The following is a rundown of the course of events relative to the School Security Officer position for the City School District:
1) The City School District requested a 211 waiver for Rolf Koehler, School Security Officer. This request was granted by the New York State Civil Service Commission to run through June, 2010.
2) In granting such a waiver, the New York State Civil Service Commission required a test for School Security Officer be held to determine if other candidates were available to fill the position.
(The School District determined that the job description for the test did not reflect changes they had requested and asked that the job description be amended. This request was denied by the former Civil Service Administrator.)
3) City Civil Service Commission holds the test in February, 2010. The result of the test was the establishment of a list of 12 eligible candidates for the position. (The incumbent was not required to take the test.)
4) City School District determined that none of the candidates on the list met their needs for the position. and requested an additional waiver period for Mr. Koehler until October 31, 2010 which was granted by the New York State Civil Service Commission.
5) In, September, 2010, the City School District developed new specifications for a School Security Specialist position and requested a new test for this title. The test was scheduled for February 5, 2011. Subsequently, the City School District requested that the test be cancelled and withdrew a request for an additional waiver period.
The City Council Local Law that you refer to states; “The City Manager may appoint and at pleasure remove a secretary who shall perform such duties as may be imposed upon him by the City Manager.
However, the Civil Service Commissioners (appointed by the Mayor) retains all decision making powers reserved to them under the New York State Civil Service Law.
As stated above, the City School District has withdrawn its request for a new position title. Therefore, the incumbent at issue remains in his current title and, as a retiree of local government, is subject to the salary limitations (without jeopardizing his pension benefits) mandated by the New York State Retirement and Social Security Law.
Chuck Strome
City Manger
Why not mention the chairman by his name…
Dominic “The Thieving Corrupt Crook” Procopio.
Predictable response
A predictable and safe response from our city manager. It’s standard operating procedure to place blame on someone who is no longer an employee (the former Civil Service Administrator) who by the way had her own problems concerning proctors for the civil service tests. Idoni appointed the current administrator who has filled positions with friends, relatives and politicos. He even got his son appointed to the BAZ and is currently acting chair. Noam doesn’t have the guts to deal with this so he had the city charter amended to shift the appointment to the City Manager who won’t rock the boat and “at pleasure remove a secretary”. This is not about pleasure, it’s about fairness and playing by the rules which have had no bearing on the school district’s actions.