Niles mayor to seeks authority to place employees on unpaid leave

Staff report

NILES

Mayor Ralph Infante will ask Niles City Council tonight for the authority to place an employee on unpaid leave if he or she is charged with a felony offense.

Infante said he already has negotiated this change in the contracts with many of the union employees in the city, but it’s unclear when the contracts will be finalized, so he is asking council to approve legislation that would put the measure into effect right away.

The city can terminate an employee who has been convicted of a felony, and it can place a charged employee on paid leave, the mayor said.

But when Michael Marrara, a 58-year-old sewer-maintenance employee, was charged in April with stealing $97,000 from Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Niles in relation to his maintenance position at the church, Infante said his hands were tied as to removing Marrara from his city job. So Marrara continues to work for the city with restrictions on being promoted, and he’s not allowed to handle city funds.

By contract, all Infante could do was place Marrara on paid leave, and Infante said he didn’t want to pay Marrara his salary to sit at home while waiting for his case to be resolved.

Marrara is awaiting trial in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court on the Mount Carmel theft charge.

Council approved legislation in October that mandates candidates for employment with the city undergo background checks by the Niles Police Department before they are hired. The legislation also has provisions regarding termination of someone if negative history is discovered after they are hired.

That legislation resulted after news reports revealed that Heidi Powell, 33, had been hired to work in the Niles Income Tax Department shortly after she was fired by her previous employer for stealing $1,307. She later was convicted of the theft from the previous employer.

Powell awaits trial on charges that she stole $731 from her job with the city. Powell resigned that job.