The Niagara Falls Reporter made a FOIL request for the time sheets of City Hall’s Underground Railroad promoter, Kevin Cottrell, and learned he has one of the more amazing attendance records in recent City Hall history. In fact he has never taken a sick day since he started in 2009.

According to Controller Maria Brown, his perfect attendance record is “highly unusual” for a city employee. “Almost everyone takes some sick time off,” she said.

Mr. Cottrell was caught earlier this year by an operative of the Niagara Falls Reporter selling tours from his private tour business after he signed a 2009 agreement he would not operate his business while working for the city.

He was suspended for five days without pay and is being taken off the city payroll.

However, his iron constitution will earn him some extra money.

He can collect 20 percent of pay for unused sick days.

In 2009 and 2010, he took no sick days.

Mr. Cottrell set the record in 2011 with no time off at all, until on December 27, when he took four personal days. According to his city contract these four days could not have been cashed in and would have been otherwise lost.

In 2012, however, his perfect health attendance record was blemished when he took exactly one hour of sick time.
Presently he has 48 sick days, equaling more than $2,000 in extra money.

Mr. Cottrell also accumulated weeks of vacation time, estimated to be worth another $6,000.

New York Yankee slugger Lou Gehrig played 2,130 consecutive games from 1925 to 1939.

Mr. Cottrell has gone more than 1,095 days without missing a game day at City Hall because of ill health.

While Gehrig’s record was watched by the world, Mr. Cottrell works alone in a basement office of City Hall. He is not required to be at his office on any particular day if he has outside appointments in pursuit of his Underground Railroad project.

He is on the honor system with time sheets and as such he toils away silently, without anybody watching, or perhaps caring, to comprehend the depth of his achievement.