The following "Investigation Report" was obtained through an Open Public Records Request.
The report was submitted by Stephanie Gironda of the Wilentz law firm, upon completion of an independent investigation into the alleged theft of overtime at the Westfield DPW.
The thefts were exposed by this blog after alerting town officials of the alleged overtime theft ring.
What followed was the "dragging of heels" for months, due to The Fact of The Matter's refusal to identify/disclose source(s) of information.
Westfield Town Administrator Jim Gildea was tasked with the hiring of the Wilentz law firm to investigate, when the Union County Prosecutor's office or Westfield Police Department should've been the initial investigating entity due to the severity of the alleged crime.
The report's author, S. Gironda, makes an assumption as to who made the "anonymous complaint" of the alleged thefts to The Fact of The Matter. This assumption appears to be based on text message exchanges, not emails as S. Gironda states in her report, between Westfield Town attorney Tom Jardim and Westfield resident/TFoTM administrator Greg Kasko.
The text messages, along with time card records of every DPW employee, are not included in this post, but were submitted as evidence Exhibit A, with the "Investigation Report." The entire report, including the text messages and time cards, is 129 pages.
To be posted.
The investigation was based on time card records, turned over to S. Gironda by Town Admin. Jim Gildea, records beginning October 1, 2018.
The alleged overtime thefts had occurred in the months prior to that date. By October 1, 2018, DPW employees had already been alerted of the accusation of theft. Why did J. Gildea turn over time card records for a period of time that couldn't possibly have uncovered the alleged rampant theft of overtime?
The time frame investigated by Gironda was not the time frame of the alleged thefts that were initially reported to town officials.
Also, why would investigating attorney S. Gironda make an assumption as to who the "anonymous complaint" was, to TFoTM/G. Kasko as indicated in her report, where she states that "emails implicate" a DPW employee. Gironda names the employee.
Not one of the text messages between Jardim and Kasko, included in the Gironda report, identifies the "anonymous complaint." In fact, the text messages repeatedly advise Westfield town attorney Tom Jardim that the source of the "anonymous complaint" will not be revealed/ provided.
Stephanie Gironda was foolish for jumping to a conclusion when no identity is given in the text message exchanges between Kasko and Jardim.
S. Girondas's job was to determine if a theft had occurred. She is a lawyer, not a plumber. She wasn't tasked with flushing out leaks......or was she?
The veracity of her report can be tested for the reason of her being retained. Keep in mind that the attorney general guidelines indicate it is the duty of every township to report alleged illegal activity to the prosecutor of the county.
Also, keep in mind that the county prosecutor's investigation is free, whereas the Gironda investigtion cost the town upwards of betwen $6000 and $7000.
It was obviously clear that the town administrator received a report that indicates theft of time, yet to the public tax payers, he informed them that there was no abuse of overtime.
NOTE: The Gironda Report is heavily redacted by the Town of Westfield and it also incorrectly spells the names of a number of people listed in the report. It would appear that Town Administrator Jim Gildea got what the town paid for.
NOTE: TFoTM has learned that a lawsuit has been filed against the Town of Westfield. To be posted upon receipt.
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