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Orange council creates Department of Public Safety and authorizes public-safety director position
Summary
Ordinance 16‑2026 to create a Department of Public Safety and allow appointment of a public safety director passed June 16, 2026. Residents sought job description, certification, salary and oversight details; administration said minimum qualifications include 10 years of law‑enforcement experience and the position has not yet been advertised.
The City of Orange Township on June 16 adopted Ordinance 16‑2026 to create a Department of Public Safety and to provide for a public safety director, consolidating some administrative functions that had been split between separate police and fire director titles.
The public‑safety item generated focused public comment and technical questions. Anthony Burke and other residents asked why the city was reviving the position after earlier objections and sought specifics: job duties, required certifications, salary and benefits, and whether an engineering or cost study supported renovations to the Washington Street fire station (an estimated figure of about $1.8 million was discussed).
Derek Brown, fire chief, said the developer under the community benefit agreement will provide architectural and engineering drawings for firehouse renovation and that initial contractor walk‑throughs suggested costs might be less than earlier estimates; the administration said additional environmental remediation may be necessary before final design and budget are known.
On the position itself, administration staff said the draft ordinance includes a minimum of 10 years of law‑enforcement experience as a requirement and that the job has not been posted because the council must create the position first. The ordinance would eliminate the separate salary‑guide titles for director of police and director of fire and instead assign budgeting and administrative authority for those departments and emergency management to a single public safety director.
Supporters said the change is intended to streamline administration and reduce staffing redundancy; critics and commenters said they will review the formal job description and watch for potential conflicts of interest and transparency concerns. Council members agreed to provide the job description once available and said they would not advertise until the position is formally established.
The ordinance passed by roll call (5 yes, 2 absent). The council also discussed directing the administration to return additional details on required licensing, recruitment timeline and anticipated annual cost.
