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Niles mayor names safety director
By Jordan Cohen
NILES
George Kaniclides, a retired Niles police officer, will be appointed safety director by Mayor Thomas Scarnecchia after council approves legislation funding the position, possibly today.
The mayor confirmed his choice Thursday to The Vindicator.
Kaniclides, 73, was a police officer in the city for 35 years, retiring in 2001. He later joined the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office for several years and retired at the rank of major.
The director position became vacant when the mayor fired James DePasquale earlier this week. DePasquale had filled both safety and service positions, which were previously separate. The mayor admitted that combining the two did not work.
Service director, a part-time position, would pay $12,000, a figure lower than the $17,000 paid to Paul Hogan, the safety director who retired last year. The mayor subsequently told DePasquale to take both jobs even though his pay was not increased.
Council is to meet in special session later today to vote on the legislation. Scarnecchia said if enough members attend, he will ask them to pass the ordinance as an emergency measure.
His reason for urgency is the composition of the city’s board of control, which cannot legally function with only the mayor. State law requires the board to consist of the safety and service directors in addition to the mayor, but the board could make decisions with just Scarnecchia and Kaniclides.
The mayor has not yet decided who his service director appointee will be.
If council is unable to pass the emergency legislation today, it will meet Monday and Tuesday to approve the final readings, which require a simple majority of its seven members.