By Barbara Habeeb
At the Street Fair, I had the opportunity to speak with Department of Public Works (DPW) employee Angelo Costello, who was recently discussed on the NPCCR Blog. Someone from NPCCR had a concern that DPW workers were using town vehicles for personal use, because someone had seen a DPW vehicle in Angelo’s driveway.
Angelo pointed out to me that he is a supervisor on call 24/7. Because he is a supervisor, he is allowed to take the vehicle home in case he needs to respond to an emergency after hours. Only a supervisor has this privilege. He stated that the vehicle stays in his driveway every night and over the weekend and he does not use that vehicle for personal use. He does however drive from his home, to work and back.
He made mention of the fact that when he does drive the vehicle after hours, it is for town business only. For example, last Tuesday evening there was a tree that came down, and he had to drive the vehicle at night to respond to the call. He stated to me that his truck has lettering on both doors that anyone, at anytime could see. It would be easy for someone to assume when they see his vehicle being driven after hours, that it is for personal use.
Angelo wanted to clear the air and let people understand the reason the truck is in his driveway and why it would be driven after hours. I asked him if I could post his statement on the Blog, and he agreed. He hopes this will clear up any misunderstandings people have about this issue.
4 responses so far ↓
KW // June 24, 2008 at 9:50 pm |
It’s a start.
But there’s still no data to back up his version of the story.
No mileage logs. No written Borough policy on after-hours use of Borough vehicles. No cost-benefit information about how much it costs to have the vehicle go to and from his house to be used for occasional after-hours emergencies v. how much it would cost for the slight time delay of requiring him to drive his own vehicle to the depot to get the truck for the occasional after-hours emergency.
And no explanation about how that truck qualifies as a “work truck” when few, if any people, have ever seen it hauling anything or used for any sort of work.
Again, good start. Good to see he spoke on the record about the situation. But more information is still needed before the public can decide if it’s a prudent policy and practice, and the truck is the tip of the Borough’s fiscal iceberg…
GimmeABreak // June 25, 2008 at 1:29 pm |
There are any number of people who have, over the years, seen the truck in question with non-Borough related items being hauled on weekends. Having to speak up by name can result in the kind of retaliation that some have most definitely experienced.
It’s always easy to “assure” people of things when you’ve got the complete backing of Borough Hall. I, for one, still want to know why a “work truck” needs specialty chrome stepups, alloy wheels and a custom bedliner. If it’s supposed to be such an innocent, “24-7″ explanation, what’s the need for the dress-up items?
Frank N. D'Amore sr. // June 30, 2008 at 9:21 am |
A very simple solution would to discontinue the practice of giving any Boro employee a vehicle to take home. If one looks at the number of emergencies we have that require the attention of some Boro employee you will see that it is not cost effective to take vehicles home.
The money saved by paying these 24/7 employees ,who must appear during an emergency, the going business rate for milage would far exceed the cost of taking a vehicle home each day. I thingk what we need to find out is who are the chosen employees that are permitted to take Boro vehicles home, and how many times have these 24/7 employees been called out for legitimate emergencies.
emorylayne // July 1, 2008 at 2:45 pm |
Please, let’s cut the Borough Hall doubletalk. As usual, only a smidgeon of the issue is addressed by those involved.
If we ACCEPT that a supervisor “needs” a borough vehicle to be on call “24/7,” that self-serving explanation doesn’t even touch on ANY of the following, ALL freely available from Borough Hall records, i.e. the check register:
1) The employee in question HAD a borough-purchased truck. But in 2007, that truck was sold and a BRAND NEW one was purchased for over $30,000. The ‘old’ truck appeared to be running just fine when it was replaced.
2) The new truck had a $500 bedliner installed. Plus, a new $600 two-way radio. Plus, it has chrome side boards (not conducive to a work truck) and mag alloy wheels (ditto). Why the need for the ‘extras’ if it’s just for emergency calls? Couldn’t it pitch in as needed for regular Borough work? It never does.
3) The borough pays for both this employee and Jim Rodino to have their cars regularly washed (it’s in the register). The truck in question is almost always shiny, spanking clean. Do we need to pay for regular car washes for this thing too?
The employee in question works for the Borough. His wife also works for the borough, recently being hired. He’s also on the Recreation Commission. We pay for his gas, insurance, etc. to go to and from work. We pay for his car washes. We pay for a brand new truck when the one it replaced was serviceable and usable. The ‘innocent’ explanation of needing to be on call could be solved with a small, cheap 4 cylinder car, NOT a flashy manly shiny truck.
Perks are perks are perks. What one ends up wondering is why SOME people get them and others don’t. Or HOW MUCH MORE garbage like this has been put on the taxpayers’ tab.