The following is an update to a Fact of The Matter story posted in 2018 exposing rampant overtime theft by employees of the Westfield DPW including supervisor of the forestry division Rob Kosciolek. TFoTM has identified Kosciolek as the “ringleader” of the group of employees that stole time not worked.
In her Investigation Report submitted to Westfield Town Administrator Jim Gildea, Stephanie Gironda concluded that “Mr. ((Rob) Kosciolek was “Neither forthcoming nor completely credible.” (See report’s conclusion.)
Investigator Gironda included in her report that she believes the DPW employees she interviewed, “Colluded to tell the same story,” and did so to “Get their stories straight.”
The un-redacted report recently obtained by TFoTM reveals Gironda’s interviews and conclusions after she conducted an investigation, at the request of Jim Gildea, into alleged overtime theft by Westfield DPW employees including supervisor of the forestry division, Rob Kosciolek.
Kosciolek billed/bilked the town for over $35,000 of overtime in 2018 by having other employees sign him into or out of overtime work after his regular shift had ended at 3pm The other employees would sign Kosciolek out of work as late as 8pm and beyond, garnering him overtime for work he was never present for. As a supervisor, Kosciolek was not required to sign into his daily shift from 7am to 3pm.
The amount of stolen overtime, that fleeced the pockets of Westfield taxpayers, totals in the thousands of dollars.
The Fact of The Matter obtained photos of DPW Frank Watkins holding a list of names and employee numbers that he used to sign people into or out of overtime work that did not work the entire billed hours.
Contrary to Stephanie Girond’s opinion, TFoTM can unequivocally confirm that the photos were not obtained from Craig Gibson.
In fact, her report is full of inaccuracies including the misidentification and incorrect spelling of town employees, and investigating the wrong time frame of when the thefts occurred.
It’s impossible to obtain evidence of actual theft of time unless someone kept an accurate record of when people actually arrived or left work. Therefore, Gironda’s statement that she did not find evidence is NOT proof of anything.
What is important is that Gironda decided that the people interviewed probably colluded with one another to “get their stories straight.”
Supervisor Rob Kosciolek remains employed by the Town of Westfield.
It is shocking that this administration always hires an “investigator”friendly to the administration and then supports the non-findings of the report as proof of its good governance.
ReplyDeleteLook at the reports it issued for the applicant intimately referred to publicly as” Jimmy”. The idea of investigation into his Savannah, clothed in scaffolding after the lawsuit was settled, was too much for this “open” administration.
Look at the friendly “expert” hired for the turf field report. Its political contributions extend from Hudson County and Jersey City through Trenton to the Union Freeholders and little colonial Westfield. The way the report reads, you’d think PILOT money will be like the biblical “loaves and fishes”. It’s allegedly going to pay for everything!
You think this administration would at least react ,for the public’s sake, to the conclusion that town employees colluded with one another to get their story straight. Shouldn’t the Town inquire PUBLICLY why it was necessary to “get their story straight “?
We’ll have to suffer through more of the phony facade created by this administration. The mayor will think of some way to emulate Millburn or Hoboken and appoint a “committee “ of cronies to confirm the Town’s need. Having obtained this “grass-roots” idea, an”independent expert” will be retained from the “political stable” and, lo and behold, a friendly report will be produced. When the population asks why, they will be told they are not conversant with the “needs” of the Town, they just live here.