… But one that City Council apparently does not know how to answer:
First, let’s refresh our Memories. On the 7th of this month, Mayor Tony Mack appeared before Council to inform them that as of that Friday, February 10, a part-time plumbing inspector would be on board to help work off the immense backlog of permit applications that had been stacking up since the City laid off its plumbing sub-code official last October.
On that Friday, an inspector had not been hired because – Ooops! – the City had neglected to inform the State’s Department of Community Affairs, whose approval for new hires is required. So, as of last Friday, no inspector.
This week, the City had managed to find DCA’s phone number, dropped a dime, and received the State’s approval to bring in at least a part-time inspector. Fine, right?
Not exactly. Last night at City Council, Mayor Mack appeared before City Council to let them know he had been THAT CLOSE to getting an inspector on board, but it hasn’t happened yet.
What happened? According to the article by Matt Fair, “Mack said last night the employee never showed up. ‘We had someone lined up for this past Monday to start but for whatever reason that person didn’t show up,’ Mack said.”
Uh huh. Whatever!
If you are interested in reading more about “The Inspector Who Never Showed Up,” (the sequel to “The Business Administrator Who Never Showed Up“) read today’s Times. I am really not that interested. What I am interested is the answer to this question:
Why Not Bring Back The Guy Who Was Laid Off?
We laid off hundreds of city employees in October, including several in the Department of Inspections. Why look around for new people to hire, many of who aren’t even from the City? Apparently the guy Mack wants to bring in is from Edison, according to Council Member George Muschal, as quoted in the Times.
Why Not Bring Back The Guy Who Was Laid Off?
Since the Mack Administration came into office in July 2010, many people have been laid off or forced into early retirement. In many cases, the city has had to hire employees or Consultants to do the required work of those laid off. As we have seen on frequent occasion, those people are either inexperienced, incompetent, or both.
Why Not Bring Back The Guy Who Was Laid Off?
State Civil Service regulations have a lot to say about the process by which open jobs should be offered to laid off employees, regulations which are seemingly ignored in City Hall these days. Tony Mack has an allergy to anyone in City Hall, whether appointed or in Civil Service, who worked for Trenton prior to July 1, 2010. As a result, we have seen a steady stream of people onto the City payroll whose chief – and only – qualification for their job seems to be personal loyalty to Tony F. Mack.
Why Not Bring Back The Guy Who Was Laid Off?
Last night, Council had an opportunity to ask this question, but they didn’t. I don’t know why. I wish I did.
It’s not like they haven’t seen this before.
It’s not like they won’t see this again.
Why Not Bring Back The Guy Who Was Laid Off?
Excellent question. Perhaps the question was too difficult to answer. Each council session becomes more frustrating. PHS
That same thought crossed my mind. The answer to the question may be that they are not inviting him back because he has filed a suit against the City alleging that his layoff was in reprisal for his reporting that the City was allowing this old time plumber to “rent” his license to numerous unlicensed plumbers by pulling permits in his name (presumably for a fee) and then allowing the unlicensed guy to do the work.
Lunary – If the gentleman in question’s lawsuit is the motivation for the city not to invite him back, seems to me that would be precisely the reason and opportunity to come back: make a deal to bring him back in return for dropping the suit. It’s not as if the city has a solid defense against his charges, after all.
Pat – Amen to that. Each session seems to be getting more frustrating. If this Council can’t even get its own parliamentary act together, there is no way they can make any progress on the policy matters facing them.
Would seem to be the solution to 2 problems – qualified inspector back; one less lawsuit to defend. Unfortunately, litigation has a way of causing lines to be drawn in the sand. Doubt the City wants this whistleblower back. He’s now incurred legal fees and may relish the City essentially paying him for sitting on his ass at the end of the litigation and not relish returning and being subjected to the same City Hall buffoonery.
Maybe it’s me, but none of this makes sense. The fact that the plumbing subcode brought in enough revenue to offset his salary and then some should not have warranted his name to appear on any kind of layoff list, without the other 3 subcodes being touched. Also, the last time that this gentleman was laid off which was when the plubing subcode was reduced from one ft subcode official and a ft supervising plumbing inspector (the position formerly held by this gentleman) to one plumbing subcode official and a part time plumbing inspector- Civil Service required that that he be brought back in that part time position, if he wanted it. Please note at one time Trenton had a subcode official and 2 plumbing inspectors, which essentially paid for themselves and made the workload manageable. Now all that work is to be performed by one part time subcode? This means that one person who is not familiar with the City will have to review plans, perform inspections(which requires familiarity as far as scheduling stops that are close to each other in order to keep mileage costs down) and meet with contractors on a part time basis? None of this makes sense. Welcome to bizzaro world people.
This par for the course.Laid off inspector ,who does and is required by law and and conscience to follow State mandated laws is undermined by administration who hires and fires.Basically Trenton is breaking State law by allowing practices ,such, as allowing unlicensed HACKS to work under a retired Master Plumbers license.This is further criminalize when Master Plumber accepts a fee.The State Board of Consumer Affairs needs to investigate these crimes .Consumers and honest contractors are at risk.
I can assure you, just like crime has increased in the absence of proper police protection, plumbing ( and probably all trades) work is being done day in and day out without permits. With no enforcement, un- permitted work is running rampant. This is sad for two reasons: 1) lots of lost revenue to a city that could use it 2) doing substandard work can be dangerous, especially plumbing. Proper drainage and venting is crucial for human health. I am sure the inspectors that got laid off were aware of this scenario, but the destruction of your job, department, and your skill set is demoralizing. I am sure in their minds they felt that not only does Mack not care about me, he doesn’t even give a shit about codes and enforcement. This scenario has become true.