This is Part XI in a Series.
The subject of overtime comes up for several different reasons during the depositions in the Bonanno’s lawsuit against me (which, again, they lost badly). It is well worth going into detail on these transcripts because the routine failure to track regular hours and overtime is a defining characteristic of the corruption in New Rochelle where hundreds of thousands of dollars in pay including overtime is paid out for hours not worked. What is going on with Jimmy Bonanno, Little Jimmy, Gallagher, Quinn and James Purdy in this situation is what is going on everywhere else — there is no system for tracking hours or overtime, no one is confirming that time sheets are accurate or that work was actually done, no one is checking in and out, employees show up late or leave early but claim a full days work and, in some cases, overtime on top of that. It is why I have been pushing for five years now to install a biometric time and attendance system for all employees. It is why I researched such systems available through authorized purchasing programs in New York State and provided that information to Dr. Jeffrey Korostoff. A decision was made to purchase and install a time and attendance system from School Dude [https://www.schooldude.com] but so far it has not been installed and even when it is it will be limited to the B & G employees when it should be applied to every employee. Honest employees will not only not object but will welcome such a system as it will prevent their dishonest colleagues skipping out on work, leaving them holding the bag.
In these exchanges you will read how Jimmy Bonanno objected to an article on Talk of the Sound where he was described as the “Overtime King” after articles in the Journal News reported that he earned exactly $30,000 in overtime for the previous two years and listed him among the very highest overtime recipients in New Rochelle. Jimmy claimed that his overtime is correlated to the amount of snow in a given year. At a school board meeting a few years, former Assistant Superintendent for Business & Administration John Quinn had made a similar claim. I responded by pulling the historical weather data for New Rochelle which showed that overtime paid was constant over the years while the amounts of snowfall varied widely. It appears that overtime was fixed for employees like Bonanno — he earned the same amount of overtime from year to year regardless of the weather.
There is also the issue of rewarding a select group of employees with overtime and nepotism with his own son working under him and getting a good deal of overtime. Not only was his son getting a lot of overtime but Little Jimmy is notorious among other district employees for sleeping in his district van or being absent during the time he was supposedly working overtime — why should evenings and weekends be any different than all the regular hours when he was not working either?
This topic will thus take us into the deposition of James Vincent “Little Jimmy” Bonanno for the first time. Unless I indicate “Little Jimmy” when I refer to Jimmy that is always the father, Vincent James “Jimmy” Bonanno, sometimes referred to as “Big Jimmy”. Big Jimmy also claims he and his men do not get overtime anymore or at least very little overtime. In fact, four months later, Jimmy Bonanno and Phil Rossetti filed for (and were paid for) a massive amount of over time;they claimed about 180 hours of overtime in a 5 week period so including their 40 hours of regular hours that comes out to 380 hours or about 11 hours a day, 7 days a week for more than a month. Not bad for two guys in their 60’s. Unlikely. In fact, this was when I video taped Bonanno and Rossetti (along with Anthony Raffa) hanging out at the Dunkin’s Donuts for hours and the filing time sheets claiming they were working while at the Dunkin’s Donuts.
Realize that as the Bonannos are being questioned, and lying over and over again, we (me and the WVOX lawyer) already have records for their overtime so we know they are lying as they go along. Also, note that Jimmy Bonanno is present when his son is deposed which makes Jimmy Bonanno’s false statements on his second day of being deposed, after his son has admitted to raking in a large amount of overtime working on his father’s outdoor crew all the more amazing. Little Jimmy is not present when his father is deposed.
Here are some of the overtime exchanges in which Jimmy is caught in lie after lie: that overtime is mostly about snow removal, that he and his men don’t get much overtime anymore, that overtime was randomly assigned, that Little Jimmy only worked for his dad getting overtime when it snowed and so on. At the end of the last exchange, Jimmy Bonanno is asked “If someone in supervisory capacity showed favoritism to his son, would that be corruption?” He answers “I don’t think so, no.”
Again, this is cleaned up for readability without changing the meaning. I also added notes periodically as these exchanges are long.
Deposition of Vincent James Bonanno by WVOX lawyer
September 13, 2013
Q. Now, in addition to your base salary, do you get overtime?
A. Yes.
Q. How is the overtime calculated? Is it time and a half of something, or is there some other way of calculating it?
A. Time and a half after 40 hours.
Q. Well, I’m asking — I haven’t got a clue what the answer is. The question is what is your expectation, in terms of overtime, the rate — the rate that applies to overtime?
A. I was answering you.
Q. Okay.
A. After 40 hours it’s time and a half. On a holiday or a Sunday, it’s double time.
Q. What is the time and a half based on? Do you have an hourly rate?
A. Yes.
Q. And what is your hourly rate?
A. I don’t know.
Q. How much overtime annually have you received in the past five years, each year?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. Would it be in the neighborhood of $30,000?
A. I’m not sure.
MR. NORWICK: Well, we may have to ask for, at least, the relevant parts of his tax returns if he doesn’t remember what he makes.
. How many — you don’t know your hourly rate and you don’t know how much overtime you’ve earned in the last several years.
A. The more it snows, the more overtime. We really don’t get no other overtime anymore. Very — very little.
Q. Has it been written about you that you $30,000 or more in overtime a year? Has that ever been written about you?
A. Yes.
Q. Have you objected to that in any way?
A. No.
Q. What is The Journal News? Do you know what The Journal News is?
A. Yes.
Q. Have they written about your overtime?
A. Yes.
Q. What have they written about your overtime?
A. They put out an article on all government employees, and they listed all employees, not just me.
Q. Every single employee of the school district?
A. Yes, they did.
Q. Okay. And were you in any particular category, in terms of high earners?
A. I wasn’t in the top with the school district, I don’t believe so.
Q. Now, I will represent — “represent” means tell you seriously. I will represent to you that your lawyers provided various documents to us as part of this litigation, and those documents have numbers on the bottom of the letters or memos concerning your work. Are you familiar with those documents?
A. No.
Q. Mr. Bonanno, before we look at that document, tell me how the overtime works. Does someone have to sign anything to put in for the overtime?
A. All overtime has to be approved first from up in City Hall.
Q. Do you mean the Education Department or —
A. The Buildings and Grounds Office.
Q. Buildings and Grounds. Is that Mr. Gallagher?
A. Usually it comes from Mr. Quinn.
Q. Who is under Mr. Gallagher?
A. Over.
Q. Or he’s over Mr. Gallagher. Now, do you have to be approved in advance to do overtime?
A. Yes. You only can work overtime without being approved if it’s an emergency.
Q. So, if it’s not an emergency, you have to request in advance. Do you get a written permission?
A. No. It comes from Mr. Gallagher.
Q. Orally or in writing?
A. Orally.
Q. Before you undertake the overtime?
A. Yes.
Q. And when you do overtime, does it have to be signed for after you’ve done it?
A. Yes.
Q. Who signs your overtime?
A. Mr. Gallagher.
Q. And how does he know that you did the work that you’re claiming that you did?
A. Well, the overtime we’re talking about is like snow removal. If we didn’t do it, the snow would still be there.
Q. Is that the only time you do overtime, is snow removal?
A. And baseball fields for baseball games.
Q. If there are 52 weekends in a year, going back the last five years, on average, how many weekends did you do overtime?
A. I don’t know.
Q. More than 20?
A. I don’t know.
Q. More than ten?
A. I don’t know.
Q. More than two?
A. I would say more than two.
Q. More than two, but you don’t know if it’s more than ten?
A. You’re asking me for an average over the last five years.
Q. Yes. How many weekends, on average?
A. I mean, there was years where it didn’t snow that much, and we didn’t work that much. We don’t really do no other overtime anymore except baseball fields.
