Dearborn Fire Chief Lands New Job in Arizona
Dearborn Fire Chief Nazih Hazime plans to retire July 30, his 25th year as a Dearborn firefighter, to become chief of the Sedona Fire District in Sedona, Ariz.
The Dearborn Press & Guide reported this news first in their Sunday edition.
“I want to make it clear that I’m not running away from Dearborn – I love this city,” Hazime, a Dearborn resident for more than 30 years told the Press & Guide. “It was a very difficult decision to leave, but this represents a great opportunity. I’m going to miss everyone – especially my colleagues in the fire department.”
Before being named fire chief, from 1984 to 2004, Hazime held the positions of firefighter I, firefighter II, fire pump operator, firefighter II and lieutenant with the Dearborn Fire Department. The late Mayor Michael A. Guido appointed him fire chief in February 2004.
Hazime told the Press & Guide that he learned May 9 he had been unanimously selected from among 52 candidates to serve as fire chief of the Sedona Fire District, which oversees two communities and two counties with a population of about 22,000.
May 17th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
The City is losing a good person — good luck.
May 17th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
Nazih will be missed, he is one of good guys. Our lose, Sadona’s gain.
May 20th, 2009 at 12:21 am
WAKE UP, DEARBORN!! Chief Hazime, an outstanding pillar of the community for decades, is opting for Sedona, Arizona? Ask yourselves why? Certainly not the pay or the career leap. Chief Hazime more than likely foresees the “handwriting on the wall” for the City of Dearborn.
Nazih truly is one of our local heroes that would be well worth keeping however it appears the luster of Dearborn (approx. population 98,000) has worn itself dull to that of Sedona (approx. population 22,000).
May 20th, 2009 at 9:21 am
Vires – please be careful of making assumptions. We all know what happens when you “assume.” Chief Hazime is eligible for retirement from the DFD and happened upon an opening in Sedona, AZ, a place he and his wife have vacationed in many times and thoroughly enjoy. He actually IS leaving for the opportunities that Sedona offers, and he looks at it as a welcome challenge and a new step in his career. There is a LOT of good that he can do for the Sedona Fire District and they are very excited about welcoming him to their community.
As the Chief said, he isn’t running from anything. I find it interesting that you refer to him as a “pillar of the community” and a “local hero,” yet you also are saying he is concealing his reasons for leaving. Sounds a little contradictory. He IS a pillar of the community, a local hero, and a completely honest person. He is going to Sedona for EXACTLY the reasons he has stated. There is nothing to hide, and he is not a psychic who “forsees the handwriting on the wall.”
It seems a little forward to theorize why Chief Hazime, a lifelong and active resident of the City, is leaving. Especially in a public forum when he is such a valued member of our city.
May 20th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
…not to mention engaging in the time-honored tradition of civil servants double-dipping by “retiring” then finding a similar position in another community.
Sorry, I’m a bit cranky today.
May 20th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
Howard…really???? You shouldn’t leave comments when you are cranky. Civil servants, especially those who protect cranky people like you, are not at the top of the pay scale, as you probably know. Why shouldn’t they do this? Most start working to protect you when they are in their 20s. Give them a break, huh?
May 20th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Well put pdmom! I was going to post the same thing, but you beat me to it. Given the low pay for high risk, I would assume one of the attractions of the job is the retirement benefits- but from personal experience, I know that most of our brave civil servants do those jobs because they love doing them.
May 20th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Vaweja – Thank you for validating my remarks (verbatim) and admiration of Chief Hazime as you obviously felt was needed. A person of Chief Hazime’s moral and ethical standing would never make a remark to blemish the entity that he has loved or employed by; he is to classy of an individual to do so. I merely speculated, as did you in the opposite direction, as to why a significantly smaller scaled organization would allure him.
I seriously doubt that you are a psychic; “He is going to Sedona for EXACTLY the reasons he has stated. There is nothing to hide, and he is not a psychic who “forsees the handwriting on the wall.”
The good Chief will only know!
May 20th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
Some of you folks need to realize that the sun doesn’t rotate around Dearborn. There’s a big world out there. God bless Hazime for putting his time in and getting out in the world past Gulley. He earned every dime he’s getting from the city as do all firemen and policemen in that town. He has no obligation to spend it the way you think he should, or to live out his days within the city limits of Dearborn.
