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Niles treasurer resigns; Dems to make appointment
By Jordan Cohen
NILES
Stating that Niles deserves “to have a treasurer that can be more readily available in this time of crisis,” embattled city Treasurer Robert Swauger has submitted his immediate resignation to the Trumbull Board of Elections.
The Niles Democratic Precinct Committee has 45 days to select his replacement.
Swauger, who was serving his third term as treasurer, had been under fire from city council and the commission overseeing Niles spending for failing to reconcile financial records as required by the city’s financial recovery plan. Niles has been in state-declared fiscal emergency since October 2014, and without reconciliation, the commission lacks accurate documentation of city finances.
The position of treasurer is part-time. Swauger, a bank branch manager, earned an annual salary of $7,590. His current term expires in 2017.
In an interview with The Vindicator, Swauger said the demands of his banking position made it impossible for him to devote the time required for the treasurer.
“It’s not fair of me to take a paycheck when I can’t do the input and the necessary time,” Swauger said. “Whoever they choose will have to be aware of the time commitment required by the job.”
“I’m not surprised he resigned because of the pressure he was under,” said Mayor Thomas Scarnecchia, who sits on the financial commission. “I just wish he could have balanced the checkbook, and we’d all feel a lot better.”
Swauger conceded that the issue for which he was criticized by commission Chairman Quentin Potter has not improved.
“I don’t believe we are substantially closer to reconciling,” Swauger said, attributing the problem to unfamiliarity with the software.
At the April commission meeting, Potter had threatened a court order against the treasurer if he failed to reconcile by the panel’s next meeting May 25.
State-appointed supervisors were able to balance the books in 2015, but the city failed to follow their lead when the responsibility was turned over to Swauger.
Meanwhile, city Auditor Giovanne Merlo said help for the treasurer’s office may be on the way from the state auditors.
“I have reached out to see if they can assist us,” Merlo said. “I’m confident they will be sending someone from their staff to help us by the end of next week.”
Council President Robert Marino, also a commission member, said he hoped applicants for treasurer will have “some background” in finances and accounting to help the city get out from under fiscal emergency.
“I’d like to think there are [qualified] people in town willing to take the position,” Marino said. “I don’t know where this leaves us [but] we’ve got to get it fixed.”
One way to do that, said Councilman Barry Steffey, D-4th, finance chairman, is to focus on training. “We have to aid the staff in training so they can reconcile the numbers,” he said.
Potter had publicly criticized the treasurer for not implementing software training sooner.
Scarnecchia had other problems to contend with Tuesday.
He announced that a special meeting scheduled for this evening has been canceled. Council was to have been asked to approve the mayor’s plan to pay the wages of eight employees from enterprise funds instead of the deficit-ridden general fund. The mayor denied cancellation was due to lack of council support.
“We decided to wait until next week’s regular meeting,” the mayor said. “I think we’ll be able to convince council that our plan is the right thing to do.”
The other problem was to deny a spreading online rumor that Paul Hogan, his safety director of five months, had resigned. “It’s absolutely not true,” said a frustrated Scarnecchia. Hogan declined to comment.