Q. All right. And your — all your overtime would be reflected in records kept by the Education Department. Correct?
A. Yes.
MR. NORWICK: Okay. So, we will pursue those, and maybe, if necessary, bring you back to ask you questions because you don’t know the answers now. Maybe you’ll
A. Yes.
Q. When you work overtime on weekends, are any of your staff with you?
A. Yes.
===
Q. …I think you said earlier that your son is an employee of the New Rochelle School District. Is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Where does he work?
A. He works for James Purdy and takes care of the supplies for the custodial staff.
Q. Does he work for you on weekends in overtime?
A. Once in a while, when we’re short-staffed.
Q. How does that happen? How does he come to be assigned to work for you on the weekends?
A. He used to be in my department. He has a CDL, and he knows how to plow.
Q. I know, but do you have to requisition him to work for you?
A. Yes.
Q. You do?
A. Yes.
Q. And you’ve done that in the last year?
A. Yes.
Q. And that’s only in an overtime situation?
A. Yes.
Q. Who signs his overtime slips?
A. I’m not sure.
Q. Do you?
A. No.
Q. Do you know why not?
A. He doesn’t work for me.
Q. On the weekends — does Sal Poretto sign his overtime slips?
A. No.
Q. You don’t know who does?
A. I don’t know.
Q. Well, the person who signs his slips had to have — is verifying that he did the work. Correct?
A. Correct.
Q. Do you know how much overtime he earned in the last several years?
A. No, I don’t know.
===
Q. What was being written about you?
A. About the overtime and people talking and saying stuff.
Q. Okay. That’s not mentioned here [in the lawsuit] is it?
A. No.
===
Q. Okay. Now, we have marked several — I packaged together several of Mr. Cox’s blog posts for — as — as — as that Exhibit No. 8. Let’s look at the very first page of that exhibit. Do you see where the headline says: “New Rochelle Schools Overtime King Driving Brand New Dodge Hemi Courtesy of New Rochelle Taxpayers.” Do you see that page?
A. Yes.
Q. All right. Do you know who the headline refers to?
A. Yes.
Q. Who does it refer to?
A. Well, it says my name there.
Q. Okay. So, it refers to you?
A. Yes, but that’s not my truck.
Q. All right. Let me — I wasn’t particularly going to ask you about the truck, but did you ever drive the Dodge Hemi that’s referred to here?
A. No. I have a pickup. It has a Hemi engine, but it’s a pickup truck.
Q. All right. You never drove the Dodge Hemi that’s shown in this picture?
A. Never.
Q. Okay. Did you complain about this mistake?
A. No.
Q. To your knowledge, did anybody read this?
A. Yes.
Q. Who?
A. A lot of people, because first she printed that I was driving a Hummer, and people were coming up to me, asking me where my Hummer was, and I don’t have a Hummer.
[Jimmy says “she”, this is actually a psuedonymous account on Talk of the Sound using the name “Deep Throat”, I have no idea how Jimmy knows it is a she but at least we agree here that it is not me writing about this truck. Note also that Jimmy admits to driving a pick up a taxpayer-funded truck with a Hemi engine something which, I have been told, is prohibited as an unnecessary expense]
Q. Just give me the names, please.
A. I don’t — I don’t know the names.
Q. You have no names to give me?
A. No.
Q. Okay. More than 10 people?
A. Yes.
Q. More than 20?
A. I don’t know.
Q. All right. Let’s read further down in the first paragraph. “We all know Jimmy Bonanno does nothing! I see him driving around New Rochelle even days a week in this vehicle. This vehicle is ALWAYS parked at his house.” Is any of that true?
A. I don’t understand the question.
Q. Well — well, you’ve already testified that you’ve never driven this vehicle, the vehicle that’s pictured here. Correct?
A. Correct.
Q. So, therefore, it could never have been parked at your — was it ever parked at your house, that vehicle?
A. No.
Q. Reading down a couple of lines: “Let’s see…$96,000 base pay, plus $35,000 in overtime equals $131,000 a year, AND the use of a $50,000 vehicle. Yes, when I grow up I want a job with the BOE.” Are those numbers correct, in terms of your salary, your income, in June of 2009?
A. I don’t know.
Q. Okay. Did you drive a car owned by the school district at that time?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you ever have it at home?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you ever use it for personal use?
A. No.
Q. Not once?
A. No
Q. I know, but it calls you the Overtime King. Did that hurt your reputation?
A. I don’t know.
Q. It says you do nothing. Does that hurt your reputation?
A. Well, that was his statement.
Q. Exactly.
A. That came from Mr. Cox.
Q. Right…
[wrong, this came from Deep Throat]
===
Q. The next page there is a sentence that says: “Jimmy Bonanno is regularly features [sic] in journal news stories about school district employees who receive large amounts of overtime.” I’ll stop there. Do you dispute any of that?…The sentence I read, do you dispute any of that?
A. Can you repeat the question?
Q. Well, yeah. I read you the sentence that said: “Jimmy Bonanno is regularly featured” — I’m making it “featured” — “in journal news stories about school district employees who receive large amounts of overtime.” Do you dispute that sentence, anything in that sentence?
A. I dispute it.
Q. And what part do you dispute?
A. It says “Jimmy Bonanno is regularly featured.” I was only in it twice. “Regularly” seems like it would be annually.
Q. So, you dispute is that it was only twice?
A. I believe so, yes.
===
[Questions about Bonanno having his men work on his girlfriend’s house in Orange County]
A. They’re my friends.
Q. Isn’t it true that you also control their overtime?
A. No.
===
Q. Okay. Did you ask them to do this [work on girlfriend’s house in Orange County]?
A. I asked them to do me a favor.
Q. Do you a favor. And you’re the guy who controls their overtime?
A. I already answered that.
Q. Are you the guy who controls their overtime?
A. No.
Q. You’re not?
A. I don’t control their overtime.
Q. Who controls their overtime? Who decides whether or when any of your staff — I think you answered this already — come in for overtime?
A. It gets approved by Mr. Gallagher. [Jimmy just previously testified that Quinn approved overtime]
Q. Who decides? Who initiates?
A. If it’s snowing, I call him up, I ask him what time he wants us to come in, and he tells us when to come in.
Q. Who decides which of your crew will come in for overtime?
A. My crew is so little that everybody has to come.
Q. Whenever there’s overtime, everybody comes in?
A. Yes.
Q. It’s never less than everybody?
A. Unless there’s a dusting. Then I just send the salter out, two men.
Q. The only time there’s overtime is when there’s snow. Is that your testimony?
A. No.
Q. Okay. So, there’s overtime when there’s not snow?
A. Yes.
Q. Who decides when there will be overtime?
A. If there’s a baseball game on Saturday morning, the guys are allotted three hours to go there and get the field ready before the team gets there.
Q. The whole crew?
A. No, two guys.
Q. Two guys. Who decides which two guys?…Who decides which two guys go?
A. I have a list, and we rotate.
Q. You decide?
A. No, I don’t decide. The list decides.
Q. That includes your son?
A. No, he’s not on it. [note this for later, Little Jimmy is paid for lots of overtime for this father and not related to snow and specifically does overtime work on baseball fields]
Q. Well, I think you testified that you decide when your son comes in for overtime.
A. I told you only for emergency snow when we need men. [as we shall see, records contradict this as will his later testimony about those records, Little Jimmy is paid for lots of non-emergency, non-snow overtime for his father]
Several days after, Jimmy Bonanno was deposed, we brought in Little Jimmy.
