City will check legitimacy of college degree bonuses

City will check legitimacy of college degree bonuses

YOUNGSTOWN —The city will check the legitimacy of college degrees earned by all but one of the 193 employees to whom it paid education bonuses to last year.

The decision by Mayor Jay Williams to examine the authenticity of the degrees came after it was discovered last month through an anonymous tip that a fake bachelor’s degree from Youngstown State University was in a personnel file of Carmen S. Conglose Jr.

Conglose, the city’s former deputy director of public works, has acknowledged the degree is bogus, but insists he didn’t put the fake document in the personnel file and contends he earned the education bonuses.

The city finance department submitted paperwork today to the mayor listing those who received the education bonuses last year as well as the type of degree, the college or university from which it came, and the date it was received.

The city’s civil service and law departments will verify the authenticity of the educational credentials. City officials don’t know how long that process will take.

Including Conglose, the financially strapped city, facing a general fund deficit of more than $3 million by the end of this year, paid $82,928.56 in 2007 to 193 employees.

For the complete story, see Thursday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com.