Mayor Paul A. Dyster's plan to find "the best and the brightest" to fill top city posts through nationwide searches has failed miserably.
And four top posts remain vacant: fire chief, community development director, NFC Development Corporation director, and human resource director.
If Dyster had the cash, he would be importing toxic strangers.
But Dyster said last week that the city has no money for another national search.
"Which is good. I'm glad to hear that," Council Chairman Sam Fruscione said. "I think we should promote from within."
The list of ill-fated out-of-town hires is well exemplified by former Fire Chief Roger Melchior of Florida, fired for making inappropriate comments on a website and then lying about it; Peter Kay of Ohio, whose position was eliminated after he made "zero progress" as economic development director; Ali Marzban of California, who was found to be unlicensed as city engineer; and Donna Owens of Georgia, whose job performance has been harshly criticized by the city council. These are all good examples of the embarrassing failures of Dyster's out-of-town hires.
"The only person that is of high quality, who was found in the nationwide search, is (Corporate Council) Craig Johnson from Tonawanda," Fruscione said. Otherwise, "there's nobody on the ship." "It's a disappointment. (Dyster's) most successful employees are the ones that live in the city of Niagara Falls and work in the city of Niagara Falls. They should be given the first opportunity for advancement," Fruscione said.
And he's right. Hiring out-of-towners, by extension, could be compared to the president of the United States seeking members of his cabinet from foreign countries. For example, we could have
a secretary of state from Malaysia or a secretary of defense from India. And Dyster...
"This guy moves so slow that we continually have vacancies. It hampers progress for the city," Fruscione said.
"The bottom line is it could be a smoother transition if they were to promote from within. What's the point of working for the city for twenty years if you're never going to get promoted?"
For example, Clara Dunn and Tom Tedesco should be given the opportunity to advance in NFC because they are highly qualified and both residents of the city of Niagara Falls, Fruscione said.
Where does Dyster stand on this? A phone call to his office was not returned, but Fruscione said, "They said they are going to interview the applicants and make appointments."
Councilman Bob Anderson said, "The council doesn't do the hiring. Dyster should be open with what we're trying to do. It's behind closed doors. We can't put a gun to their heads and force them to hire people. We're not privy to the (application and hiring process)."
Anderson is a strong proponent of hiring from within. "How are you going to replace that knowledge? They're going to try to circumvent it with dollars. Sad. Scary."
"The sad part is that the council has no part in it," Councilman Glenn Choolokian said. "We have qualified people right in the departments themselves. They should be promoted from within."
"In Human Resources, you have a qualified person with over 25 years of experience filling the position. That person could be hired. In Community Development, same thing: There are qualified people with a lot of years in. They should be looking right there. In Economic Development's NFC, you have two employees there who have been there for years. Both of those are well respected in the community, they should not be looking any further than those. For fire chief, the Niagara Falls Fire Department is probably one of the best in Western New York. There are so many qualified people already in the department. Nobody knows the city or the Fire Department like the workers in the Fire Department. There are so many guys that should be promoted. No out-of-towners. The council is definitely for promoting from within."
Shouldn't the highest qualification for top city jobs be that someone loves this community and chose to live in this community?
Shouldn't the fact that an individual has worked in the field and lived in the city for years have the most bearing on the selections process?
Councilman Charles Walker said, "My understanding is that (Dyster has) some people he's looking at. He has resumes for a few of the positions. Hopefully we'll hear something soon."
"I think it's important that we get those jobs filled as quickly as possible," Walker added.
In a related matter, aren't acting department heads limited to a year, at which time they must either have to go back to civil service or become the manager? The answer seems to be no. One example is Acting Code Enforcement Director Dennis Virtuoso, who has been at the post for more than a year and collecting overtime. He's monitoring the fact that he's actually there and is working the overtime hours.
"You can be there longer than a year. That's at the discretion of the mayor," Civil Service Commissioner Dave Rotella said. "He can be there. He's like management. He fell into the specifications that the mayor set forth."
But he's writing his own overtime and supervising himself. "Right. And he's in charge of the code enforcement officers. But he answers to the mayor," Rotella said.
Virtuoso could not immediately be reached for comment.
"It's (Dyster's) administration and he's getting what he wants. Right now it's his way."
Of hiring outsiders, Rotella said, "What's going on there is a shame. If there was nobody qualified, then yeah, look outside. But why go outside?"
E-mail Ron Churchill at ronchurchill@yahoo.com.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | Jan. 31 2012 |