James Vincent Bonanno Deposition by WVOX lawyer
September 18, 2013
Q. Who determined whether or not you would get overtime when you worked for Vincent Bonanno?
A. John Gallagher.
Q. He assigned the overtime?
A. Yes.
Q. No one else?
A. No.
===
Q. When you worked for your father, did you get overtime?
A. Yes.
Q. Who decides about the overtime?
A. John Gallagher.
Q. Your father has nothing to say about that; is that correct?
A. No.
Q. Yes, that’s correct?
A. No, he has nothing to say about it.
Q. When do you learn if you are going to get overtime? Day before, several days before?
A. Usually they try to tell you that afternoon. They try to —
Q. The afternoon before?
A. Of that day.
Q. Of the same day?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you ever do overtime on A. Saturday?
A. Yes.
Q. In that case, when are you advised of the overtime on A. Saturday?
A. Probably sometime in the afternoon Friday before we leave.
Q. When you say “probably,” are you guessing?
A. Yes.
Q. You can’t testify more specifically about when you’re notified about Saturday overtime?
A. No.
Q. At any time since 2002, did you ever do any outside work part time, moonlighting? Landscaping, anything like that?
A. After 2002.
Q. Yeah, once you started with the School District?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. You don’t remember ever doing outside work?
===
Q. Have you ever been written up for your overtime, written up in the press?
A. Oh, no.
Q. Has your father ever been written up in the press for his overtime?
A. I don’t know.
We brought Little Jimmy back a second time, before we brought back the father.
James Vincent Bonanno Deposition by WVOX lawyer
October 11, 2013
Q. How does it work? When do you know that you’re going to do overtime and who tells you? And let’s limit this to the last three or so — three or four years.
A. Last three or four years, either John Gallagher gets in touch with me throughout the day, lets me know I’m working because of something that has happened, whether it’s the weather or they’re short hand of guys or they need extra help. Or if it’s not in that case, I get a call after work to come back in at 8:00, depending on the weather or if somebody left or they’re short hands. And that’s basically it.
Q. Would it be a fair interpretation of what you just said that it’s an extraordinary event? There’s not a usual event; is that correct?
A. Right.
Q. It would have to be something special, unexpected; is that correct?
A. Right.
Q. So it would not be something that was regular, that you would do on a regular basis; is that correct?
A. Yes. [as will soon be apparent, these statements are false]
Q. Assuming, as I will for this question, that there are 52 weeks in a year and, therefore, 52 Saturdays in a year, how many Saturdays would you say you worked overtime in 2010 or 2011 or 2012?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. More than 10?
A. I don’t know.
Q. More than 20?
A. I don’t know.
Q. More than 30?
A. I don’t know.
MR. NORWICK: These aren’t — I’m going to ask the reporter to mark this pile of paper as the next exhibit, which I think it will be JVB12.
Q. I’m going to ask you, Mr. Bonanno, to look at this document. And then, when you’re ready, tell me what they are.
(Witness reviews document.)
A. Time sheets.
Q. Whose time sheets?
A. My time sheets.
Q. Does your signature appear on every one?
A. I believe so.
Q. All right. I’m going to state for the record that Exhibit 12, JVB12, would appear to be time sheets signed by Mr. James V. Bonanno for the calendar year 2010. It’s a time sheet for the week beginning 1/17/10; 1/24/10; 2/14/10; February 21,’10; February 28, ’10; 3/7/10; 3/14/10; 3/21/10; March 28, 2010; 4/4/10; April 11, 2010; April 18, 2010; April 25, 2010; May 2, 2010; May 9, 2010 — my set seems to have two on May 9. Let me see. So that may be a duplication — May 16, 2010; May 23, 2010; 5/30/2010; 6/6/2010; 6/13/10; 6/20/10; 6/27/10; 7/4/10; 7/11/10; 7/18/10; 7/25/10; 8/1/10; 8/15/10 — I seem to have two for 8/15. Let’s all agree that we will only consider it once — 8/22/10; 8/29/10; 9/5/10; 9/12/10; 10/3/10; 10/10/10; 10/17/10; 10/24/10; 10/31/10; 11/7/10; 11/14/10; 11/21/10; 11/28/10; 12/19/10; and 12/26/10. Mr. Bonanno, if you were keeping up with me, did I read those correctly?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. What do these time sheets all have in common?
A. They’re mine.
Q. Huh?
A. They’re mine.
Q. And what else? They all have overtime on there, don’t they?
A. No.
Q. They don’t? Which ones doesn’t have overtime?
A. You mean the ones you named?
Q. Yeah.
A. I guess.
Q. No, don’t guess. I mean, I did say tell me if you’re guessing. But don’t all of these time sheets have overtime on them?
A. Yeah.
Q. Okay. Now, do you want to change your testimony about the extraordinary or unusual situations requiring overtime?
A. No. Like I said, when they’re shorthanded, I get asked to work overtime. I can’t control that.
Q. I understand.
A. When they ask me, I’m going to work.
Q. Who is the “they”?
A. John Gallagher.
Q. And let’s look at the first one. “Mopped kitchen”?
A. Yeah.
Q. Now, you need overtime to mop the kitchen?
A. Yes, because it’s not in my specs and they give me two hours every Saturday to do that.
Q. Well, then it was a regular thing, wasn’t it? Was it a regular thing? Now you’re telling me it was a regular thing. Aren’t you?
A. At that time, yes, I didn’t consider that overtime. It was part of my pay period. The person in my position is given those two hours every weekend on a Saturday to keep the kitchen and the bathrooms at Grove Avenue cleaned and up to par.
Q. At time and half– correct?
A. I don’t know.
Q. You don’t know?
A. I don’t know.
Q. Well, do you see where it says, on the very top sheet, on the left-hand side towards the
bottom, where it says “comments by supervisor”?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. Is X1 — I believe 1, slash, over 2, 2. Think that means time and half?
A. I have no idea.
Q. Right. All right. So now your testimony is that on a regular basis, you came in on Saturday to mop the floor — for overtime, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And who was it who assigned you to mop the floor every Saturday at time and a half?
A. The school district.
Q. Which person?
A. My boss James Purdy and John Gallagher.
Q. Both each time?
A. No, they didn’t have to tell me each time. They just told me the first time when I started.
Q. Oh. So they told you to come in every Saturday and mop the floor? And which one of them told you that? Because we’re going to depose them. Which one of you told — which one of them told you that?
A. They both did, at one point or another, that that’s my responsibility, what the position I have now, or had.
Q. How did you get in on Saturday morning?
A. Huh?
Q. How did you get in to work on Saturday morning?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. Even one instance of how you got in?
A. No.
Q. You don’t own a car, right?
A. I’ve owned cars.
Q. Did you own a car in 2010?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. So your testimony is that you may have driven yourself in?
Q. In 2010?
Q. If you didn’t own a car in two thousand — well, tell me what you remember about owning cars.
A. That I had a car at one point.
Q. In what decade?
A. This decade.
Q. Starting with 2010?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. What kind of car was it?
A. A truck.
Q. When was the last time you remember seeing that truck?
A. I don’t know.
MR. NORWICK: I call for registration documents concerning Mr. Bonanno’s truck.
Q. Did you ever own a car as distinct from a truck?
A. No.
Q. Or a lease?
A. No.
Q. Or a borrow?
A. No.
Q. Okay. How many trucks have you owned?
A. I don’t know.
Q. More than one?
A. Yes.
Q. What brand-name trucks did you own?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. Right now, do you own a motor vehicle?
