Westfield's Dilemma: Trasparency vs Secrecy or "Do As I Say, Not As I Do"

     On page ten of this morning’s New York Post, the headline reads “Andy’s ire rai$ed”.  Underneath that headline is the title, “Blasts secret State Police pay hikes”.  For a split second, I thought I was reading about a secret pay raise to a Westfield police officer not long ago.  The title of the New York Post article included Westfield Mayor Andrew Skibitsky’s first name, it included the word “secret”, and it also mentions a “pay hike”.  

     Obviously, the New York Post would not report on a secret pay raise in one of New Jersey’s quaint colonial towns, suburb to the metropolis in which they can report on more locally centered scandals in the city of New York.  But the references are eerie.  Go to http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/andy_ire_rai_ed_DeNutpzqjp9uiwOk11L3PJ to read story of secret N.Y. State Police pay hikes.

     Sometime during the waning months of 2009, a pay raise was given to an officer in the Westfield Police Department.  The raise was given to a detective sergeant outside of any contract negotiations that normally take place between the Policeman’s Benevolent Association Local #90, and the Town of Westfield. 

     The raise was equivalent to the pay of the next highest rank, that being lieutenant.  It must be noted that at the time of the secret pay raise, the rank of lieutenant in the WPD had an opening as a result of the retirement of an officer of that same rank.  Why, was the secret pay raise given to the detective sergeant but not the title, that being the rank of lieutenant? 

     A list of candidates from a previous W.P.D. Lieutenant’s Exam was still valid and had not expired.  Why not choose a candidate from that list?  Perhaps none of the ranked candidates were of the Mayor, Town Administrator, Police Chief, or Patrol Captain’s liking?   

     The promotional list was allowed to expire in March of 2010.  No promotion was made.  An open position at the rank of lieutenant was left empty, but the pay raise, to go along with that rank, had already been given out, secretly months before to the detective sergeant. 

     The raise was given at a time when other officers in the police department had asked the administration why a lieutenant promotion had not been made or why a plainclothes detective could not be promoted to the next highest rank within the detective bureau.  The administrations answer, there is no money for any promotion.  But there was, the secret pay raise given to the detective sergeant, the raise meant for the rightful person that should have been promoted to lieutenant.   

     In a letter to the editor of The Westfield Leader on August 5, 2010, Mayor Skibitsky addressed what retired Westfield Police Officer Greg Kasko referred to, at a town council meeting, as a “secret pay raise” that had taken place in 2009.  The Mayor stated the pay raise was, “Nothing more than an acting pay adjustment for additional duties that was processed in the normal course of business in accordance with the terms of the labor agreement between the Town of Westfield and the P.B.A. Local 90.”  The Mayor further states that, “Such acting pay increases, where appropriate, have been processed in the same manner for other police officers over the past several years.”  The key words in the Mayor’s statement are “where appropriate.”  Was this “acting pay increase” appropriate?  The Fact of The Matter says absolutely not.

 

     The truth, or fact of the matter is, in the “normal course of business,” the Town of Westfield would have posted the “pay adjustment” and it would have been made public when given.  Furthermore, this “pay adjustment” had been disclosed during the formal discovery process by another Westfield police officer in another matter.  The “pay adjustment” had been unknown to the public before then.

     During the tenure of Town Administrator Tom Shannon, prior to James Gildea being handed the position, allegations of improper “holiday bonuses” to certain town employees was revealed.  Whether this played a part in Mr. Shannon’s departure, after a short stint as Westfield’s Town Administrator, is unknown.  What is known, is that contractual employees of the Town of Westfield are not entitled to “holiday” or “end of the year” bonuses outside of what is spelled out in their contracts.  The Town just can’t arbitrarily give out bonuses using taxpayer money to do so.

     Likewise, if taxpayer money is being used to award a secret pay raise allegedly based on false pretenses, to someone not deserving of that raise, then those that were involved in the process or had knowledge of it should be investigated by the proper authority.

     It would certainly be helpful if Mayor Skibitsky would let us know of the names and the times when the town has given pay raises to employees without posting those pay raises and without informing the employee’s labor union. 

     As far as this blog is concerned all salaries and payments to employees of the town are regulated by union contracts and any private payments are not done in the normal course of business. We therefore invite Mayor Skibitsky to give us the names and dates of previous private payments.

     The Fact of The Matter takes the position that anyone involved with orchestrating the implementation of the “pay adjustment,” that occurred within the W.P.D. as described in this blog, should be held accountable for his or her actions if those actions are deemed improper.