Legislation would require resignation

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By DAVID SKOLNICK

CITY HALL REPORTER

YOUNGSTOWN — City council will consider legislation Wednesday requiring those on the city payroll who are hired for some other jobs to immediately resign.

The legislation was prompted by ex-Youngstown police Detective Sgt. Rick Alli, who verbally resigned from his city job Jan. 8 to be the state attorney general's chief of law enforcement operations, said city Law Director Iris Torres Guglucello.

Attorney General Marc Dann, a Liberty Democrat, fired Alli on April 20 when Youngstown city officials contacted him to say Alli was still receiving his regular biweekly police paycheck of $2,169.71. Alli was drawing the money from his unused vacation and accumulated time.

Dann fired Alli and asked the Ohio Ethics Commission to investigate whether Alli improperly received money from two public entities. Alli and Youngstown Police Chief Jimmy Hughes say the ethics commission investigation has no merit.

The legislation in front of council Wednesday would require city employees who accept certain other full-time employment to resign immediately.

If passed, the ordinance wouldn't permit those workers to stay on the city payroll by exhausting their unused vacation, accumulated and sick time. It also wouldn't permit them to accrue more city benefits.

Alli accumulated $2,755.98 in additional financial benefits during the three-and-a-half months he was no longer working for the city but was on the payroll.

Police officers are the only city employees who can draw a biweekly salary with their unusued time. Everyone else gets a lump sum.

'Incompatible' or not

The provisions of the legislation prohibit that practice in cases where a "current employee" accepts a full-time job that is "incompatible" with his city employment.

Among the "incompatible" reasons listed on the legislation are "physical impossibility, distance from the city, conflict of interest or" it being prohibited by city, state or federal law to hold both jobs.

"There is case law in Ohio on incompatible jobs," Guglucello said. "The incompatible jobs are in the [Ohio] Revised Code. They're very job specific."

There is no law prohibiting Alli from holding his city and state job, Guglucello said.

But if the ordinance is passed, a similar situation wouldn't be permissible in the future because of the "physical impossibility" and the "distance from the city" provisions, she said.

If council approves the legislation, it would initially be up to department heads to determine if a city worker's second full-time job is "incompatible" with what he or she does for the city, Guglucello said.

The department heads could seek advice or guidance from the law department, she said.

"If it was ruled the jobs were incompatible, the employee would have a grievance procedure or go through [the] civil service" commission to handle the dispute, Guglucello said.

Tuesday, June 5, 2007