A. No.
Q. When was the last time you owned a motor vehicle?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. If you don’t own a motor vehicle — if you didn’t own a motor vehicle in 2010, would you need a ride to get in to work?
A. Yes.
Q. All right. Have you ever walked to work?
A. Yes.
Q. How many times have you walked to work?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. Do you walk to work all the time?
A. No.
Q. So when you don’t walk to work, you need a ride; is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And you’re allowed to guess in answering this question. Who might have driven you in 2010 on Saturday mornings?
A. My mother.
Q. Okay. Did you live with your mother in 2010?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. I thought — well. Somewhere you testified to where you were living. You lived in Larchmont and then you moved to New Rochelle, correct? Is that right?
A. 2010, yes, I was living in Larchmont. I believe so.
Q. Where did your mother live in 2010?
A. In Larchmont.
Q. With you?
A. No.
Q. Okay. So she would drive you in. Do you remember her ever, ever driving you in?
A. Yes, I’m sure she drove me in.
Q. You remember that?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. Who else drove you?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. But you do remember your mother driving you in?
A. Yes.
Q. Mr. Rossetti drive you in on a Saturday morning ever?
A. No.
Q. Anybody on your father’s crew ever drive you in on a Saturday morning?
A. No.
Q. Who does that leave?
A. Me.
Q. Yeah, but you don’t — if you don’t have a car, you need a ride, correct?
A. I took cabs.
Q. Every time?
A. I walked.
Q. Did you ever get a lift, other than your mother?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. Okay. These time sheets say that you checked in at 7:00 a.m. — I’m looking at the top one — and leave at 3:30, and it’s signed by James Purdy; is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Mr. Purdy there at 7:00 in the morning to see you arrive?
A. I don’t know.
Q. How does he know that these numbers are accurate? Does he know these numbers are accurate?
A. Yes.
Q. And how does he know that?
A. I don’t know.
Q. All right. Your testimony is he knows they’re accurate but you don’t know how he knows they’re accurate but he’s not there to see you come in, correct?
A. He’s in the district.
Q. What has that got to do with knowing what time you got in?
A. Because he calls me sometimes. 7:00 a.m., I’m there to do whatever —
Q. All right. How often —
A. — he needs me to do.
Q. — does he call you at 7:00 a.m. and on what number does he call you?
Q. Does he call you on your cellphone?
A. Yes.
Q. Which would ring wherever you are, correct? Right?
A. What?
Q. Your cellphone would ring wherever you are?
A. Yes.
Q. All right. So if he got you on the phone, it doesn’t mean that you’re on — at Grove Avenue, does it?
A. Yes, it does. When I’m working, I’m there.
Q. How does he know where you — whether you’re on the job? How does he know that? answered.
A. I don’t know. He knows.
Q. Wouldn’t you agree that this is sort of the honor system? You put it in and he signs it?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. So it’s really your stating these times that is the basis for these time sheets, correct?
A. Yes, like everybody else, he knows that we’re there.
Q. No, he doesn’t. He knows that you say you were there. Isn’t that more accurate, he knows that you say you were there?
A. I don’t know.
Q. Did you ever get in five minutes after 7:00? [Little Jimmy was famously late to work on a near-daily basis, anywhere from 1-3 hours late as a mater of routine, many have sources have told me]
A. I’m sure I ran late once or twice —
Q. Okay.
A. — or a couple times.
Q. Is that reflected — do you reflect that on your time sheets?
A. No.
Q. You put down 7:00?
A. You get a 15-minute grace period.
Q. You ever been later than 15 minutes?
A. I’m sure I have.
Q. You put those on your time sheets?
A. I’ve called up city hall.
Q. And said what?
A. That I’m running late. I’ll be there. No problem.
Q. What about your time sheets, do you say 7:30 or 8:00, ever?
A. Yes.
Q. You do? Look at these, Exhibit 12, and tell me if there’s ever a start time other than 7:00?
A. Exhibit 12.
Q. No, this is Exhibit 12.
A. Oh.
Q. Look at this exhibit and see if there’s a start time that’s other than 7:00 a.m.
A. 11:00 a.m.
Q. Which week?
A. Saturday?
Q. All right. Not including Saturday. The Monday through Friday.
A. No.
Q. They all say 7:00 a.m.?
A. Yes.
Q. Is it your testimony that you came in at 7:00 a.m. every one of those days?
A. Yes.
Q. Without being a minute late, or 15 minutes late?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. You don’t remember. Okay. You still mopping the floor for overtime?
A. No.
Q. Why not?
A. I didn’t want to.
Q. It was up to you whether you mopped the floor on Saturday. It wasn’t assigned to you; it was up to you?
A. It was assigned to me. And then they told me to stop, because I went away on vacation for about a week or two. And when I came back, the guy that did it while I was away continued to do it, and I had no problem with it because I didn’t want to do it anyway.
Q. So they assigned it to somebody else; is that accurate?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. When did that happen?
A. Whenever this stopped, the last time.
Q. I know. When did it stop?
A. I don’t know the exact date.
Q. The year?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. Have — did you do it in calendar 2013?
A. I don’t think so.
Q. Did you do it in calendar 2012?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. Again, because we’re deposing them, both Purdy and Gallagher assigned you overtime to mop the floor?
A. Correct.
Q. On Saturdays?
A. Yes.
Q. Who else on the Grove Avenue staff worked a regular overtime gig?
A. Before me, it was Gary Iarocci did it every Saturday.
Q. All right. We’re going to talk about him in a minute. Anyone else — while you were on the Grove Avenue staff, did anyone else have a regular overtime gig?
A. I believe there was this guy Pat, an electrician or — Tony Newman did the bathrooms upstairs for those departments.
Q. On overtime?
A. Yes.
MR. NORWICK: Let’s mark as 13 this document. (JVB Exhibit 13 was received and marked for identification, as of this date.)
Q. Mr. Bonanno, what is this document that we just handed you?
A. Time sheet.
Q. Well — all right. Signed by you in each case?
A. Yes.
Q. I guess I’m going to read into the record the weeks that are covered here. 1/2/11; 1/9/11; 1/16/11; 1/23/11; there’s a sheet — there’s a notice that’s in here about a sick day, a notice dated January 20, 2011 — it’s in this exhibit — the week of 2/6/11 seems to be two copies of 2/6/11. I think I need a different copying service — 2/13/11; 2/20/11; 2/28/11; 3/6/11; 3/13/11; 3/20/11; 3/27/11; 4/3/11; 4/10/11; 4/17/11; April 24, ’11; 5/1/11; 5/8/11; 5/15/11; 5/22/11; 5/29/11; 6/5/11; 6/12/11; 6/19/11; 7/3/11; 7/10/11; 7/17/11; 7/20/11; 7/24/11 — 7/31/11; another notice, this one dated August 4 about missing time sheets — that’s within this exhibit — 8/7/11; 8/14/11; 8/21/11 — I don’t know if I said this. Did I say 8/21/11? Seem to be two copies of 8/21/11, but they’re slightly different. There are different writings on them, so we’ll keep them both in the exhibit — 8/28/11; 9/4/11; 9/4/11 — but they are different — 9/11/11; 9/18/11; September 25, ’11; 10/2/11; 10/9/11; 10/16/11; 10/23/11; October 30, ’11; 11/6/11; November 13, 2011; November 20, 2011; November 27, 2011; December 4, 2011; December 11, 2011, twice, but different documents; 12/18/11; and 12/25/11. Did I read those dates correctly?
