It's funny how my phone call to Tony Mercantante about Silva went unreturned but when asked about Silva by Patch editor Elaine Van Develde, Tony Fiore stated to her that no one inquired about him and therefore the Township wasn't planning to explain his departure anytime soon.
In the article Fiore confirmed much of what I wrote about and explained how the now employeeless Department of Parks and Recreation would be split-up and divided between the Department of Public Works and Janet Adams, the Director of the Tonya Keller Center in North Middletown.
Fiore also stated that due to Silva's decision to "retire" no personnel investigation or hearings were conducted on Silva and due to legal constraints he wouldn't elaborate further.
You can all about read it Here if interested
13 comments:
Mercantante is just a puppet and has been since he was made administrator, Used to be an upfront guy. Guess he's now paid to lie.
He is also a very busy guy, maybe he forgot to tell the mayor about your request or maybe he just doesn't like you???
Either way your beat!
Not for nothing Mike, but Fiore is right about this one.
This is just like the situation with Dr. Shallop from HS South. Administrators are prohibited by law from releasing information about personnel issues regarding public employees. Period.
So requesting information from the township is an exercise in futility.
You are left with three choices:
Ask Mr. Silva for a statement.
Ignore the issue.
Spread rumors.
Have you attempted to contact Mr Silva directly? He is free to talk about the situation.
It would appear from viewing the consent agenda 12-069 listed for the upcoming TC meeting that there may have been a problem with the policies.
So Mike, have you made an attempt to contact Mr. Silva or not?
It may be more than just a personnel issue. Something happened that caused Silva to be placed on paid administrative leave. There may be multiple issues here that are being avoided under the umbrella of "personnel". The public has a right to know and needs to know what happened that placed Silva on leave. How is the situation being addressed? Its OPRA time. Where is the press release on this one -- nothing like keeping the public informed.
The newspapers inquired back in December and was told by Mercantante it was a personnel issue.
A public employee ended his employment with the township.
It is by definition a "personnel" issue, therefore you have absolutely no right to know the details unless the person involved chose to have a public hearing or he decides to make the details public. Since there was no hearing that I am aware of, unless Mr. Silva decides to speak publicly on the matter you have no recourse.
In fact, if the township were to disclose the specifics without Mr. Silva's permission, they would be open to a lawsuit which they would lose.
OPRA request specifically exempt personnel records except length of service and other generic information about an employee.
It seems to me that he retired on his own volition. Whether his retirement was the lesser of two evils or not, only he knows.
Business as usual in Middletewn.They do whatever they please,to whomever they please and whenever they please. and wherever they please. Nothing new here...nothing.
I guess it is fair to assume that Mike did not try to contact Mr. Silva since he has posted the question twice but will not answer it.
Doesn't it seem odd that Mike would contact the township but not Mr. Silva?
No it's not odd, has Middletown Patch contacted Gregg Silva about the circumstances of his retirement? No they haven't.
Did the Asbury Park Press attempt to talk to Silva back in December when the reported his leave of absence? No
It's no secret that the Township had been looking to get rid of him for a long time but couldn't due to civil service rules.
The establishment of the memorial at Croydon Hall was the Township's way of finally being able to do it.
And lets face it, the bottom line here is that everyone knows why Silva "retired", he retired to save his benefits, which would have been at risk if he was officially fired.
I get it Mike.
You say yourself that you are not a reporter or journalist. A journalist would have checked with Silva.
You primarily post rumors. In fairness, you say they are rumors.
Some turn out to be accurate and some are not, which means they all should be taken with a grain of salt.
Just like "putting the taxpayers first" is the BS diatribe by the mouthpieces for the republicans in this town.
This is getting old. don't like Mike's blog....Art's back ..GO THERE! You will not be missed !!
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