Providence Bosses Take $300,000 in Severance Pay
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
A top cop and three senior fire officials took a total of more than $350,000 in severance pay over the last few months—without any record of formal approval by the Providence City Council, as required by a city ordinance.
The retiring officials collected severance that individually ranged from about $80,000 to more than a $100,000, according to data provided by the city. They include the following:
■ Paul Kennedy, Deputy Police Chief—$119,728.25
■ Jeffrey Crawford, Deputy Assist. Fire Chief—$79,557.79
■ James Gallant, Director of Training—$77,840.99
■ Michael Morgan, Fire Dept. Investigative Officer—$79,914.75
Kennedy retired on Feb. 18, while the three firefighters retired between Dec. 26 and Dec. 31 last year.
The severance pay includes unused vacation time, longevity, sick time, furlough days, and the last two weeks of pay. In some cases, the payments nearly equaled what they earned in their annual wages. Kennedy, for example, earned a total of $130,104 in fiscal year 2010, according to city pay records—just $10,000 more than his severance. The three firefighters earned between $102,000 and $109,000 during the same period.
Council did not approve of payments
An ordinance requires that the City Council approve severance pay. The ordinance states:
“Whenever an employee of the city is retiring, as required under the provisions of the retirement act, any severance pay, including overtime pay, unused vacation or sick leave, or payment from any other source from the treasury of the City of Providence, accruing to the said employee, shall be approved by the city council prior to allowance.”
But a GoLocalProv review of the meeting agendas for the Providence City Council revealed that none of the four men had their severance payments come before the council for approval. In fact, a search through the online database maintained by the City Clerk did not turn up any references to anything severance-related in the past year of council meetings. (Click here to search the city database and here for the Secretary of State's database.)
Councilman: ‘People have been getting goodies we did not know about’
Several councilmen tell GoLocalProv that they believe that city employees have been receiving severance payments without the City Council's approval.
“That’s a problem because I believe there have been packages of severance pay that have gone out, I believe, without the council approving them,” said Councilman Luis Aponte. “On the way out do we really know what they are being paid for and are we confident they are entitled to what they are receiving?”
Councilman Miguel Luna said council review is critical to maintaining checks and balances in city government.
“It all has to do with checks and balances,” Luna told GoLocalProv. “If you don’t have checks and balances in government there could be a risk to the system. As you can see, there are stresses in the system because people have been getting goodies we did not know about.”
In the case of retirement pay—including disabilities—that check and balance is provided by the Providence Retirement Board, which reviews and approves pension applications. But the board does not deal with severance payments.
The amount of severance pay issued in the 2010 fiscal year actually far exceeds what was issued to the four retiring police and fire officials identified above—more than $1 million was paid out to about 80 employees, according to city pay records. The payments ranged from barely more than a thousand dollars to nearly six figures.
However, many of those payments went towards union members, whose collective bargaining agreements supersede the ordinance, according to Joe Rodio, the chief legal counsel to the police union.
Council aims to step up oversight
As the city and the public have come to grasp with the weight of the financial emergency facing Providence, the City Council has focused on how the budget process can be improved in the future. The council recently released a report that revealed several areas where the prior administration of Mayor David Cicilline allegedly did not follow the city charter in submitting the budget.
But the issue of severance pay was not covered in the report.
One of the authors of the report, Gary Sasse, told GoLocalProv that severance pay could be another example of the problems he exposed in his review. “If it did happen and the council did not approve it [the severance payments] then it could be another example of the noncompliance with the charter,” said Sasse, who is the former longtime head of the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council and also the former Director of Administration under Gov. Don Carcieri.
There have been efforts in the past to review severance pay. In January 2008, then-Internal Auditor James Lombardi issued a report raising concerns about the severance pay for former Director of Administration John Simmons.
In his report, he alluded to the ordinance on severance pay. “I would also state that neither the administration, nor the Mayor, nor anyone else could authorize the payout of separation benefits,” Lombardi wrote. “They rest solely with the Council. …”
Taveras administration promises transparency
One year later, at a Feb. 19, 2009 meeting, the City Council passed a resolution requesting that the Director of Administration provide “any and all information as it relates to severance pay,” including overtime pay, unused vacation or sick leave, or any other similar payments—prior to approval by the council. But the City Clerk’s database records no mention of severance pay for city workers by the council after that date.
Yesterday, Mayor Angel Taveras’ office told GoLocalProv that the new administration is committed to greater transparency in the city retirement system.
“The Taveras administration will work with the council to ensure transparency and accountability in the city’s retirement system,” said spokesman David Ortiz. “The big picture is that Providence’s retirement system is in need of comprehensive reform and Mayor Taveras is committed to seeing that through.”
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