Fire/Rescue News - Longtime Pleasantville fire chief retires with no regrets

Continued from page 1

That includes a plan to visit a Sudan orphanage run by his children after a January trip to another orphanage in Juarez, Mexico. Borden and his wife, Cathy, have fostered dozens of children in the past 30 years.

Borden decided this summer to leave Nov. 1 from the department he joined in 1970. He assumed the top job after Roger Arlan's retirement in 1992.

"He's just a genuine person. That's what I'm really, really going to miss about him," said Mayor Jesse Tweedle. "He would always give me a truthful answer. Whether I liked the answer or not, he was always candid."

"I called him The Human Microphone," added Tweedle with a laugh, "because he has such a strong voice."

When asked how the department had changed in his time, Borden remembered the advent of its ambulance service, the proliferation of more modern equipment and the introduction of a civil service merit system in 2004.

"I think the fire service has always been a dedicated service. You're not going to get rich being a fireman," Borden said. "You not only work for a City Council, you work for a taxpayer."

"We all work for a higher authority, meaning God," added Borden, a member of Praise Tabernacle in Egg Harbor Township. He looks forward to doing missionary work around the world.

City Administrator Marvin Hopkins said Battalion Chief Bob Hoffman, himself a longtime member of the department, has replaced Borden on an interim basis, pending civil service test results from candidates in January.

"What can I say? Obviously, it'll be a tremendous loss to the city," Hopkins said. "He saved the city, by being its Joint Insurance Fund coordinator, hundreds of thousands of dollars. But more than that, he's a good man."

Borden's colleagues are organizing a $40-per-head tribute dinner Saturday at Harbor Pines Golf Resort in Egg Harbor Township.

Contact Eric Scott Campbell:

609-272-7227

ECampbell@pressofac.com