City hiring in the new municipal government continues to be raised as an issue by a former political opponent of Mayor James Davis.
Peter Franco, campaign manager for candidate Anthony Zanowic early in last year’s mayoral campaign, has sent a letter to the Bayonne Community News in which he questions the hiring of new city employees by the Davis administration.
Franco’s letter follows his comments during the Feb. 18 City Council meeting where he initially brought up the issue publicly.
Franco’s major charges are that the Davis administration has hired nearly 50 employees since taking office on July 1 of last year, that the cost of the employees is nearly $2 million, and that that figure does not include benefits for the individuals.
In his letter, he references the city’s $20,000,000 annual structural deficit and predicts that annual shortfall will increase because of the policies of Davis and his administration.
“In as little as eight short months, our current business administrator, Joe DeMarco, and the mayor have put the brakes on our financial recovery,” Franco said.
Last week, DeMarco was quoted in a daily newspaper as saying that there will likely be an increase in taxes.
But while DeMarco said the city has hired 49 employees since mid-2014, he said the bulk of them were not newly created positions, but rather hiring to refill municipal posts opened by Davis’s victory in the municipal election, retirements from the police and other departments, and anticipated retirements from the fire department and other areas in 2015.
DeMarco said the hirings of individuals such as Municipal Services Director Robert Wondolowski, Corporation Counsel Jay Coffey, and him as a business administrator were to replace Joseph Waks, Charles D’Amico, and Stephen Gallo, respectively. DeMarco also said budget money was saved in each of those instances because each new appointee is receiving a lower salary than his predecessor.
DeMarco also said the hiring of Public Safety Director Robert Kubert was made to replace Jason O’Donnell, and that the hiring of Kubert at only $70,000 was a coup.
“If you can find me another public safety director taking that little, please let me know,” DeMarco said.
In his letter, Franco also questioned why any new hiring was being done at all.
“When you can’t afford to pay the employees you already have, you don’t hire more,” he said. “When you’re broke you don’t go shopping.”
DeMarco said that if the gross payroll year over year is compared, the Davis administration has only hired between 10 to 20 new positions compared to the previous administration, and that six of them were in Public Works, with an eye toward keeping costs low during snow removal efforts this winter.
“When you can’t afford to pay the employees you already have, you don’t hire more.” – Peter Franco
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DeMarco also disputes Franco’s nearly $2 million figure for the new employees, saying that most of the new hires were clerks or laborers, in the $30,000 to $35,000 annual salary range, and that his figure of less than $500,000 for all the new hires includes benefits.
In terms of public safety additions, DeMarco said police officers and firefighters are generally hired in groups because of federal grants that expire and because those professionals are usually trained several at a time in academy classes.
DeMarco said that six firefighters have communicated their intention to retire by year’s end. He also said that the city has hired a handful of new crossing guards, due to heavy turnover because of retirements and individuals not wanting to work in bad weather.
Franco did not return a phone call made to him by the Community News.
Joseph Passantino may be reached at JoePass@hudsonreporter.com.To comment on this story online visit www.hudsonreporter.com.