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"It feels good," said Mordaga, whose last day in the job will be May 16. "It wasn't easy. But I had the support of the union and of the city.
"There's young blood in there now and new leadership moving forward. There's a lot of opportunity for a lot of people."
City officials hired Mordaga in February 2013 to reorganize the department after years of turmoil.
After a year, leadership of PBA Local 9 and city officials agreed the task required more time.
After an officer-in-charge was named in March 2015, it was anticipated that Mordaga would be gone by this past January.
A slight restructuring changed those plans.
"The city manager asked me to stay on a little longer until we could finish the final reorganization," Mordaga told Daily Voice.
In January, city officials adopted an ordinance to expand the ranks of captain and lieutenant. A month later, interviews for the positions began.
Four captains and rotating officers in charge were named in early March. Then began the process began of adding lieutenants and sergeants.
Last week, promotions were made -- essentially completing the reorganization.
Mordaga, a former city detective and chief of detectives in the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, now returns to the private sector.
"It's the right time," he said. "Everything's in place. It's time for the new blood to take over."
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