A. Yes.
Q. Do they all have your signature on them?
A. Yes.
Q. And do they all have in common that you put in for overtime on all of those?
A. Yes.
Q. How, by the way, would Mr. Purdy know how many hours you put in on the overtime?
A. Say that again. How would he know? Because I —
Q. Does Mr. Purdy — is Mr. Purdy ever there on Saturday watching you mop the floor?
A. No.
Q. How would he know that you went in and did that?
A. Because it will look terrible Monday morning and guys will complain.
Q. How does he know that you didn’t get someone else to do it?
A. Because I don’t — I didn’t — wouldn’t do that.
Q. He wouldn’t know that, would he?
A. I don’t know.
Q. Just another example of the honor system, you put it in and he believes you. Isn’t that right?
A. I don’t know.
Q. He’s signing this, correct?
Q. And he’s authorizing payment, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And he doesn’t know, at least in every case, what time you get in and what time you leave, correct?
A. On when?
Q. Any time.
A. I don’t know.
Q. In 2011, you had the regular “mop the floor on Saturday” gig, right?
A. Yes.
Q. Was anyone else there when you were there on Saturdays?
A. Sometimes.
Q. Who would that be?
A. Whoever was working overtime.
Q. Yeah, I know. Who? Who do you remember being there?
A. Carpenters, plumbers.
Q. No names for me?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. You do remember carpenters and — what did you say, electricians?
A. Plumbers.
Q. Plumbers, you remember that.
A. Yes.
Q. You’re not making it up; you remember that. Correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. How many times did you see anyone else there?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. All right. And did you own a truck in 2011?
A. I don’t think so.
Q. Okay. How did you get in for all of these Saturday mopping jobs?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. Did you resent and object to having to come in on Saturday for overtime?
A. No.
Q. It was a pretty good deal, right?
A. I don’t know.
Q. Is it your testimony that there was no time on Friday for you to mop the floor?
A. I don’t know.
Q. All right. Your answer is you don’t know. Take a look at the time sheet for the week
beginning 8/21/11.
(Witness complies.)
A. Okay.
Q. On the Monday of that week, how many hours did you put in for?
A. Forty-six.
Q. No. The Monday.
A. Oh. Twelve.
Q. And what’s your regular workday consist of?
A. Eight.
Q. So you put in for four extra hours?
A. I worked, and I probably forgot to write the explanation of it. It happens all the time.
Q. Well, there’s no — say that again? Happens all the time?
A. With people in the school district, yes. I was rushing my time sheet probably and I just did the hours quick and I forgot to write the detail.
Q. And Purdy signed it anyway, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Your understanding was that Purdy knew that you were doing something? During that overtime?
A. Yes.
Q. Although he had no clue what it was, correct?
A. I don’t know. He would have to know, because Mr. Gallagher told him.
Q. Say that again?
A. Mr. Gallagher informs him every time I work overtime.
Q. Oh. Every single Saturday?
A. Yeah.
Q. How do you know Mr. Gallagher informs him of that? Are you on the phone when he does that?
A. No.
Q. Do you get a copy of any e-mails that Gallagher sends to Purdy? So how do you know that Gallagher informed Mr. Purdy every single time you did overtime?
A. Because John told me anytime you work overtime, let James know and I’ll tell him in advance, this way he knows that — what’s going on.
Q. First you work on overtime and then you tell James. Is that what you just said?
A. No. The Saturdays, he doesn’t — it’s informed, once you get that position that I have, you don’t need to talk about it every time there’s a Saturday coming up.
Q. I thought you —
A. But during the week, he lets James know that I’m working overtime.
Q. When it’s not the mopping gig, right?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. On the mopping gig, Gallagher didn’t speak to Purdy every time, did he?
A. He didn’t have to.
MR. NORWICK: Okay. The next exhibit — 13 — 14 will be handed to the reporter. (JVB Exhibit 14 was received and marked for identification, as of this date.)
Q. I guess I’ll do my reading thing. This exhibit consists of time sheets obtained from the school district for the weeks 1/1/12; 1/8/12; January 15, ’12; 1/22/12; 1/29/12; 2/5/12; 2/19/12; 2/26/12; March 4, ’12; 3/18/12; 4/1/12; 4/8/12; 4/15/12; April 29, 12; April — another one for April 29. They’re not duplicates; May 6, ’12; May 13, ’12; May 13, ’12 again, and they’re not duplicates — did I say that — 5/20/12; June 17, ’12; 7/15/12; 7/22/12; 7/29/12; August 5, ’12; August 12, ’12; August 19, ’12; 8/26/12; September 2, ’12; 9/9/12; 9/16 or September 16, ’12; September 23, ’12; 9/30/12; 10/28/12; October 28, ’12; November 4, ’12. Did I read those dates correctly?
A. Yes.
Q. Is your signature on every one of them?
A. Yes, I believe so.
Q. This was last year, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Let’s look at the week of January 15, 2012, I think the third sheet in this exhibit. Do you see that?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. Let’s look at the Saturday. We have the “mop the floor” job from 11:00 to 1:00, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And then from 1:00 to 9:00, I’m going read it as best I can. No. It’s your handwriting. You tell me what it says.
A. “Snow removal, plowed New Rochelle High School, Barnard, Albert Leonard, Ward, Columbus, and Grove.”
Q. Okay. Now, the snow removal overtime, where did that come from?
A. It snowed.
Q. Who assigned you the job?
A. John Gallagher.
Q. On whose crew?
A. The outside crew.
Q. Your father’s crew?
A. Yes.
Q. This was an overtime — the mop the floor was Grove street — Grove Avenue, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And the eight hours was for your father, correct?
A. It’s for the buildings and grounds department.
Q. Which is run by your father — isn’t it?
A. It’s really ran by John Gallagher, but . . .
Q. And — what is your father’s role there, then?
A. He’s, I believe, a foreman.
Q. Okay. So putting aside whether he runs Cliff Street, he’s the foreman of Cliff Street, correct?
A. Correct.
Q. Okay. And so this eight hours was under your father’s department. Correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Same question about 2012: Did you own a truck in 2012?
A. No. [he previously testified he did not remember, now he knows he did not]
Q. How did you get in on Saturdays?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. How did you get in every workday?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. What are the options? What are the possibilities?
A. I don’t know.
Q. Oh, please. Did you walk every time?
A. Sometimes I did.
Q. And sometimes you didn’t?
A. Correct.
Q. And when you didn’t, did your mother drive you in, in 2012?
A. Sometimes.
Q. Who else?
A. I don’t remember. [according to numerous sources, Phil Rossetti was ordered by Jimmy Bonanno to pick up Little most every day of the work week, Rossetti groused about this to many people]
Q. You can’t even give me any names?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. Without a specific date, just a name.
A. My mom.
Q. Anybody else?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. All right. Is it fair to say that if it wasn’t your mother and you were getting a ride in, it would be somebody on your father’s crew?
A. No. [he later testifies that Phil Rossetti drove him]
Q. Who else might it be?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. But you remember enough to say no when I asked about — you had to know that it was somebody other than —
A. If it wasn’t my mother —
A. I didn’t remember.
Q. Who would have driven you in other than your mother?
A. I don’t know.
Q. Anybody other than someone working for your father?
A. No.
Q. Thank you. So every time you were driven in by somebody other than your mother, it was somebody working for your father who drove you in — correct?
