YOUNGSTOWN Mayor's Cabinet taking shape

The new police chief is a 29-year veteran of the Youngstown force.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mayor Jay Williams was expected to announce today that he is retaining at least four current department heads and is hiring a new police chief and water commissioner.
Williams confirmed Tuesday that he is retaining Finance Director David Bozanich and is promoting John Casciano from the water department's auditor and office manager to water commissioner.
Also, city hall sources say Williams was to officially announce today that he is retaining Fire Chief John O'Neill Jr., Law Director Iris Torres Guglucello and Carmen Conglose Jr., deputy director of public works.
City hall sources say Williams was to appoint police Capt. Jimmy Hughes, a 29-year veteran of the Youngstown force, as the department's chief, replacing Robert Bush. Hughes will see his annual salary increase from $74,505.44 to $82,071.61.
Williams was to announce his selections for seven Cabinet members today. The other position is prosecutor. As of late Tuesday, Williams was still talking to finalists for the post. For the past eight years, Dionne Almasy has held the job.
A former law director, Bush, who applied for law director and police chief, is the only incumbent Cabinet member who sought a job and wasn't retained by Williams -- unless Almasy is replaced.
First day on the job
Williams' first day as mayor was Monday, but city hall was closed so he wasn't there. On Tuesday, Williams walked into a mostly empty mayoral office with only his briefcase, which included papers, his cellular telephone, candidate r & eacute;sum & eacute;s, a notebook and pen, and his personal digital assistant. Williams spent most of his day reviewing paperwork and talking with city officials and employees, well-wishers and the press before attending a civil service commission meeting.
Gone from the office were ex-Mayor George M. McKelvey's many boxes of documents and his framed drawings of five Cleveland Browns football legends.
Williams said he and his wife, Sonja, will decorate the office.
Williams is keeping Bozanich -- who's served as either finance director or deputy finance director for 23 years including nearly the past five as finance director -- because the mayor said he is "exceptionally qualified and has vast experience."
During Bozanich's current tenure as finance director, the department operated without a deputy. If Williams had selected someone else for finance director, Bozanich automatically would have become deputy director, a civil service-protected post for which Bozanich initially was hired.
Provisional deputy director
Williams praised the work done by Bozanich but said the finance department needs a deputy director. The city's CSC approved a request Tuesday by Williams to hire Kyle Miasek on a provisional basis as deputy finance director.
Miasek has spent the past 11 years in various financial posts for the state of Connecticut. Since 1999, Miasek has served as the principal financial specialist for the state's budget office.
"He has extremely impressive credentials," Williams said of Miasek. "It's important to have depth in every department."
The commission has up to six months to hold a test for the civil service-protected job, and if Miasek scores at least a 70 out of 100 on the written test, Williams can appoint him on a permanent basis.
Like all new hires, Miasek has 120 days from his appointment to move to Youngstown. Bozanich lives in Boardman and isn't moving. He complies with the city's residency requirement because the law applies to those hired after 1988.
Bozanich's annual salary remains $81,109.60. Miasek will earn $74,498.84 a year.
Water commissioner
Casciano, who has worked at the city water department for about 20 years, is the new water commissioner, Williams said. Casciano replaces Charles Sammarone, who resigned after being elected city council president. Casciano's annual salary as water commissioner is $68,399.62.
Casciano's former position is a civil service post. The CSC approved Williams' request to hire Harry L. Johnson III on a provisional basis as water department auditor and office manager, a job that pays $61,848.54 annually.
As in Miasek's case, the commission has up to six months to have a test for the auditor and office manager post, and Williams can hire Johnson on a permanent basis if he scores at least a 70 on the written test.
If the commission had denied the requests for provisional appointments, Miasek and Johnson would have had to finish in the top 10 of those taking tests for the job to be considered, said James Messenger, commission head.
In the past, the commission has rejected about 95 percent of provisional requests, but it approved these two because of the need and urgency to fill the two jobs, Messenger said.
Like Williams, Johnson is a former bank executive. Since 2002, Johnson has served as managing partner and executive officer for the Northeast Adolescent Center. He's also been a member of the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District board, appointed by Youngstown City Council, since 1998. Johnson will resign that position, Williams said.
Holiday caused delays
Williams had planned to name the seven Cabinet appointments last week, but because of the holidays, there were delays with the scheduling of interviews with top candidates.
Williams said he is hiring those who are most qualified, will work for the salary offered for the positions and are willing to comply with the city residency requirement.
Williams will confer with his law director and prosecutor in the upcoming weeks to determine which assistants and deputies will remain in those departments and if any new staff is needed. He doesn't anticipate major changes.
Williams, who resigned in April as the city's Community Development Agency director, plans to fill that vacancy shortly, but first needs to interview candidates who finished in the top 10 on that job's written civil service test.
Also, Williams said he will make a decision shortly on his appointment of the city's Human Relations Commission executive director. William Carter has held the position since December 1979.
One possible replacement is former 3rd Ward Councilman Herman Hill, who worked as a Williams mayoral campaign volunteer and is an HRC board member.
skolnick@vindy.com