Niles Mayor names Telego to treasurer position

By Jordan Cohen | February 21, 2018 at 12:05a.m.

Appointment awaits approval by Democratic central committee

NILES

Stephen Telego Sr., who served in management capacities with several area banks, has been appointed city treasurer by Mayor Thomas Scarnecchia.

He succeeds Janet Rizer-Jones who resigned last week after less than two years in the office.

Telego, 64, will serve in an interim capacity until his appointment is approved by the Democratic central committee within the next 45 days.

The treasurer position is part time and pays an annual salary of $7,500.

Telego takes office at a difficult time for the city, which has been in fiscal emergency since October 2014.

Last week, fiscal supervisors said bank statements and financial records from January have not been reconciled, and they expect delays for the next few months.

The treasurer’s office also is down to one employee not including Telego, who has not been trained in record reconciliation.

Quentin Potter, chairman of the fiscal commission that oversees city expenditures, described reconciliation as fundamental and mandatory if the city expects to get out from under the state auditor’s declaration and commission control.

Potter warned the city it faces a ruling of noncompliance with its financial recovery plan, which could further set back its release from fiscal emergency.

So far, there has been no action taken by the city to fund training of employees or the new treasurer.

“It will have to be addressed,” said Barry Steffey, council president, before the start of Tuesday’s meeting.

Council, however, did not discuss the situation.

“I would anticipate the new treasurer would be part of the training,” Steffey told The Vindicator. Scarnecchia, however, was noncommittal.

“We’ll look at it and see where we go from there,” the mayor said.

Telego did not attend Tuesday’s meeting due to a death in his family. His brother, Thomas Telego, who formerly had several managerial positions with the city, including billing and information technology projects, died late last week after a lengthy illness.

Steven Telego is a former vice president of human resources for Cortland Bank, where he was employed for 24 years, according to his resume.