A. No, it wasn’t someone working for my father.
Q. Who was it, then? How do you know that?
A. Because I just know.
Q. You just know. Let’s look at the week beginning June 17, 2012.
A. 17th?
Q. June 17th. You see that page?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. Read me your handwriting for the Wednesday.
A. “Graduation setup and breakdown at Albert Leonard Middle School.”
Q. All right. Forgive me. What — is that A-I-M-S?
A. A-L-M-S. It means Albert Leonard Middle School. It’s abbreviation.
Q. Okay. And that was something that you got through your father?
A. No.
A. That’s the school district.
Q. Was this under your father’s department?
A. I don’t remember. It was a bunch of us, all kinds of workers from the school district there.
Q. And who was in charge of the work? This was barely a year.
A. The plant supervisor at Albert Leonard?
Q. Who —
A. The plant supervisor at Albert Leonard.
Q. There is a plant supervisor at the middle school?
A. Yes.
Q. That’s what he is — he or she is called, plant supervisor?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you know the — that person’s name?
A. Mike Umbro.
Q. Was your father there?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. All right. Well, we may look at his time sheets and see if he was there. Next date, 7/15/12, look at the Tuesday and read me your handwriting.
A. “Scarified baseball fields, Trinity and New Rochelle High School.”
Q. Okay. What does scarified mean?
A. You rake out the clay, make it smoother, rake out all the rocks and clay bumps and smooth it out for the game, and basically manicure it.
Q. Okay. And that sounds like it comes under buildings and grounds; is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And that would be the department where your father is foreman, correct?
A. Correct.
Q. And the same would be true for Wednesday and Thursday, these are all overtime gigs for buildings and grounds, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. 7/22 is the next sheet. You had overtime for all — for six days, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Let’s look at the Saturday. You read it so I don’t have to. What’s your handwriting say?
A. “Spread mulch on Albert Leonard Middle School back hill and raked out branches — raked up branches.”
[this appears to be some of the massive overtime paid out to spread around the wood chips illegally dumped at various New Rochelle schools by Benny’s Tree Service, the same company identified by Patrick Clark as trading logs for district power tools with Scott Empara]
Q. All right. That’s eight hours of overtime; is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And that was for your father, correct?
A. For buildings and grounds.
Q. For buildings and grounds. And are all of the overtime entries for this week for your father?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. Well, let’s do the Monday. The scarified, that’s for your father?
A. Right.
Q. Okay. And spread mulch on the Tuesday, that’s for your father?
A. Yes.
Q. And discarded — do you think maybe you meant discarded with a C?
A. Yeah.
Q. Okay. “Discarded furniture at NRHS,” would that be for your father?
A. I don’t remember that one.
Q. You remember the spreading the mulch?
A. I don’t remember spreading it, but . . .
Q. All right. But you put in for that, right?
A. Right.
Q. That was also for your father on the Thursday?
A. Yes.
Q. And on the Friday, “Cleaned baseball fields,” that was for your father?
A. For the buildings and grounds.
Q. Right. And that week had — well, it looks like you had 23 hours of overtime that week; is that right?
A. Yes, I believe so.
Q. Most, if not all, working for buildings and grounds, correct?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. And the next week, is it accurate for me to conclude that you had 21 hours of overtime that week?
A. Yes.
Q. Are any of those for a department other than your father’s?
A. Yes, it’s for the buildings and grounds.
Q. They were all for buildings and grounds?
A. Yes.
Q. And the following week, August 5, 2012, put in for overtime every — for six days that week?
A. Yes.
Q. And were all those overtime jobs for your father?
A. It was for buildings and grounds.
Q. Of which your father is the foreman — correct?
A. Correct.
Q. Twenty-three hours that week of overtime?
A. Yes, I believe so.
Q. All right. I’m a little curious. You may not be able to answer this. See the signature for James L. Purdy?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. And then there seems to be an SP?
A. That’s —
Q. Who do you believe the SP is?
A. That’s JP. It’s James Purdy’s mark, meaning he — it’s him. That’s what he does.
Q. Oh, it’s his own initials? He signs and then he initials?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you have any idea why?
A. He does it to everybody.
Q. All right. Well, this is a busy month. August 12, five days of overtime?
A. Yes.
Q. All for buildings and grounds, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. You beginning to see a pattern here, are you?
A. It was a good summer.
Q. I’ll say. Okay. Next week, August 19, 2012.
A. August 19?
Q. August 19.
A. Yes.
Q. Twenty-three hours of overtime; is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And all for buildings and grounds?
A. Yes. Maybe not Monday.
Q. Okay. Fair enough. All the others?
A. Correct.
Q. Monday would be 3. So it would be 20 hours of overtime that would be for buildings/grounds that week, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And the next week, the week of 8/26/12, you have 17 hours of overtime; is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. How many days of those was for buildings and grounds?
A. I don’t remember. Maybe two, three.
Q. Well, how many days — it’s your handwriting. How many days were mulched, were mulching?
A. Yes, three.
Q. Okay. Next week, September 2, what is the — what’s the entry for the Wednesday of that week?
A. “Move stage risers from Albert Leonard Middle School to Ward.”
Q. Would that be buildings and grounds?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. Is there a difference between an outside crew and a Cliff Street crew?
A. No. I don’t think so.
Q. The Thursday, I’ll try to read it. “Threw out railroad tires — or tiles at Ward.” What do you think that T word is?
A. Tires.
Q. Tires. What do you remember about that?
A. I threw out railroad — the big, like, wood, big boards that go along the train tracks.
Q. Well, I don’t think they’re called tires. But —
A. Railroad — I think they are, but —
MR. SANTORI: Called railroad ties.
THE WITNESS: Ties.
Q. Under whose department would that have been?
A. I don’t know. I don’t remember.
Q. You can’t rule out buildings and grounds, can you?
A. I could have used my van. From Gallagher, Purdy might have told me to do it, because I — my van is a big van, so they always usually asked me to do details like that.
Q. Well, did your father ever give you specific assignments about what to do on overtime?
A. No.
Q. Did he ever supervise you for overtime?
A. No.
Q. Never?
A. No.
Q. Was he ever present?
A. Yes.
Q. What was his role?
A. He was in charge of his men and I was helping his men.
Q. Under his direction — correct?
A. Under his MEO’s direction. [Motor Vehicle Operator, meaning Phil Rossetti]
A. Who is his MEO?
A. Whoever is in charge at that time, his senior drivers, gives the orders to them. And I’m under the crew with them. That’s help.
Q. Who gave the MEO direction? Do you have anything else you want to add to your last answer?
A. No.
Q. Okay. Let’s look at the week of 9/9/12.
(Witness complies.)
Q. Twelve hours of overtime that week, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Monday mulch, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Thursday mulch, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Wednesday, “deliver” work — “wordshop [sic] tables from NRHS” — you tell me.
A. “To Isaac E. Young.”
Q. Say it again?
A. Isaac E. Young. I-E-Y.
Q. Isaac E. Young. Under whose direction would that work have been done?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. Well, the mulching is under your father, correct.
A. Correct.
Q. And the following week, September 16, we have a Saturday entry, eight hours, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And that’s all under your father, correct?
A. Under the buildings and grounds department.
Q. Of which your father is foreman — correct?
A. Correct.
Q. And the following week. You can look back. Is it fair to say that for the previous five or ten or more weeks, you weren’t doing the Saturday mopping job? You can look.
