David R. Roefaro, Mayor

City of Utica, New York

            SOUND MANAGEMENT AVOIDS COSTS

On Tuesday May 27th the Observer Dispatch requested a copy of the separation of service agreement between the City and Chief Pylman.  On that same day the O.D. was provided a copy of that agreement.  My administration has nothing to hide or hide from. Chief Pylman’s entitlement is based upon the years of past practice used by other administrations, advice of legal counsel, and the principles of sound fiscal management.  

A primary responsibility of the Mayor is to provide for the public safety. This is best accomplished when a functional working relationship exists between the Mayor, the Public Safety Commissioner and the Chiefs of the Police and Fire Departments. 

Chief Pylman has publicly stated that he had “…been considering moving on.”  The question then became: “How can the change be accomplished?”

A chronicle of the facts demonstrating how this was accomplished is presented as follows:

1) Of the $249,817 dollars that Chief Pylman was compensated, $81,814 dollars was required to be paid according to the terms of his contract for unpaid vacation, sick and personal time.  The actual negotiated settlement was for $168,003. Chief Pylman’s contract was for an 18 year period and began in 2001.  This contract was negotiated by the previous administration. 

2) According to Chief Pylman’s time records and past administrative practices regarding calculating accrued days of compensatory time, he had accumulated 562 comp days.

3) In regard to payment of these comp days we were advised by legal counsel that Chief Pylman would have a strong legal claim to be paid for these days. Because of the past practice of the City of Utica, full payment could be warranted.  Therefore, the 562 days were negotiated to be reduced by 178 days to 384 days. 

4) The payment of $168,000 from $245,880 avoided an additional cost of $77,880 which is only part of the cost avoidance to tax payers of the City of Utica.

5) Chief Pylman also receives a State Retirement benefit.  When Chief Pylman was hired in 2001 this benefit was approximately $67,000 per year.  In order for Chief Pylman to receive this retirement benefit and be paid his city salary of $114,000, a waiver must be applied for by the City and approved by the State of New York.  This waiver allows him to be paid both his retirement and salary.

6) On July 31, 2007 the previous administration received a letter from the State of New York indicating this waiver would be in jeopardy in August of 2009 and recommended “…the city should begin the transition process to hold a competitive examination for the position of Police Chief, and use the resulting eligible list to fill the position upon the expiration of Mr. Pylman’s approval through August 1, 2009.”

7) Absent a waiver from New York State, according to the terms of his 18 year contract, Chief Pylman’s salary as well as his retirement benefit would have had to be paid by the City of Utica.  That is, Chief Pylman’s annual salary beginning in August of 2009 would be approximately $181,000 until the year 2019 and this figure does not take into account salary or retirement increases which would have placed this figure well over $200,000 per year by the end of his contract. 

8) By taking the actions I did, the taxpayers of The City of Utica realized a cost avoidance far significantly exceeding the $168,000 payout.

The O.D. states that Chief Pylman was given a $250,000 dollar golden parachute. This is simply not true. 

Rather, facing this scenario, my decision to move forward to avoid these prospective costs and potentially exorbitant legal fees was based upon sound management and fiscal practices that I have been entrusted by the city tax payers to provide.

Given the above, I am confident that I met these responsibilities and pledge to do my best to continue to do so. 

Finally as of May 5, 2008 my administration has ended the comp time confusion by requiring employees to abide by a “use it or lose it” principle.  

Submitted by: David R. Roefaro