Monday, March 10, 2008

EMPLOYEES CAN RETIRE, COLLECT PENSIONS AND THEN BE REHIRED AT SAME PAY--THIS SHOULD BE STOPPED BY NYS

An article in Newsday indicated that in Long Island some government employees are retiring, collecting their pensions. They are then able to return to the same jobs and can collect full time salaries. Some employees do this the next day! I believe that the county of Westchester & local governments within Westchester should ban this kind of practice from taking place. It’s a misuse of taxpayer dollars. I would like to request that the county personnel office conduct an inventory to determine if this is happening in Westchester County . If this is currently happening in Westchester (it’s happening in other parts of the state) it should be stopped. In addition, the County Board of Legislators should approve a resolution supporting Assemblyman Sweeney’s proposed law. A copy of the article that appeared in NEWSDAY is attached.
Top Garden City cop gets sweet deal
BY CHAU LAM | chau.lam@newsday.com

March 9, 2008

Mayor Peter A. Bee and village board members voted unanimously to rehire Cipullo after he quit working because Bee said Cipullo was "the best person" to manage the department that consists of 54 sworn police officers, 13 civilian employees and half a dozen school crossing guards.
"He's doing a great job and there is no reason to let him go," Bee said in an interview last week.
There is nothing illegal about the arrangement. Government workers 65 and older who retire with full pensions are permitted by state law to return to the same jobs and collect full-time salaries.
But Assemb. Robert Sweeney (D-Lindenhurst) said he has drafted legislation that would stop the payment of pensions of more than $70,000 a year to civil servants who then return to the same jobs or substantially similar jobs.
The legislation, Sweeney said, is being reviewed by State Comptroller Thomas .DiNapoli.
Sweeney said Cipullo's case illustrates the kind of waste and abuse in government that is criticized by Long Islanders.
"Why is he worth so much more from one day to the next?" Sweeney said. "That's a little tough to justify."
Cipullo did not return repeated calls left at his office.
In Suffolk, three civil servants retired recently and went back to the same job the same or next day. Two of them are on the county payroll, collecting full salaries and full pensions. The third was let go in January.
Jim Fuchs, a spokesman for DiNapoli, said last year there were 791 retired civil servants working in municipal jobs statewide. Of the 791, 16 were between the ages of 65 and 69 and collected more than $100,000 each in pensions, he said.
Cipullo is not the only retired civil servant on Garden City's payroll who is collecting a full pension and a full salary.
Kevin E. Ocker, 56, a former Nassau County deputy parks commissioner, was hired in 2003 by Bee and the village board as chairman of the cultural and recreational affairs board.
Ocker, who currently receives $112,918 a year, oversees a department of 24 full-time employees and a group of seasonal workers. He retired from his Nassau job on Dec. 31, 2002, and has been collecting an annual pension of $52,808.24, bringing his income to a total of $165,726.24 this year.
Ocker did not return repeated calls for comments.
Village administrator Robert L. Schoelle Jr. said the village conducted a search last July for the position but could not find qualified nonretirees despite receiving 33 resumes.
Schoelle said he interviewed one candidate from Florida who he said had "limited" experience. "She lacked the qualification we were looking for," Schoelle said.
The other 32 candidates who applied were deemed by Schoelle not to have the educational background or experience in horticulture the village was seeking.
So, the village applied to New York State for a two-year renewable waiver, commonly referred to as a 211 waiver, for permission to hire Ocker because he was less than 65 years old and there were no qualified nonretirees for the position.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

What else is new.
Isn't this the same as civil service employees working their rears off to get overtime so they can inflate their pensions.
How many here in Greenburgh did this and how many are working on this plan today.
Feiner check out the overtime scheduals and see how they have mastered to benefit themselves and screw the taxpayers.
This has been going on all over not just in the areas listed in the newspaper.
Some retire collect their pensions and then are put back on the payrolls as consultants,and receive a larger paycheck than before because they now have a title.
Smarten up Paul and check those employed by this town.
Nuff said.

Anonymous said...

Large corporation do this all the time but I have never heard of this in differnt municipalities where you have civil servants.
There should be a mandatory age or which ever comes sooner years of
employment to make someone retire.
Corporations are pushing for years worked plus age to compute pensions.
I understand that you have certain workers over retirement age and many that have already put in two tours of duty and working on their third.
You do have qualified people to fill any job where the present employee has thirty and forty years on the job,
Sit down and revisit the amount of money these employees will receive when they retire,.
Do you think this is the best way to run a town.
Not only will they receive a pension but we have to pay for their benefits too.
When the cows get out of the barn then everything is checked and rechecked.
Every town official knows all the scams but refuse to take the first step.
It's great that each state has a dept. of control(comptroller office)to start putting things on the right tract.
I"m sure that DiNapoli will do a good job not only to investigate this problem but to look intom other wrong doings.


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Anonymous said...

isnt mr iagallo doing this when he took a job in bronxville? or when he was the payroll of various villages as assessor while using the free offices of the town of greenburgh to run his side businesses?

it is rumored that iagallo had the goods on various people so he could do this. alternatively, the town board failed miserably in its oversight capacities.

Anonymous said...

It is around 1:45 in the afternoon.

As I write, what is the Town Assessor doing?

Anonymous said...

It is around 3:45.

Is Spitzer eligible for a pension?

More to the point, is Steve Bass going to run for Governor?

Anonymous said...

4:40 pm
where is spitzer?

we know iagallo is in bronxville collecting a nice pension from greenburgh.

is juettner still sleeping?

Anonymous said...

You seem to be surprised by this. (Maybe some day we can get a professional manager who understands such matters.) That's my plan and that of many other public employees - retire and collect pension as soon as eligible, and then work as a consultant for my same department. I don't see how this is a misue of taxpayer dollars. It's not as though new, special positions are being created. Actually seems like a wise use of taxpayer dollars in that there are no expenses for training and such.

Anonymous said...

Paul set it up for his good friend Iagaello. While Iagallo was [supposedly] the full time Greenburgh assessor, Feiner agreed to let him "consult" for Bronxville. And when and where did Iagello do this consulting work? Dont know, but certainly set him up for a cushy Bronxville job.

Anonymous said...

There goes Al Regula's plan!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Paul the way things are going for the democrats I think you had better look into the retirement ,inflaiting overtime,and the such before an investigation is made into all municpalities.
We have many on the payrolls at this time that could and should retire fully.
Need I name them.

Anonymous said...

Do you think by keeping the people who can retire on the payroll will save you money wrong.
In todays world many who are now being employed pay half toward their benefits if not all.You have to pay benefits for now and when they retire also.
Many are not union members which means if they don't produce they go byebye.
This is why you need a good manager who will know how to save money and at the same time run a good town.
Corporations use a formula ,age plus time worked should add up to a figure and that's how much their,pension will be.At the moment you are giving away so much money and benefits and boy do your employees know this and they are preparing themselves for the kill.
Just once in a while think about the tax payers that have to pay for their greed.