The Troy city council’s Democratic minority is pushing back on a request by the mayor’s administration to hire a retiring employee as a consultant.
The city’s Purchasing Agent, Nancy Piskutz, will retire at the end of the month. Republican Mayor Carmella Mantello requested that the council approve an agreement money to pay the retiree as a consultant to train her replacement on a part-time basis.
Speaking to reporters after Thursday’s city council meeting, Democratic Council President Sue Steele says she’s concerned about writing a “blank check” for the services without more details.
“They admit they knew she was retiring,” Steele said. “So, they've had, they've had some advanced notice, and how much work has been invested in actually filling that vacancy is and are they bringing her in just to do the work she's been doing, or are they going to actually bring her in and for training? You know, those are concerns that I have, and we just have to vote on good faith that it's going to all work out, and I hope it works out better than the financial reports we haven't received in 15 months.”
According to documents on the city’s website, Piskutz would keep a log of hours worked and invoice the city at a rate of $60 per hour when hired back as a consultant. A spokesperson for the mayor says Piskutz’ salary, as of this year, is $87,126 at a rate of $47.69 per hour. Pay has not yet been set for a new hire.
The city purchaser is in charge of handling all Requests for Proposals, ensuring the city abides by procurement laws.
Republican councilor Irene Sorriento from District 5 says the training is something the city needs to do in order to properly replace retiring civil service employees and ensure new employees can succeed.
“I think this is a really good move, only because the [employee] coming in is going to need to learn their vendors. They're going to they're going to need to know their point of contacts. They're going to need that type of training,” Sorriento said.
Corporation counsel Rick Morrissey says he sees no issue approving the resolution. Morrissey says Piskutz’ institutional knowledge makes it worth bringing her back to train a new hire and demonstrate her work ethic and approach.
“I’m pretty careful with public money. I don't see this going to any extreme whatsoever,” Morrissey said. “Nancy doesn't want to work a whole month. She already ruled out Mondays and Fridays and I think it'll be accomplished efficiently. I'm sorry you don't have to take my word for it, but I would really urge you to approve this one.”
Councilors went back-and-forth with each other for several minutes over the resolution, ultimately agreeing to approve it. Steele says the process lacks transparency.
First-term Republican Mayor Carmella Mantello says it’s something the city has done many times before and helps to fill vacancies more efficiently.
“If you have a bench, you know, folks who are able to step up to those positions, it’s good,” Mantello said. “Unfortunately, there isn't anyone in house, so we have to look out house. The two other people that we are interviewing are purchasing agents for other school district. One's a school district, one's a municipality. So, they'll come in with the right background, but to transition, like you heard, it's important with that position, to just, you know, get to know the vendors, get to know our process, and just make a smooth transition.”
The council meets again April 3rd.