State Assemblywoman Missy Miller and Nassau County Legislator Denise Ford called on state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli last week to audit Long Beach after two City Council members questioned separation payouts made to non-union employees, a number of whom still work for the city.
On April 17, the council rejected, by a 3-2 vote, a proposal to bond $2.1 million to make up for separation payouts that city officials said were owed to police officers, firefighters, Civil Service Employees Association members, and exempt, or non-union, employees — for accrued vacation and sick leave, retirement incentives and “other financial commitments and obligations” — during the 2017-18 fiscal year.
Long Beach officials said that without bonding, the city would be broke before next year’s budget is voted on in May, and that could potentially lead to layoffs and a government shutdown because the planned borrowing had been included as revenue in the 2017-18 budget. The city announced last week that weekend bus service had been suspended, effective immediately, because of the failure to pass the bond.
“I was under the impression that the city was doing well, and there might be some financial reason for [Schnirman] to do this and reduce the city’s debt,” he continued. “The issue here, unfortunately, is the house is on fire, and we’re worried about where the smoke alarms were placed. Let’s worry about the fire and fix the problem. This exempt argument is political fodder that I’m not going to play with.”
According to the city, exempt employees account for less than 1 percent of the city’s workforce and pay a portion of their healthcare costs. Those with knowledge of the list said the payments were made to exempt staff in the administration — a number of them supporters or members of the local Democratic club — who had intended to leave for positions elsewhere or were uncertain about their jobs with the city after the November elections.
The list, which was obtained by the Herald on April 19, showed that a number of exempt employees received total or partial payments, including Corporation Counsel Rob Agostisi, who has worked for the city for about 11 years and received $128,000, and Tangney, who is also the city's police commissioner and was paid $52,000.
Others who remain employed with the city include Deputy City Manager Michael Robinson, who received $35,000, while the city’s director of economic development, Patricia Bourne, received $25,740.
Others, such as former city comptroller Kristie-Hansen Hightower, received $61,915 when she left last year, while former Department of Public Works Commissioner Jim LaCarrubba — who resigned in 2016 but continued to serve as a part-time consultant to the city to assist Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts — was paid $20,967.
Shari James, the city’s former acting comptroller, received $44,000, and now works with Schnirman at the county.
Most of the payouts were made to police, firefighters and members of the CSEA including police officers Michael Langlois, who received $162,843 and officer Bruce Azueta, who was paid $156,000, both of whom retired after about 30 years on the force.
Those with knowledge of the CSEA payouts said they were contractual but also included a number of retirement incentives. Others said that provisions included in collective bargaining agreements for police and firefighters allow members to cash in a portion of accumulated time while still employed.
“What the city charter does not address is exempt employees that stay in the city‘s employ cashing out accumulated time before retiring,” Bendo said. “Additionally, a rough calculation of the list does not corroborate some of the numbers on the list for the exempts.”