The Municipal Court in Middletown has hired Schiavone to do some "projects" like develop a plan for when the frikkin' power goes out and, no doubt, when the toilets don't flush in the restrooms. WHAT??????? Russy Carolus says the city didn't hire him--- that he falls under the court jurisdiction. Then why did the Council develop an ordinance creating this special job for Schiavone? This hiring would not have happened if the council had not created the position. If it doesn't involve the city, as Carolus says, why is Council getting involved? Why is he being hired when his past record in Mason and Hamilton, in the court system, has led to two terminations for poor performance/goofing off on the job related issues? He has been a liability on his past jobs- why take the chance? He is being held to 35 hours per week at a $24.66/hour pay rate to keep him part time. Is Schiavone even qualified for this job? Was the job position bid out or was it "specially created", given to him by his council cronies? This has got to stop people. This council behavior only opens the division even more between council and the residents. Just adds to the "no trust" label given to our city government. This reeks of back room politics. Enough is enough! Kick those who approved this off council- NOW! A recall, as soon as law will allow, is in order here for those who agreed to this.

I am looking into this as we speak. Have a few emails out there right now, waiting for a responses. I got a call from a city official  this morning on this subject and there were not happy.

Josh & A.J. --

 

Council was not privy to the hiring of Mr. Schiavone. I am extremely upset over the matter and how it reflects on our city government as awhole. There are questions to be answered and I intend to find them. Mr. Self. since you cannot attend the meetings, I will be glad to bring up the issues you have outlined.

City Leaders and Councilmembers........How was this whole scenario presented to Council for ordinance adoption? Who were the originators of the Council proposal for ordinance adoption? What was the reason to justify this special event to occur? IE- that ONLY Schiavone be permitted to assume this special job opening? Who made the decision that Schiavone was qualified to do this job? Was his past questionable work record considered before he was offered the job? Who, in the Municipal Court, approved his hiring? Was anyone else interviewed for this position or was it a done deal? Seems awfully convenient that as soon as Schiavone vacates the Council seat, he is set up with a decent paying job within the Municipal Court building, perhaps doing a job that he is not qualified to do. Why was there no hesitation to investigate the situation and another rubber stamp issued on this? SOME Councilpeople just say yes to anything and everything that comes down the path, don't they?

Do you city leaders know how bad this looks to the citizens? It reeks of impropriety, convenience and favoritism. Not a team building/favorable communication exercise with the general public folks!

You've opened up another scandal saga on this one.

Here we go again Vet!! Same ole same ole

SJ, Others,

As I stated in a previous posting here when I asked about this position I said something to the fact about a "flunky getting the job" and apparently I was 100% correct. People this is more of the same, the good ole boy syndrome. I have no doubt that AJ & Josh were in the dark about this back room deal because if they had knowledge of it I believe they would have fought this tooth and nail.

VietVet wrote: City Leaders and Councilmembers........How was this whole scenario presented to Council for ordinance adoption? Who were the originators of the Council proposal for ordinance adoption? What was the reason to justify this special event to occur? IE- that ONLY Schiavone be permitted to assume this special job opening? Who made the decision that Schiavone was qualified to do this job? Was his past questionable work record considered before he was offered the job? Who, in the Municipal Court, approved his hiring? Was anyone else interviewed for this position or was it a done deal? Seems awfully convenient that as soon as Schiavone vacates the Council seat, he is set up with a decent paying job within the Municipal Court building, perhaps doing a job that he is not qualified to do. Why was there no hesitation to investigate the situation and another rubber stamp issued on this? SOME Councilpeople just say yes to anything and everything that comes down the path, don't they? Do you city leaders know how bad this looks to the citizens? It reeks of impropriety, convenience and favoritism. Not a team building/favorable communication exercise with the general public folks! You've opened up another scandal saga on this one.

Sir, here is the information that we had to make our decision. Now that there is a huge uproar in the community, as it should, more information has surfaced that we should have known before we voted on this ordinance. I assure you that I am just as upset as you about this. Once again, I apologize to all of you, and this is something that we're going to try and make right the best we can.

S T A F F   R E P O R T

 For the Business Meeting of  January 5, 2010

January 11, 2010

FROM:            Louis A. Rossi, Director of Court Services  

PURPOSE

BACKGROUND and FINDINGS

 

 

FINANCIAL IMPACT

EMERGENCY/NON EMERGENCY

 

OK AJ and Josh. You and others adopted an ordinance proposed for emergency legislation by Landen, for the purpose of satisfying a Special Projects Manager to the Courts. You made this decision based on the info. provided from Landen in this post. Next thing everyone notices is that Schiavone is hired to fill the position without Council's knowledge. (Bet some on Council knew it was Schiavone before the hiring took place)

Question: Now that we know it is Schiavone who got a golden parachute after his stint on Council, and we know what kind of working background Schiavone has (ie- a supervisor in the court system, both in Mason and in Hamilton and, more recently, a real estate agent) and we know that he was dismissed from BOTH supervisor positions for performance issues/ goofing off on the job- (this is documented in previous Journal stories)--- who made the decision to hire him based on his qualifications/abilities to write court manuals on Emergency Preparedness, Continuity of Operations, Implementation of a Court Security Policy/ Procedures Manual, and what in his past working experience, gives him sole candidacy for this job over others? Does he really have the experience from his previous jobs to write this documentation? Perhaps a meeting with Rossi for an explanation on qualifications?????? Why did Rossi hire him with so much baggage, anyway? Hmmm.

A suggestion- in the future, when Landen asks for emergency legislation, instead of MOST OF COUNCIL, sitting there like a bump on a log, start asking why the emergency is needed, ask specifics about the necessity of the legislation, ask in-depth about the SPECIFICS AND INTENT of the legislation and ask who is currently being considered for the position. If a name like Schiavone pops up, bells and whistles should be going off and an immediate reluctance on your part should occur. Would also suggest that a clause be included to recind your decision to protect and correct any back room antics like this from happening and to lessen the hassle of future explanations.

I have attempted to contact all council members to ask about this situation. I have spoken with a few and a few could not be reached or haven't returned my calls. Those I have spoken to are not happy about what looks like a trick being played on them and causing even more distrust by the citizens. The next council meeting should be very interesting.

Does anyone know what the standards are for something to considered an emergency legislation.  In hindsight - if this position is really needed, did it have to be declared an emergency.  Emergency should be more a life or death type of situation.  Not to get an ex counsil man a job. 

Randy can you list which ones you have spoken with and which ones have not returned your calls.  I would bet the ones that have not called you back are the ones that knew who was getting the job.[/QUOTE wrote:

I will give the names of the ones that have not returned my calls after i feel they have had plenty of time to do so. But i will say so far it's the Standard names.