COMMENTARY by John Milardo
This is an opinion piece originally published in an occasional newsletter, "And Justice For All," by a former longtime Middletown city employee, union member and union representative. Statements made in this commentary are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of other editors and authors whose work appears here.
According to Mayor Dan Drew‘s statement, his
nominee appointment for the Director of Planning, Conservation &
Development will take place Monday, April 3rd Common Council meeting. The General Counsel Commission will take up the topic prior to the Common Council on Thursday March 9 in City Hall Conference Room 208. There are issues related to this appointment
which need to be looked into for transparency reasons and public scrutiny.
Ÿ
How
did the City advertise for this vacancy?
Locally, nationally, periodicals, electronically, City website only?
Ÿ
How
did the Mayor’s nominee qualify for this job without any of the
educational minimum requirements?
Ÿ
Did
the nominee apply for this position as prescribed by the City of Middletown
Personnel Rules, Charter and Ordinance, and Civil Service guidelines?
Ÿ
Was
the interview panel made up of individuals from the Planning, Zoning, and
Conservation field?
Ÿ Who were the individuals
on the interview panel and what was the process?
Ÿ Reportedly the
Mayor’s nominee participated and/or was an observer during interviews of the
qualified applicants?
This is a huge problem if in fact it is true.
It would have given him an unfair advantage over anyone else if he
applied and was interviewed by the very same panel. Basically, it would be like an open book test. Nice to have someone else give you the
answers needed for your test.
Ÿ
If
the Mayor’s nominee was interviewed, was it by the same panel and
same criteria as the other applicants which the nominee may have been in
attendance?
Or, was it at a subsequent meeting with the Mayor and someone else?
Ÿ
Did
any of the applicants qualify (pass the test) and get placed on the City’s “Eligibility
List”, which was sent to the Mayor for review and/or appointment?
Ÿ
If
none of the applicants qualified and there was no “Eligibility List”, why wasn’t
the position advertised again publicly?
The Mayor has recommended the reduction of
minimum qualifications for the current job description. He wants to eliminate language in the original job description (“Economic or a
related field with Master’s level course in the
field”) as well as (“with 5
years of urban
planning/conservation/development experience”). The Mayor also wants to eliminate the
American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) certification requirement in
the current job description. He wants to change it from having the
certification prior to hiring, to being able to earn it within so many
years after being appointed to the Directorship. In addition to the Mayor’s nominee lack of
educational requirements, he also does not possess his AICP certification, as other candidates were required to have.
If the recommended job changes are approved, it
would change everything! First of all, in fairness to all applicants, you would make job description changes before posting a job, not after
appointing or nominating an individual.
Many more professionals in the Planning world will be qualified to apply
for this job if the requirements are changed.
The position should be re-advertised publicly with the new changes, and
another test given to all new and old qualified applicants.
Also, if you are modifying (reducing)
educational and certification requirements, how is it that the position retains
the same pay grade? Should the salary
not be reduced?
These are some of the questions which need to be
addressed.
In local news reports here and here the Mayor was reported as saying that his Chief of Staff was part
of ALL City projects is ridiculous!
Was he involved in every variance and resident request - in every
commercial/industrial request?
I don’t think so. I’m sure every Mayor
wants to be apprised of significant projects coming into town, but to say "He's
been a critical player in bringing all the deals we've been successful on to
fruition in the past several years," (Hartford Courant) is just not
the truth, in my opinion! The absurdity continues with
the Mayors remark that his Chief of Staff and nominee for the PC&D position
was the reason Middletown’s “unemployment rate fell from 7.2 percent in 2011
to 3.6 in December.” (Middletown Press)
Come on now! If that is the case then the
Chief of Staff should be running for Governor of Connecticut.
Point of information: According
to the City of Middletown Charter, there is no such official position in the
Mayor’s office titled Chief of Staff. It’s
a manufactured job title.
There is a position called Administrative Assistant to the Mayor
in the City Charter. In either case, it's a political appointment
made by each Mayor.
Understandably, the Mayor is trying to prove his
nominee is qualified for the position.
Proving it factually is more difficult than just telling everyone he is
the best person for the job. How would
his nominee qualify for this position in another town? I’ll bet his application wouldn’t even be
considered!
According to the November 2016 Common Council
meeting minutes, the outgoing Director of Planning, Conservation &
Development, Michiel Wackers, was presented an Ordinance citation for all the
great work he had done. I will assume
the citation is accurate as attested by all members of the Common Council. Especially Councilman Gerry Daley who has
been a member of the PD&C Commission for many years. You can read Resolution #129-16 (page #5) in
full on the City of Middletown website and Councilman Daley’s comment regarding
the Fed-Ex project, which the Mayor’s intimates his nominee was responsible
for?
The Councilman praised the outgoing Director on his hard work for bringing the
Fed-Ex project to fruition.
In the Middletown Press article, you can see how
the Mayor and Councilman Gerry Daley appear to be laying the groundwork for an
additional position within the PC&D Department. That
person would have the knowledge and perform the duties of a Planning and
Development Director. That person would
be required to have the qualifications which the present nominee needs but
doesn’t possess. Someone has to have
them!
Councilman Daley and the Mayor are trying to diffuse the nominees
lack of minimum qualification requirements by stating what the PC&D
Department really needs is an “administrator”, not someone who possess’
the qualifications and certifications of a Planning Director. That is hogwash!
If the Common Council buys all this and
does approve the nominee with job changes for the position, Middletown will
have the first and only Planning, Development & Conservation Director in
the State, and perhaps the nation, who does not possess the required minimum
qualifications, degrees, and certifications for the job. Middletown is poised to reclaim its
waterfront with smart development.
Having a person who does not possess even the minimum requirements of
the position in the department to oversee this massive development opportunity
is disturbing.
I hope the Common Council does the right thing
for the people of Middletown and not just their Party leadership, and rejects
the Mayor’s nominee.
-->
- John Milardo
