City Council mulls budget, vacation issues

There was a discussion at the Glen Cove City Pre-Council meeting on Aug. 21 regarding the approval of transferring more than $52,000 to the city’s pedestrian improvement and Western Gateway Strategic Plan projects. The efforts were initally halted, however, because approval from the city controller was required and Controller Sandra Clarson was terminated from the position without a replacement being found. The funds were eventually distributed. The City Council did interview a replacement for Clarson after the meeting, but whether the candidate was hired was not available by press time.

Maureen Pappachristou, the CSEA Union president, also shared an error that she found in the vacation accrual time of several employees. She told council members that as she went through old paystubs and records she discovered an error that had occurred in 2009 during a switch in the city’s paycheck system, which mislabeled the amount of vacation hours some employees were accruing. She then shared the full list of affected employees with the council.

“It came to my attention when an employee wanted to take his 25 days vacation but found that he only had 21 in the system,” Pappachristou said.

Council members said they would review Pappachristou’s findings and if there were an error, would work to find a solution to ensure that the employees receive their correct vacation time.

“I’m surprised that it wasn’t caught sooner if it’s been going on for 10 years now,” said City Councilwoman Marsha Silverman.