Thursday, January 19, 2017
By Jordan Cohen
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.
Based on the findings, council plans to change the mayor’s 5-month-old policy. “No applications are to be reviewed or interviews given prior to the expiration of the application period,” reads one revision.
Others require the administration to select at least three candidates to be interviewed, and to notify council of successful applicants and their starting dates.
As for the personal interview with the candidate, DePasquale said she “happened to be in the building at the time.” He defended the phone interviews and the timing of the decision Jan.3 – three days before the Jan. 6 application deadline.
“We didn’t need to do any training, and she could hit the ground running,” the director said.
The director said he has no problems with council’s plan to change the hiring process. “I can live with that,” he said.
The new meter reader is earning an hourly salary of $12.24, which DePasquale described as entry level.