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Niles safety director is latest resignation
By Jordan Cohen
NILES
Only one day after Mayor Thomas Scarnecchia emphatically denied rumors that Paul Hogan, his safety director of five months, had resigned, Hogan announced his resignation effective next Thursday.
The resignation is the second to hit city hall this week. On Monday, longtime Treasurer Robert Swauger resigned, citing the demands of his banking career and his inability to provide the time necessary to fulfill the part-time position during Niles’ fiscal emergency.
Like Swauger, Hogan’s job also is part time. He was earning an annual salary of $17,000, according to the mayor.
Scarnecchia said Hogan revealed his plans during Wednesday’s board of control meeting. The mayor said he was aware Hogan was considering leaving, but did not expect the announcement to occur when it did.
Hogan, 76, said health issues led to his decision.
“My wife and I did some serious soul searching in the last 24 hours,” Hogan said, “and that’s when I decided it was time.”
Hogan, a firefighter for 30 years, retired from the department in 1990.
Robert Marino, council president, who described Hogan as “a true public servant,” said the city should consider merging the positions of service and safety director to save money.
“It is my hope to combine the position with no increase in pay [for the service director] and apply the savings to help cut the general fund deficit,” Marino said. The current deficit is nearly $130,000.
“Cities like Warren that are bigger than us have a combined safety-service director,” Marino said.
Scarnecchia said he is not yet ready to go along with the council president’s suggestion.
“The service director [James DePasquale] doesn’t want to do it because he says he has so much to do,” the mayor said. “I’ll have to decide what to do next.”
Meanwhile, Scarnecchia revealed that he may have to immediately appoint an interim treasurer to replace Swauger. The Niles Democratic Precinct Committee is required to name the replacement 45 days after the resignation, but the mayor said he cannot wait that long because of a responsibility that the law places on the treasurer – check signatures. “I heard from our law director that I’ve got to act quickly because we have no one to sign the checks,” Scarnecchia said. The mayor said he hopes to have someone on the job in the next few days to keep the department functioning until the precinct committee selects Swauger’s successor.
No date has been announced for the committee vote.