By:Chris Munzing
Jaffe and Almonte were advised on March 29, in letters from the city government, that their appointments to the commission were invalid due to the lack of City Council approval. Fellow commissioner Herman Neuman resigned his post in early March.
Section 95 of the Long Beach City Charter states: "The council shall establish civil service rules for the city departments and shall appoint civil service commissioners."
The administration maintains that the three civil service commissioners were re-appointed improperly upon expiration of their previous terms. "There are signature cards on file indicating that they each took the oath of office," Spiritis said, "but the previous administration neglected to present these individuals to the City Council for proper appointment at a council meeting."
Spiritis also blasted the timing of Jaffe and Almonte's meeting. "To schedule a meeting on the first night of Passover is an insult to our Jewish community," he said. "What were these people thinking?"
"The question is whether a resolution is needed by the City Council to appoint these people," Councilman Lenny Remo said. "If that's the case, [Jaffe, Almonte and Neuman] were mishandled by previous administrations, previous city managers and previous corporation counsels. They were sworn in, and these gentlemen acted in the best interests of the city."
Jaffe and Almonte were not permitted inside the Senior Center, which is locked at 7 p.m. Standing in front of the building, Jaffe stated his and Almonte's claim that they were still the rightful commissioners. "We have authority to hold this meeting," Jaffe said. "Dr. Spiritis has revoked that right. He has decided to strong-arm and alienate us."
Jaffe accused the administration of sending police officers to deliver the letters of notification to him and Almonte in an attempt to intimidate them. Jaffe and Almonte then voted to involve the New York State Civil Service Commission. "We are making sure that the laws of civil service are followed," Almonte said.
"We are monitoring the situation, and at this point it is a local matter," said Marc Carey, spokesman for the state commission.
"Civil service law states that before we can be removed, we are entitled to a public hearing," Jaffe said.
The city disagrees. "These people are impersonating commissioners," Spiritis said.
A spokesperson for the Long Beach Civil Service Department said that Jaffe and Almonte are not entitled to a public hearing because, based on information from Corporation Counsel Charles Theofan, they are not commissioners and their appointments were never valid.
The spokesperson added that any civil service examination scores, candidate lists and appointments to positions while the commission was improperly formed would still be valid. "As far as we know, there is no concern of that," he said.
The administration said that several civil service examinations were canceled in early March because the commissioners were not available to properly review applications to determine the eligibility of those applying for the tests.
A recently completed audit of the Long Beach Civil Service Commission by the New York State Civil Service Commission reveals that little has changed since the Long Beach commission's last audit in 2000, when it received a rating of poor.
The report cites "a number of problems relating to the establishment and maintenance of eligible [employee] lists." The problems include the failure to establish any procedures to properly maintain eligible employee lists, the failure to appropriately advertise exams, and the review of applications. The report cites examples of people making it onto the eligible lists despite having little to no work experience.
Record-keeping, office facilities and yearly payroll certification also received poor marks.
The current administration has worked quickly to appoint three new commissioners, who were subject to approval at the April 7 meeting of the City Council. Andrew Malekoff, a social worker at North Shore Family and Child Guidance Center, Leary Wade, the director of linen services for Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn, and Susan Mackston-Solomon, a real estate agent, were appointed by the city manager.
Malekoff and Wade are both registered Democrats, while Mackston-Solomon is a Republican. State law says that a political party can be represented by a maximum of two out of three commissioners. All three are involved members of the Long Beach community, according to a city spokesperson.
Council Vice President Tom Sofield said that having Wade, the first African-American to serve on the commission, and Mackston-Solomon, the first woman to serve, is indicative of the new administration's dedication to involving everyone in the community in city government. "One of the things we campaigned on was diversity in the city government," Sofield said. "This is a big step in that direction."
