Predisciplinary hearings set for 2 workers

There was ‘miscommunication’ about travel money, which was returned, a YSU official says.

By PATRICIA MEADE

VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER

YOUNGSTOWN — Predisciplinary hearings are set for two city employees who accepted travel expenses for a trip to Detroit, but then used a city van to attend the conference in August.

Letters announcing the hearings were sent to Detective Sgt. Patricia Garcar, an accident investigator, and Linda DeJoe of the street department’s litter and recycling division, Law Director Iris Torres Guglucello said Wednesday.

She said an impartial hearing officer, usually a supervisor from another department, will decide if discipline is warranted. The discipline, which can range from days off to termination, would be decided by Garcar’s and DeJoe’s bosses, Guglucello said.

The women, the law director said, can appeal whatever punishment is handed down through their union.

The hearings are expected to take place next week.

Garcar’s attendance at all of the conference events while in Detroit is at issue.

City Prosecutor Jay Macejko, with respect to Garcar, said it was clear to him that a crime — theft in office — occurred, but after a review of documents and witness interviews felt he had insufficient evidence to proceed.

He said DeJoe’s situation was different than Garcar’s and he declined to comment further.

Before the trip, Garcar and DeJoe were each given $180 for meals and $225 for travel to attend a Weed and Seed conference that ran from Aug. 21-24 in Detroit. Their hotel rooms were prepaid.

They left together Aug. 19 in a city van, said Rick DeGeorge, associate director for Youngstown State University’s Center for Human Services Development. His department is fiscal agent for a five-year $875,000 federal Weed and Seed project grant from the U.S. Department of Justice for the North Side. Weed and Seed is a program to rid neighborhoods of crime and improve residents’ quality of life.

Other local participants who attended the conference drove their own vehicles, he said.

DeGeorge said there was some miscommunication about the travel money, which both Garcar and DeJoe returned. He said Garcar wrote a check for $225 on Sept. 14 and DeJoe submitted a money order dated Sept. 17 for $293.50.

DeGeorge said he was contacted around Aug. 27 or 28 when a police department Internal Affairs Division investigation was launched.

Garcar could not be reached Wednesday.

When contacted last month by The Vindicator, Garcar agreed with DeGeorge that the travel money issue was miscommunication. She said he handed her an envelope, with a check and a hotel voucher, but then she ended up not driving.

“It was a total misunderstanding,” Garcar said in October. “Do you think I’d sacrifice my career for $200?”

Garcar said DeGeorge told her, after the trip, that since she didn’t drive she would have to pay back the travel money. “The minute I was contacted I fixed it,” the detective said.

DeJoe, through her husband, had no comment Wednesday.

meade@vindy.com