Commissioners Fear Crisis In Understaffed Planning Office

City commissioners with planning responsibilities have expressed deep concern about the lack of staffing in the city planning office.  While the mayor and the city planner share the concern, both dismiss the notion that a crisis exists.

At the end of July, Zoning Enforcement Officer Michelle Ford, will be leaving Middletown's office of Planning, Conservation and Development.  Her departure leaves the already understaffed office with one less qualified employee.  Ford, the former Environmental Specialist for the city, is leaving for a position at Eversource.

Ford indicated that she is taking the new job because it is more aligned with her career aspirations as an environmental specialist, and not because she's upset with the situation in the planning office, but she said that the vacancies in the office make it difficult to get the job done, and frustrating for the public.

"We used to be a six person office, and now it's just Tom and me," Ford said.  "The phones are ringing, people are stopping by to get a question answered, and there's no one available to do that."

The office at full staff, typically hosts a Director, Deputy Director, a Zoning Enforcement Officer (ZEO), an Environmental Specialist, an Economic Development specialist and two clerical staff, will be down to Director Joe Samolis, Economic Development specialist Thomas Marano and the clerical staff, Cynthia Jones and Susan Nesco.

The departures leave the office without certified planning staff to make planning and zoning enforcement decisions.

This lack of staff has caused serious concern for commissioners on boards and commissions associated with the planning office.

A Certifiable Crisis

"It's a certifiable crisis not to have a Zoning Enforcement Officer," according to Planning and Zoning Commission chair Stephen Devoto (full disclosure: Devoto is also an author for the Middletown Eye).  "And we need the professional advice and guidance of a professional planner to protect the city from legal action as a result of rulings, and to encourage good development in the city."

"I was concerned last Spring, but now I'm past alarmed," said Liz Holder, chair of the Commission on Conservation and Agriculture.  "We’re very discouraged.  There are things that should be moving forward and they are not. We have grants for farmland preservation and open space that aren’t being applied for.  I’ve been told by the Planning Office that no grants are being applied for."


"Everyone on our commission is a lay person," admitted Joe Carta, chair of the Inland and Wetlands Watercourses Agency.  "Our hands are tied because we don't have the information previously provided by staff."

Carta explained that developers with applications to his commission can move forward with their projects if a decision is not granted within ninety days.

ZEO Position Already Posted

Both Mayor Dan Drew, and Director of Planning, Joe Samolis recognize the concern with Ford's departure, but assure the public that a ZEO will be hired expeditiously.

"Hiring for that position is moving foward as quickly as possible," Drew explained.  "Unfortunately, because of a transition in our HR office there has been a slight delay."

City HR director Tom Tokarz recently announced his departure after a short tenure.

The ZEO desk in the Planning
Office which will soon
be vacant.

"We've already advertised the ZEO position internally," Samolis said.  "We working as efficiently as possible to fill that position."

Beyond the ZEO spot, the possibility of backfilling the Deputy Director position and the Environmental Specialist position have come to a near standstill because of job description rewrites, negotiations with city unions, and contentious finger-pointing and blame between the mayor and the Common Council.

Mayor: Job Description Process is Antiquated

According to the City Charter, the Common Council must approve all job rewrites, a process that the mayor has described as "antiquated."  In addition, positions at the Director and Deputy Director level while hired by the mayor are approved by the Common Council.

"If it weren't for the quirk in the charter, we would have re-written the job description for the Environmental Specialist and would be well on the way to filling that postion," Drew said.

"Frequently reviewing these job descriptions, and filling these positions get held up at the Council because they are patronage positions that they want filled by friends or family," Drew added.  "The Council has blatantly refused to hear confirmation of my candidates."

"I think they're stuck in neutral up there," Common Council member Sebastian Giuliano said referring to the delay in hiring.  Giuliano, a Republican, is minority leader on the Council.

"It's unfortunate that the mayor would strike this tone, and make that kind of accusation," Democratic Council member Mary Bartolotta said.  "It's ridiculous, and absolutely not the case."

Job Openings Stalled For Months

Bartolotta explained that city ordinance requires the mayor to begin the process of filling job openings within ten days, and that many open positions have stalled for weeks and months.

"If we would just follow ordinance and move forward with posting jobs the way we should, we wouldn't see this kind of problem in any city office," Bartolotta added.

"If there are positions that don’t require Council approval, why aren’t you filling them?" Giuliano said. "I understand you may have reluctance to fill Council-approved positions because we’ve signaled that we won’t consider them, but not every position requires Council approval."

The current delay in assessing Director and Assistant Director level jobs by the Council is because of the ongoing investigation into the mayor's office ordered by the Common Council.  The investigation is exploring allegations of discrimination and harassment in the office of the mayor and human resources.  That investigation is being conducted by an outside attorney, and, according to several sources, findings will be reported to the Common Council in August.

City commissioners are concerned that the restructuring of positions will leave the office shortchanged when it comes to planning experience.  Samolis would like the Deputy Director to be a "community development" position with the Deputy responsible for financial oversight, responsibility for filing and supervising the grants, and for management of the office when the director is not available.  Samolis was not willing to share how the Environmental Specialist job description would be rewritten.

Samolis was hired as director of the planning office by the mayor, and confirmed by the council despite his lack of certification and experience.  His hiring was contingent upon his pursuit of planning credentials and certification.

Commissioners and Common Council members indicate that Samolis has not shared his thoughts on how the Environmental Specialist position will be rewritten.  In addition, Samolis has not forwarded the job description to the General Counsel Commission for review, as expected.

"Joe has been talking about rewriting that job description since our preliminary budget discussions early in the year," according to Bartolotta.

"I’m concerned that we’re planning to hire a Deputy Director whose main duties will be to write grants, and a third in command who will be an environmental expert." Holder said.  "That’s backwards.  The person with the expert knowledge should be at a higher level."

"If the dysfunctionality at City Hall is at such a level that we're willing to accept whatever's expedient, the city loses out," Devoto said.  "We require expertise to create planning regulations and we rely on the staff to review applications and confirm that submitted applications conform to the regulations."

"And it affects economic development" Giuliano added.  "If word gets out to devlopers that the process for approval is dysfunctional, the investment is not coming here."