A. No, they stopped that, that Memorial weekend.
Q. Well, then tell me about nine — that’s your testimony?
A. Yeah.
Q. Okay. Now look at 9/23/12.
A. Okay.
Q. What did you do on Saturday?
A. Cleaned and waxed kitchen and bathroom at Grove.
Q. I thought you said it stopped on Saturday?
A. It did. I waxed it, with help from a custodian. And it had nothing do with me getting the regular two hours. It was something special because the bathrooms and the kitchen looked like — they were terrible. So the guys all complained. Since I wasn’t doing it anymore, they had me have an assistant to help wax the floors with it.
Q. Who was your assistant?
A. This guy Chet.
Q. Do you know his last name?
A. No.
Q. Okay. 9/30/12, more mulching on Saturday, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And that’s all under your father’s direction at buildings and grounds, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. For the week of 10/28/12, on the Saturday, read to me what you wrote.
A. 10/28 where?
Q. On the Saturday.
A. “Mark down blocked streets from Hurricane Sandy for Mr. Quinn.” [presumably the City of New Rochelle already had this information so it is unclear why Little Jimmy would be assigned to do this sort of work]
Q. For who?
A. For Mr. Quinn.
Q. Okay. Was that buildings/grounds?
A. No.
Q. I’m sorry.
Is the Quinn part in the note here?
A. Huh?
Q. When you read the entry on 10/28, you said “for Mr. Quinn.” Is Mr. Quinn written in there?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. Can anybody but you make that out?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. On 10/28, what’s your entry for the Saturday?
A. 10/28?
Q. Yes, October 28.
A. “Mark down blocked streets from Hurricane” —
Q. No, I think — unless there’s two October 28s? All right. I think we just talked about the first 10/28. Let’s look at the second 10/28.
A. It’s the same thing.
Q. Well, no. The entry for the Saturday on the first page of 10/28 has to do with mark down blocked streets, right?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And the second page that’s dated October 28 has a different entry for the Saturday, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. All right.
A. It’s the same meaning, though.
Q. Well —
A. It says “surveyed wreckage on blocked roads.”
Q. All right.
A. Same thing.
Q. Do you think you put in twice for this week?
A. No. I think I forgot my time sheet or I thought I forgot it, at least, because it happens. I forget my time sheets a lot. And I probably put one in first, and thought I didn’t put it in, and then put another one in. They’re both the same hours, nothing different about the other one, so . . .
Q. Okay. The week of November 4, 2012, on the Sunday, you have ten hours of overtime, correct?
A. What date?
Q. The week of November 4, 2012.
A. Yes.
Q. Ten hours on the Sunday?
A. Uh-huh. Yes.
Q. Read to me what you wrote there.
A. “Cut trees, cleaned Albert Leonard Middle School, Ward, New Rochelle High School, and Jefferson.”
Q. Is that buildings/grounds?
A. Yes.
Q. And the Wednesday, you have eight hours of overtime, correct?
A. Excuse me? Say that —
Q. The Wednesday of that week.
A. Yes.
Q. And what does it say there?
A. “Snow plowed Ward, New Rochelle High School, and Bernard.”
Q. And that would be under buildings and grounds?
A. Yes.
===
[During a break, I advised the lawyer for WVOX that Jimmy Bonanno ran the Grounds Maintenance Department and that Grove Street housed the Mechanics, run by Anthony Rigos of Aramark and that James Purdy of Aramark ran the Custodial staff out of Grove Street, and that all of this was under the authority of John Gallagher of Aramark as head of Buildings & Grounds. My concern was that Little Jimmy kept testifying he did overtime under “buildings and grounds” not Grounds Maintenance under his father. Little Jimmy testified that when he was testifying that overtime was done for “buildings and grounds” he meant for Grounds Maintenance out of Cliff Street under his father, which meant we did not need to go back and clean up his testimony]
Q. Mr. Bonanno, in the previous series of questions and answers, I used the phrase “buildings/grounds” or maybe B&G and made reference to your father. Is it correct to say that both Cliff treet and Grove Avenue are under buildings and grounds?
A. No.
Q. No. All right. So your understanding is that when I used the phrase “buildings and grounds,” that was, in all instances, the department that your father is the foreman of, correct?
A. Yes.
James Vincent Bonanno Deposition by Robert Cox, Pro Se.
October 11, 2013
Q. So we talked a bit about getting back and forth from 867 Weaver and Cliff Street, and you said earlier today that sometimes your mom takes you and sometimes you walk. So I wanted to ask you: How long does it take you to walk from 867 Weaver to Grove Street or Cliff Street?
A. About an hour.
Q. And presumably it’s an hour back?
A. Yeah. I would assume so, yeah.
Q. Okay. So in the time that you were working on Saturdays and you had the overtime to do the mopping that was two hours on Saturday, there were times that you would walk two hours to go work two hours; is that correct?
A. No, because when they stopped the mopping, I moved. It was — when I did the mopping, I lived in Larchmont. And by the time — when I moved, they made me stop mopping the floors last Memorial weekend.
Q. Of 2013 or —
A. 2012.
Q. Okay. So you were walking from Larchmont, then?
A. Yeah, I would walk, or I take the train and walk up from the train station.
Q. Oh. Okay. The metro north train?
A. Yeah, Larchmont train station.
Q. Okay. I don’t think we ever established where you lived in Larchmont so I’ll ask. What was your address in Larchmont?
A. 6 West Avenue.
Q. Is that closer or further to Grove than 867 Weaver in your estimation?
A. I would say it’s closer. Closer.
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Q. So in terms of your annual salary, do you think you make more than $50,000 a year?
A. I don’t know. I think it’s — the contract might be 49 now.
Q. You make overtime too, though, right?
A. Yeah.
Q. So what do you think, you think the 50,000, 60,000 range is something that might be your total take-home pay for the year?
A. I don’t know.
Q. Would it surprise you that FindTheData.org website lists you as making 55,000 in 2011?
A. No, it wouldn’t surprise me.
Q. Okay. And how old are you now?
A. 31.
Q. Okay. But you don’t have a car and you’re not able to drive yourself to work, correct?
A. Yes, I don’t have a car.
Deposition of Vincent James Bonanno by WVOX lawyer
October 13, 2013
Q. Okay, do you think it would be corrupt if you had your son do excessive or a large amount of overtime for you on Saturdays, would that be — if it was excessively large, let’s ask it that way, would that be corrupt?
A. He never works Saturday for me.
Q. Did you hear his testimony? Did you hear his testimony?
A. Yes.
Q. And you say he never worked for you on Saturdays, that’s your sworn testimony today?
A. He worked for his boss on Saturdays doing the bathrooms, had nothing to do me with me.
Q. None of that mulching stuff?
A. That wasn’t a lot. He didn’t do it all year.
Q. Did he do mulching for you on overtime on Saturday?
A. Yes.
Q. What’s your understanding of nepotism, you know the word?
A. Yes.
Q. What’s your understanding of the word?
A. What I’m understanding of it is that you don’t work with a family member, that’s why my son no longer works with me.
Q. No longer since when?
A. Since he took the new position.
Q. Well, he works for you on Saturdays. He testified at great length that he works for you on Saturdays, did you hear that testimony?
A. Yes.
Q. Was he telling the truth?
A. Yes.
Q. Does he work for you on Saturdays?
A. Only when we are short-handed of men because we are so understaffed.
Q. Well, you originally said it is because he drove a car. He had a driver’s license, right, now you are saying when you are short-handed? Is that right? Which is it?
A. When I said because he drives, that’s in the winter when we have snowstorms. I told you that.
Q. And the mulching, just about every Saturday in the summer he was doing substantial overtime for mulching for you, do you want me to pull out the exhibit?