Howard, do you know why most people, especially those with kids would rather live in Dearborn than Detroit? Hint: It’s not the Mutt Strut, or the fitness center or performing arts center or the Farmer’s Market or Fordson High School. Detroit has Orchestra Hall, Ford Field, The Fox Theater, the State Theater (or Filmore..whatever they’re calling it now), Masonic Temple, just a FEW more high end bars and restaurants than downtown west Dearborn and it has Eastern Market and Renaissance High school. Every one of those things outshines their Dearborn counterparts. Why isn’t there a huge influx of new residents into Detroit? Dearborn has Hakim Fakhoury. Detroit has the Illitch family. Do you know why most people would rather live in Dearborn than Detroit?
It’s because in Dearborn, the emergency response time is measure in minutes as opposed to days, and the garbage gets picked up on time. That’s it. There is no magic forumula. Folks like you need to realize that you’re LEASING your civil servants, you’re not BUYING them on a 25-year installment plan. Hazime fulfilled his end of the bargain. If he chooses to start another career, that’s his prerogative and you’ve got nothing germane to say about it. There’s no “double dipping” involved. How can you not get that? He EARNED his pension. He doesn’t forfeit it because you don’t like the fact that he’s able to start another career west of the Mississippi.
As far as why Sedona; Are you kidding? Some of you can’t see the forest for the trees. I’d bet it had nothing to do with any “writing on the walls” or any disatisfaction with Dearborn. He put his time in. What part of that is hard for you to understand? It’s a new challenge in a beautiful area of the country. What more do you need? Why must there be some emerging scandal or hidden agenda for you provincial crybabies to be content? I believe I know the answer, and it’s petty, small-minded resentment and jealosy. The economy sucks right now and if you could get civil servants to work for free, you’d do it. Not to save money, but just because you’re a miserable, little man, and misery and small-mindedness loves company.
Want Dearborn to be more like Detroit? Keep crapping on your civil servants while they’re on watch keeping the wolf from the door. Ask an insurance actuary the average lifespan for a fireman or police officer after 25 years in police or fire serve. I’m sure you’d love to make them work until they drop, but that’s not the way it works. If you want to get on the same “gravy train”, the police and fire academies all have openings. What are you waiting for?
May 20th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
Cranky Too, I’m with you about residents not “owning” civil servants; we have established an agreement through the contracts with the unions for service, payment, and pensions. The Chief (don’t know him personally, sure he’s a nice guy) certainly is doing nothing illegal, unethical, or underhanded.
However, the first line of Deep’s posting says that the Chief “plans to retire…to become chief of the Sedona Fire District”. Did I misunderstand the meaning of “retire”?
May 21st, 2009 at 9:31 am
I guess you did. When you work for an entity with a pension plan, and you fulfill the requirements to start collecting your pension, and you voluntarily end your employment with that entity to start collecting your pension, you’re said to have “retired”, just the same as the guy who retires from Ford and gets another job somewhere else. I guess you could use your “double-dipping” term if there was a national pension system where firemen could go from state to state retaining seniority and benefits, and he retired and got another job in the same pension system to start all over again, but that’s not the way it is. Good thing for Dearborn and anywhere else in this state right now too. How long do you think fire fighters would stick around S/E Michigan if they could get trained in Dearborn, work 10 years and leave for places like Sedona, Southern California, Hawaii, etc…work a few years and go somewhere else, never losing seniority or benefits?
Hazime earned his pension, retired from the City of Dearborn and chose to take a job in another state. That’s all. No “double-dipping”, no nefarious motives, no golden parachute, no escape plan to avoid writings on walls, just an honorable man who served his employer, employees and residents well for a good percentage of his lifetime and is now moving on to something else.
May 21st, 2009 at 9:57 am
Vires – I am sorry that I misinterpreted your intent in your first post. I do agree with you that the Chief is an outstanding individual.
And you are correct, I am not a psychic. However, there was actually no speculation at all on my part.
And Howard, really. Would you like everything to be re-worded? It’s all semantics.
May 21st, 2009 at 11:12 am
Cranky Howard…I do know the chief personally and he is going for EXACTLY the reasons he stated. No psychic powers or writing on the wall, just the facts…those pesky things. Cranky Too…well put. Dearborn has one of the best Police Departments around, one that new recruits would love to be a part of. It’s too bad that people are so short sighted. Thankfully, they are the minority..at least I hope. Cranky Howard, if you call the Dearborn P.D., I’m sure you will get the same quick response with an abundance of dedicated officers at your door within minutes. And I’m sure they will understand your cranky attitude. Give them a break, assume the best, and be sure the thank one of them when you see them. I would hate to think that my son may be giving up his life some day for someone that would begrudge him a pension for putting his life on the line every day since the age of 24. Think Cranky, think. And for God’s sake, cheer up!!!