WARREN Secretary protests relocation of office without telling her

Commission members say they have no problem with the move.
By AMANDA C. DAVIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Teresa Massucci was surprised when she showed up at her office and it was gone.
The Warren Civil Service Commission's part-time secretary said city workers removed a window to get into her locked office so they could move commission belongings from the data processing building behind city hall to the community development building on Main Avenue S.W.
Safety-Service Director Fred Harris said he gave the order for operations department employees to enter Massucci's office and move it because she refused to leave.
"I was never asked about moving," she said. "They did it without anyone knowing."
Reason for move: Harris said the office was moved to give the commission more room and because state auditors are working in the data processing building and need room.
He said Massucci refused to give officials the key to her office, which is kept locked because confidential test information is kept in a filing cabinet.
In addition to Massucci's office, the commission has had a room in the data processing building, where it meets the first Wednesday each month.
The Rev. Edgar Fisher, one of three members of the commission, which appoints its secretary, said Wednesday he found out the office was moved when Massucci called him.
He said he doesn't have a problem with the move but he wanted to talk to members John DiCenso and Atty. James Fredericka to see what they think.
DiCenso said he knew about the move before it happened because Mayor Hank Angelo told him officials were considering it. He, too, said he doesn't have a problem with the move.
Fredericka said he's OK with the move as long as work gets done and the new office suits the commission.
Other issues: He said members need to focus on getting police and fire positions filled and squabbling over the move will only distract them.
Massucci said she has "absolutely no idea" why the move was made. "Probably because they can. I don't think that's good manners," she said, adding it might have been prompted by the commission's ruling this year that the city did not follow procedure when it issued layoff notices for some firefighters and a few other employees.
State law: Ohio law provides that the safety-service director can move any department within the city "anywhere I want to," Harris said.
Massucci said she went to her office last week and found the door ajar and commission belongings missing.
She said Fredericka told her he got a message from Angelo saying the office was moved as of July 2.
Angelo was not available to comment.
Massucci said commission members were at a church administering a test for the fire department when the movers showed up.
As of Thursday, Massucci said, the city had not told her where her new office is. She said she wouldn't have a problem if she had been notified.
"This is as bizarre as it gets," she said. "In my opinion, there's no logical, rational reasoning behind this."
Workers got in her office during the day, Massucci said, noting she's concerned that privileged civil service test information could be distributed if it got in the wrong hands.
davis@vindy.com