Councilman Demands Outside Review of Disability Pensions
Friday, June 03, 2011
An independent third party review of the system for awarding disability pensions to public safety employees has been asked for by Providence Councilman David Salvatore (right).
Councilman Salvatore met with Public Safety Commissioner Steven M. Pare and requested that he retain an outside, independent firm to conduct the comprehensive review of the city’s disability pension system. A recent investigative report raised questions about disability pensions awarded to public safety officials after showing a Providence fire fighter, out on disability, going through a regular workout regimen at a local gym.
Internal Review Not Enough
Following the report, Mr. Pare decided to conduct an internal review; however, the Councilman believes an independent review is necessary to ensure a transparent process and protect interests of taxpayers.
“I am grateful for Commissioner Pare’s leadership and his commitment to root out abuses in the disability pensions awarded to public safety officials in Providence,” said Salvatore. “But, when you have public safety officials conducting a review of pensions awarded to their colleagues, there is a potential for holding back information or judgments clouded by personal connections to the people involved.”
Salvatore added, “I am calling for this third-party review of the disability pension system so taxpayers get a complete picture of what’s working and what’s not. We need an objective review that will result in unbiased recommendations for improving and mitigating abuse, and I believe the only way to do this is to have someone from outside the system conduct an audit.”
“With so many financial challenges facing the City of Providence, city officials owe it to city employees and taxpayers alike to make sure that abuses of disability pensions are identified and corrected so that the system is not losing money due to waste or corruption,” said Salvatore. “An independent third-party review is necessary to get us on the right track to fixing the pension process so that we can focus our resources on maintaining strong and effective public safety departments our city.”
If you valued this article, please LIKE GoLocalProv.com on Facebook by clicking HERE.
Related Articles
- A LIVELY EXPERIMENT May 19, 2011 Disability Pensions
- Disability Pensions: Is There a Cure?
- EXCLUSIVE: Union Leader—Review All Disability Pensions
- Providence Firefighter Pensions—Disability vs. Regular
- Raimondo Launches Audit of Disability Pensions
- 26 Out of Top 30 Providence Retirees on Disability
- UPDATED: Prov. Fire Chief Goes for Disability Pension
