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4 Youngstown attorneys get significant raises during McNally's final weeks
YOUNGSTOWN
In his final weeks as mayor and with the city facing a projected $2.5 million to $3 million general-fund deficit next year, John A. McNally promoted four law department employees – including three who received raises of more than 10 percent.
McNally and Law Director Martin Hume defended the promotions saying they were based on merit, the employees are underpaid, and the city can afford the salary increases.
“There’s never a wrong time to make a right decision,” said Hume, who recommended the promotions to the mayor.
“I’m comfortable with the amounts of the raises,” McNally said. “The next administration will have to make its decision. But our administration doesn’t end until Dec. 31. There will be other staffing decisions made by this administration. It’s a four-year term.”
But Mayor-elect Jamael Tito Brown and Councilwoman Anita Davis, D-6th, said the promotions shouldn’t have been awarded given the city’s budget issues.
“With the financial situation the city is in these things should not happen,” Brown said. “These are not the type of actions we will tolerate in my administration. I can’t do anything at this point. But when I become mayor [on Jan. 1], I will address them.”
Davis said: “I’m totally against it. We’re trying to save money and save jobs, and we’re giving money to people as they walk out the door.”
The attorneys in the law department are employed at the discretion of the mayor. Brown hasn’t decided who from the McNally administration he’ll retain when he becomes mayor.
With the general fund facing a $2.5 million to $3 million deficit next year, the city is considering a number of options, including layoffs and furloughs, to make up the projected shortfall.
The city needs to shed as many as 40 employees by the end of next year, with officials saying they hope attrition or a buyout program would help.
Those in the law department receiving promotions, which took effect Oct. 30, are:
Jeffrey Moliterno, whose hourly salary went from $28.90 to $31.82, a 10.1 percent raise. Over a year, his salary increases from $60,112 to $66,186. He was promoted from a senior assistant law director to third assistant law director.
Nicole Alexander, whose hourly salary also went from $28.90 to $31.82, a 10.1 percent raise. Like Moliterno, her annual salary increases from $60,112 to $66,186. She was promoted from a senior assistant law director to second assistant law director.
Mark D’Apolito, whose hourly salary went from $24.30 to $27.12, an 11.6 percent pay raise. His annual salary increases from $50,544 to $56,410. He was promoted from assistant law director to senior assistant law director.
Kathleen Thompson, whose hourly salary went from $30.67 to $32.66, a 6.5 percent raise. Her annual salary increases from $63,794 to $67,933. She was promoted from senior assistant law director to assistant law director, senior prosecutor.
Thirty percent of the law department employees’ wages come from the general fund. The rest come from water and wastewater funds.
Hume said the salaries for city attorneys are below that of those in the private sector.
“If you look at attorney salaries, there’s not a problem [in city operations] with being overpaid; it’s a problem being underpaid,” he said.
To keep attorneys from leaving, Hume said, they must be given promotions when earned, and these were. He added that the promotions will “benefit morale and performance and are in the best interest of the city and its residents.”
In addition to the law department promotions, McNally also adjusted the salary and job description of Abigail Beniston. She is the code enforcement and blight remediation superintendent. She will now assume the tasks of the wastewater construction engineer to help the city with its $150 million long-term sewer-overflow control plan.
Beniston’s hourly salary went, effective Nov. 6, from $25.39 to $29.21, a 15 percent raise, according to records provided by the law department. Over a full year, her salary would increase from $52,811 to $60,757. Her salary comes from the city’s wastewater fund.
The appointment is temporary while the Civil Service Commission considers next month who to hire permanently for the position, said Charles Shasho, deputy director of public works.
While Beniston has been on the job for only a few days, Shasho said she “has exceeded my expectations.”
The job’s main responsibility is to be the main point of contact between contractors and consultants on the long-term sewer plan, Shasho said.
“It’s not a design engineer position, it’s a manager’s position,” he said.
Davis said Beniston isn’t qualified for the position.
“She’s done a good job in demolition, but this is not the same thing,” Davis said.