Miami-Dade County Manager George Burgess on Friday appointed Broward Sheriff's Office fire rescue department chief Herminio Lorenzo to head Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.
Lorenzo said Miami-Dade administrators called him to tell him of Burgess' decision, which county commissioners will consider on Tuesday. He was picked over four other finalists, including current chief Antonio Bared, who is resigning July 31.
The other finalists were Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Operations Chief Art Holmes, retired chief David James and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Division Chief Karls Paul-Noel.
If approved, Lorenzo would return to work in his home county for the first time since he left the Hialeah Fire Department in 1994 to become Hollywood's fire chief.
"I'm humbly honored by the nomination," said Lorenzo, 57, of Miami Lakes. "I look forward to the challenge."
Lorenzo has spent the past five years as Broward's fire chief. During his tenure, he expanded its high-tech regional services and oversaw the department's merger with the Broward Sheriff's Office last fall. Lorenzo also stopped the efforts by municipal fire departments to annex unincorporated territory, which had weakened the county system.
Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne, speaking through a spokeswoman, said his department would gain a strong ally in Miami-Dade if commissioners approve Lorenzo's nomination.
"The sheriff and chief Lorenzo have grown close personally and professionally," said Cheryl Stopnick, Jenne's spokeswoman. "The sheriff will be disappointed to lose chief Lorenzo if he's confirmed, but ... he's happy he'll have this incredible opportunity."
Lorenzo said one of his main goals for Miami-Dade is expanding service to satisfy the demands of the growing county. "Service has to adjust to that growth," he said.
Lorenzo's nomination was met with dismay by some activists in Miami-Dade, who say Miami-Dade Fire Rescue is not doing enough to hire more black firefighters.
"We're not seeing a lot of blacks entering the fire department to replace those who are retiring," said Brad Brown, president of the Miami chapter of the NAACP. "I am confident that [Lorenzo] will have black firefighters in key positions like Chief Bared did, but I'm afraid in the future there will be fewer blacks."
Brown recently sent a letter to Burgess expressing his concern over Lorenzo's consideration, noting that Lorenzo was chief in Hialeah in 1994 when the Justice Department threatened to sue for discriminatory hiring practices. However, Lorenzo had no control over the screening of job applicants and the city eventually settled with the Justice Department.
Lorenzo defended his record on diversity.
"It does upset me that a clean record is twisted," he said. "If they had researched my records, they would have seen that I have done a lot for the African-American community."
Staff writer Tania Valdemoro contributed to this report.
