Internal report: Niles administration improperly hired employee

NILES

Safety Service Director James DePasquale improperly hired a utility department meter reader three days before the deadline for applications — a violation of hiring policy, according to an internal report made public at Wednesday’s council meeting.

The report also recommends an ordinance revising the city’s hiring procedures, which council is expected to approve next month.

“Failing to wait until the announced application deadline expired clouds the expressed goal of the administration and council for transparency,” concluded finance chairman Barry Steffey, D-4th, and Terry Dull, city law director, who co-authored the report. Their findings also revealed that the director’s only in-person interview was with the candidate who was subsequently hired. Two other candidates were interviewed by phone.

“That put those two at a disadvantage,” Steffey told The Vindicator after the meeting. “This person should not have been hired before the applications (closed).”

“I don’t see where I violated anything,” DePasquale said, adding that he followed the hiring policy implemented by Mayor Thomas Scarnecchia last August along with provisions of the Ohio Revised Code.

“The report speaks for itself,” Steffey said. The mayor made no comment about the report’s conclusions.