Emergency Management job
Not all the cities and towns in Massachusetts have a department dedicated to Emergency Management, so when the city started discussing the position, it sparked a lot of interest because it would add the expense of a new department (even if it was composed of one person.
We had just gone through the gas explosions and the COVID pandemic, which turned the city upside down, and I began to look into it. To my surprise, the fire chief was the person in charge of Emergency Management during the ordeal.
At the same time, the city started discussing the possibility of hiring Police Officer Abel Cano to handle those duties. Then, we published a list of cities with a dedicated manager in that post. In most places, the police or fire department handles emergencies, and very few communities assign a specific person outside of those departments.
In Lawrence, Fire Chief Brian Moriarty did the job of Emergency Management for many years and never got paid for that work. You should remember that he was very vocal before the city council in opposition to this change.
Abel Cano is a decent man and officer, a friend of this community, and a respected person, but he never held any rank in the department.
Octavien Spanner proposed the emergency management director’s position. The city already had the position established, but it had been vacant because they never hired anyone.
The mayor knew Abel didn’t have the certification for the job, but he was hand-picked to satisfy his friend (Cano’s wife), Representative Estela Reyes. As soon as Brian DePeña was elected mayor of this city, she insisted that he should promote Cano to sergeant, but he was far down the list and could not be done.
Abel enrolled in the necessary courses and worked on obtaining his certification, paying for it until he got certified.
This position pays $110,000 which is approximately double of what a police officer makes and it’s out of the union.
How about posting it?
Police and city sales
Do you remember when the police department opened the garage for the public to browse among the stolen merchandise recovered during raids. There were children’s bikes, computers, laptops, lots of jewelry, etc. Residents could buy those things for very little money.
That was many years ago, probably close to thirty years ago, and I had never heard of another one.
I also went to the city yard once where they had desks, office chairs, computers, printers, etc. The computers had the motherboard removed, but that was a minor expense, and I bought a laser printer for $10.
When the city upgrades equipment or furniture at the end of every school year, truckloads leave the buildings, and no one knows where they end up. Those items belong to us, the taxpayers and the public should have a chance to buy them, but where do they go?
In the budget, not advertised
Having approved but not filled positions is common practice in this city. You saw an example above, and there’s more.
The city recently hired Victor E. Ortega, Director of Veterans’ Services, after six months with no one there. There are more than 2,000 veterans in Lawrence, young soldiers who have returned from world conflicts, and there is much work to do. Meanwhile, that department has two assistant positions that have never been filled yet but are within the budget.
Why do they do that? Is it to have unused money in their budget that can be transferred to another area before the end of the fiscal year?
Hopefully, Mr. Ortega will go before the council and ask them why.
Is it something I said?
Last week, I wrote about attorney Caryl García, interim personnel director, and her intention to stay in that job, according to what I’ve heard. But now that attorney Kevin Foley has resigned, she’s needed in the city attorney’s office and should return there.
The plan was to give her a 90-day extension at the next Personnel Committee meeting on April 29th, but that extension was canceled. There’s no news that she’s going back to her previous job. According to what I’ve heard, I wrote about attorney Caryl García, interim personnel director, and her intention to stay in that job. But now that attorney Kevin Foley has resigned, she’s needed in the city attorney’s office and should go back there.
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