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Conglose 2003 claim: I have degree
The ex-city official declined to comment on his sworn deposition.
YOUNGSTOWN —¬†Though Carmen S. Conglose contends he doesn’t how a phony college degree ended up in one of his city personnel files, he testified in a sworn court deposition that he earned that exact same degree.
On July 30, 2003, Conglose, then the city’s deputy director of public works, was deposed in a lawsuit against the city.
While under oath, Conglose was questioned by the plaintiff’s attorney, Richard A. Abrams, about his formal training.
“I have a degree from Youngstown State University, a bachelor of science in applied science,” Conglose testified according to court documents obtained Tuesday by The Vindicator.
When a reporter asked Tuesday about his sworn deposition that he had the degree, Conglose declined to comment.
The degree that Conglose acknowledges is bogus is in his personnel file in the city finance department.
Mayor Jay Williams asked Conglose on Friday about the authenticity of the degree after receiving an anonymous letter questioning its legitimacy.
During that discussion, Conglose resigned as traffic coordinator, a part-time job the ex-public works’ deputy director started two weeks ago.
Conglose insists that he didn’t place the fake degree, dated June 21, 1986, in that file, and that he doesn’t know how it got there.
He said Monday that he quit “not as an admission of guilt but to not deal with some of this craziness in city hall.”
Conglose said the phony degree in his file “is a blatant attempt to discredit me and run me out of city hall.”
The fake degree led to an internal city investigation, which may also include assistance from the Ohio auditor’s office or the state attorney general’s office.
The investigation could eventually end up resulting in criminal charges, city officials said.
The city implemented an education bonus pay program in 1999. Conglose received about $3,000 total in education bonuses between 1999 and 2007.
Before retiring Dec. 31, Conglose received $93,132 in annual salary. He was to receive up to $42,577 a year as the city’s part-time traffic coordinator.
A college degree isn’t required for either job.
Conglose said Monday that he was entitled to the education bonus because he has a surveyor’s license from the Ohio Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors.
He called the license, which he received in 1990, “equivalent to a four-year degree.”
But the state board’s executive director, John Greenhalge, said that isn’t an accurate statement.
Also, the city council ordinance for the college education bonus for management employees makes no mention of receiving the money for equivalent licenses.
The fake degree is only in Conglose’s finance department file. That file is used to determine payments to city employees.
The degree isn’t in his personnel files at the civil service commission or the public works department.
skolnick@vindy.com