Letter to the Editor: A response to Councilwoman Kasper

Commentary by Linda Salafia, a response to Councilwoman Hope Kasper's letter to the editor featured here

To the Editor,

I am writing this letter to you in response to Councilwoman Kasper’s letter regarding the hiring of her son-in-law at the Board of Education. First, let me state that I have put my name in as a candidate for the Common Council to the Republican Town Committee. I hope to be endorsed by them and look forward to being able to run for office and ultimately serve as a Council member on the Mayor’s team.

Also, I currently am employed by the City of Middletown as the Payroll / Pension Supervisor and have held this position for 13 years; worked a total nearly 25 years for the City. In that time, I have seen a lot of employees hired including a lot of children of employees and council people for summer jobs including Ms. Kasper’s granddaughters. The total budget for the summer youth program for this year is $44,207; approved by the Council.

I also attended the Mayor’s press conference in my capacity as Vice President of Local 466 which represents the classified workers at the City and the Board of Education. The Union has filed the appropriate complaints regarding the handling of the payroll positions at the BOE; however, I will attempt to clarify our position. There are two payroll positions at the BOE that are acknowledged union positions; the union contract requires that those position be posted and filled if budgeted and if not, the affect negotiated between the parties. One position has been vacant since the Fall when the BOE refused to allow Christine Bourne to work. The second position has been vacant since the employee in that position moved to another position. Again let me state that there have been numerous complaints and paperwork filed on both of the positions and/ or treatments of employees in those positions. The BOE does not have the ability to freeze a position after an employee has been hired; the Mayor is the hiring authority for ALL CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEES, the Council determines the classified positions. When the BOE administration illegally posted the position for the temporary payroll position on it’s website, I personally notified all council members and elected BOE members that this was occurring. The Union is not privy to the information regarding applicants to classified positions; however in this case, the eligibility list was shared with the union but not the test scores and experience. Again, I will say that the choice of candidate is the Mayor’s; the personnel department of the City qualifies the candidate and the Mayor picks. Ms. Kasper was a union officer when she worked for the City and knows fully well that the BOE should not have posted and filled this position with anyone.

Ms. Kasper’s letter to the editor claims that her son-in-law was appointed on merit alone and that she has been falsely accused of impropriety. I would just like to point out that the mere appointment of her son-in-law to a position that was illegally posted and filed and that she was aware was in violation of the bargaining union agreement, the settlement agreement between the City and BOE, the City’s Personnel Rules and the City of Middletown’s Charter does give the impression of impropriety. This position has a base salary range of $34,016 to $43,134 plus was given health insurance benefits not in line with the 466 contract but in line with the teacher’s contract. The City of Middletown has a code of ethics, Chapter 40 of its Code of Ordinances, which must be followed by all employees and elected officials. Ms. Kasper is a member of the Common Council, sits on the Personnel Review Commission, the Insurance and Claims Commission and the Finance and Government Commission and as a member of these commissions, should know that the posting and filling of this position with her son-in-law was improper.

Sincerely,

Linda Salafia

Local 466 V.P.

New England Snow Weighs

Commentary
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The weight of our city's snow experience was very much on my mind this weekend. Last Thursday I happened to be on Main Street for both breakfast and dinner, and it was impossible to escape thinking about the devastating collapse of the Saint Aloysius Hall building in the North End. Friday was full of emergency notifications that my child had been evacuated from his school, I'm not the panicky type, but it really scared me.

I went to North Central Vermont to see family on Friday night, and with all this on my mind, I was particularly curious to see how Vermonters deal with the snow and roofs.

Another note about comments

I recently removed four anonymous comments which made claims or accusation about individuals without specific substantiation. These kinds of comments will not be allowed to be published, nor will they be allowed to remain on this website. We will not allow the comment section to be used to insult, label or denigrate an individual simply because the commenter does not like, or agree with the individual. Commentary, observation, reportage of facts are welcome if substantiated, accurate and particulary if a name is attached to comments. In short, if you would not be brave enough to level an accusation to someone's face, think twice before leveling it in a commentary here.

The army training facility, where will it stop?

Commentary, by fishmuscle:

The military base is on a tour through Middletown, stopping to visit the most beautiful, unspoiled land it can find in our city.  During the spring it meandered in Maromas, apparently savoring the clean air and water of a beautiful meadow on Freeman Road.  This summer it decided to wander in Westfield, drawn by the solitude of small country lanes, the beauty of a farm in continuous operation since 1750, and the extensive wetlands on Boardman Lane. At first, few of Middletown's residents seemed to notice the military base, but this has been changing.  At each of the stops on its tour, the military base has been joined by others who also cherish the treasures of Middletown.  Some came because they wanted to know if the training facility was going to destroy the beautiful, unspoiled land that is one part of Middletown's treasure.  Others came because they wanted to know whether the economic costs to the City would destroy the financial part of Middletown's treasure.  At each stop, the military base has had more and more of Middletown's citizens following along.  Many of those who at first treasured only the meadows of Maromas now also appreciate the wetlands of Westfield.  All of those who treasure the financial strength of our city have followed along.  Now the mayor and common council may join other city residents in questioning whether the military base should stay at its current stop in Middletown.  The citizens of Middletown will rightly applaud this effort by our elected officials to protect the natural beauty and financial strength of our city.  However, this effort is not enough if the mayor and council members become tour guides who steer the military base to another site in Middletown. It is long past time for the mayor and council to guide the military base out of Middletown. It is long past time for the mayor and council to recognize that at every stop on the tour, opposition has grown; if there is another stop on the tour, the opposition will dwarf what has happened at previous stops.  Our city has indulged the military base in a tour of our precious resources for long enough.