A. Yes, you can pull it out.
Q. While I’m doing that, would it be corruption if you favored him over anybody else, would that be corruption?
A. No matter who you favor it would be corruption.
Q. What would be corruption?
A. I don’t understand the question.
Q. The question was what you meant by whoever it was it would be corruption, what does that mean? If you favored anybody over others it would be corruption?
A. What do you mean by favor?
Q. If you throw work to one person over the others who might be available, would that be corruption?
A. Well, when you are working with only three or four guys every Saturday and that’s all you have to ask, no, it wouldn’t be corruption because there’s no one else left to ask.
Q. And the hypothetical was if you favored one over the others, would that be corruption?
A. I don’t know what you mean by favor.
Q. Right. Gave favorable treatment, preferential treatment, that’s what I mean?
A. Like when I have a guy work baseball games, I use the same guy because he’s good at it and that’s what he does, that wouldn’t be corruption.
Q. Right. I’m going to look at JVB 14, and I’m going to just state for the record, I’m sure Mr. Santori will correct me if I get it wrong, before you son’s time sheets, for June 17th, 2012, he had a total of 13 hours having to do with graduation set up, is that part of your department?…So the question is there are 13 hours of overtime here, is that under your department?
A. No, this is a graduation setup and breakdown which is for — everybody works, carpenters.
Q. Not who works — this is under your department.
A. No, we went and helped them. It is under the schools that he worked at.
Q. Okay. I want to take that back so we don’t get this. The next week — well, the next one I have is July 15th, 2012, take a look at the overtime there and tell me if it was for you, his testimony we asked him about that, so I’m asking you whether you have a view of whether that was for you or not?
A. I don’t even know if I was working or not. I might have been on vacation that day.
Q. No, for your department, for the B and G department?
A. Yes.
Q. Yes, thank you, next week was 7/22/12, your son puts in for 23 hours of overtime, look at it and tell if that’s — any of that is for you?
A. This is for the grounds, yes. Again —
Q. These are all 23 hours?
A. I said again, I don’t even know if I was the foreman.
Q. And I understand what you are saying, but all 23 hours was for your department, and next week was July 29, 2012, and I’m going to ask you if any of that was for your — for the department for which you are a foreman?
A. Yes.
Q. All of it?
A. Yes.
Q. Thank you. And the week of August 5th, which is the next week, look at the overtime and tell me if any of that is for you?
A. It is not really for me, it is stuff they ask from the schools for it to get done, as you can see, remove garbage from the library, for construction work, they ask the guys to do it, that was done two days in a row, in the same thing, move furniture, that’s all stuff they ask for B and G to do. It is really not grounds. The only reason this kid is working because nobody else wants to work because I have no men.
Q. Right, but it is all for the department of which you are foreman. Correct?
A. No.
Q. Which is not?
A. I just said to you rules, garbage and debris from Davis Library, they had a construction company there working and they ask them to have that done —
Q. Is that — Are you finished with that answer?
A. No, I’m not finished.
Q. Go ahead.
A. That was asked by the billings department, it had nothing to do with grounds.
Q. That’s not a Cliff Street project?
A. What I’m trying to say to you is not normal overtime or work that the Grounds Department does. They asked us to go help the outside contractors to leave garbage, and they asked my guys to work it. It is really not grounds work, no.
Q. But the assignment came from you; correct?
A. I don’t know.
Q. You don’t know. You previously testified that you had — you were the one who would request his overtime; is that right? Remember that testimony?
A. When I said I don’t know, I don’t know if I worked that week or my assistant was in charge, that’s what I’m saying. I don’t remember.
Q. Who is your assistant?
A. Sal Porretto.
Q. Is he authorized to recruit your son to do overtime?
A. If we are short-handed, yes, sometimes they recommend that we use him.
Q. I don’t think we’ve done this, August 12th — by the way, I think the previous page we looked at, August 5th had 23 hours of overtime, the August 12th, a week later, 15 hours of overtime. I see mulching. Tell me if any of that is for the department of which you are foreman? s that the work that is shown there — Yeah, it was August, what date is on there, August 12th.
A. August 12th to August 18th.
Q. August 12, and you see the overtime that your son claimed to have done; correct?
A. He did do it, he didn’t claim —
Q. You don’t even know if you were there, were you there?
A. Two of these are not for the Grounds Department —
Q. That’s what I’m asking.
A. — they are from Purdie, deliver skids from Grove to New Rochelle high school, that’s his regular job. Next one, move dispenser skid inside office, that’s Purdie again.
Q. And the others?
A. Fields is mine, the top one, mulch in front of Jefferson is mine, and netted goalie post, that’s for the athletic program, which you can say is ours.
Q. Thank you. And a week later, August 19th, 2012, 23 hours of overtime, is any of that for your Cliff Street department?
A. The first one is moving computers, that’s not us, and the other four were requisitions by the schools to have mulch put down for the opening of the school.
Q. And you requested your son to do this; correct?
A. No.
Q. Who requested your son to do this?
A. I don’t know. Who else might have been?
A. Either me or Mr. Porretto, whoever one of us was working, or we might have both been there, I’m not sure.
Q. And the next day, August 26, a week beginning August 26, 17 hours of overtime, how much, if any, of it was for you.
A. Three days, and one is for moving computers, which is for the school.
Q. Three days of the overtime was for you?
A. Yes.
Q. Including eight hours on a Saturday?
A. Yes.
Q. Time and a half?
A. Yes.
Q. The week of September 2, 9 hours of overtime, tell me if any of that was for you?
A. No, these were for the schools. They moved stage risers from one school to another, they threw out all railroad tiles at one another building, and discarded cabinets from that come from the schools. It’s not grounds works.
Q. These were not Cliff Street, none of that was Cliff Street?
A. Not cliff work, no.
Q. Did Cliff Street oversee this work?
A. I don’t really know because if sometimes Purdie asked James to do something like this on his own and he does it, you have to look into that I guess.
Q. Next week, 9/19/12, any of that overtime attributable to you?
A. I think two of them.
Q. Two are under your auspices?
A. Yes.
Q. That would be the mulch —
A. Yeah.
Q. The mulching job, okay. Who else did you bring in to do the mulching job, to work on mulching?
A. Everybody worked, which is only, maybe a handful of guys.
Q. Who else outside your own department?
A. I used a plumber once, Anthony Raffa.
Q. Once, okay. Thank you.
A. Once or twice.
Q. Twice, thank you. Otherwise. Hypothetical question: If someone in supervisory capacity showed favoritism to his son, would that be corruption?
A. I don’t think so, no.
Q. It would be perfectly okay?
A. If he’s working and doing the job, like I said before, sometimes I’ll use one guy because he does that job better than the other guy. Maybe I’m favoring, but I’m getting the job done right where the other guy wouldn’t do it right.
Q. I think what you just said was that if you showed favoritism but the work was done it would be okay, is that what you said?
MR. SANTORI: That’s not what he said.
MR. NORWICK: Let’s have it read back.
MR. SANTORI: That’s the easiest thing to do if you forgot what he said.
MR. NORWICK: Let’s have it read back.
MR. SANTORI: Go ahead.
(The last answer was read back.)
Q. Okay, I’ll leave that testimony right where it is. You are not prepared to say it would be wrong to show favoritism to his son?
A. It is wrong if you give him something that he’s not working and getting, but, no, I wouldn’t consider it wrong.
Q. Thank you very much.
Whew! That was a long one. Not sure what I am going to do next. I have a media inquiry into police and a couple of FOIL requests into the district right now so it depends on what I get back first.