOnline — a story about one of the city’s newest firefighters.

The South Milwaukee Police and Fire Commission appointed Nathan Fager to the role of firefighter on May 13, and the City Council will vote on recognizing that appointment at its meeting Tuesday night. Mr. Fager is expected to start with the SMFD on June 1.

I stand behind the selection made by the PFC, which, per state statute, handles all police and fire hiring, discipline, etc., so as to remove politics from the process. The PFC, department and others fully vetted Mr. Fager prior to his appointment and were assured by a number of Milwaukee department officials that, while he was assigned to the station in question as a probationary firefighter, he was not part of the vandalism, nor did he witness it.

Moreover, Mr. Fager was a highly decorated member of the Milwaukee Police Department before seeking to move to the fire department, and he was at the top of his MFD Fire Academy class, well-regarded by instructors. He also went through our very comprehensive employment process, which includes a written exam, psychological evaluation, interviews and a background investigation.

I wish Mr. Fager well in joining a first-class department.