Melissa Bailey File Photo
(Updated) As part of a concession to budget critics, retirees will no longer get to return to work for the city while collecting a pension on the side.
The DeStefano administration informed all the retirees — known to critics as “double-dippers” because they received pensions along with new pay for doing their old jobs — about the decision in an email message Monday.
Mayor John DeStefano said that as of June 30 all contracts will end with the retirees, many of whom work for the Board of Education. Retirees currently employed with the city shall be given two weeks notice that they’re losing their jobs, and the city will refrain from hiring double-dippers in the future.
“Effective immediately, no hiring authority shall hire for any position retired employees collecting a City of New Haven pension,” reads the memo from Emmet Hibson, director of organizational development. “This includes: Seasonal, Contract, Part Time, or Limited Temporary employment, etc.”
DeStefano said he still believes the city got a good deal out of those contracts — they enabled the city to draw on experienced people’s expertise without paying them benefits or in most cases a full-time salary.
But union leaders like Cherlyn Poindexter (pictured above) and some local politicians, including Hill Aldermen Jorge Perez and Andrea Jackson-Brooks, criticized the practice and asked him to end it. (Click here to read a story about that.)
“Rather than let it be a distraction” during a heated budget year, the mayor said Tuesday, he decided to end the practice.
“I was trying to be responsive to people’s concerns,” he said.
Paul Bass File Photo
That means, for instance, that Neil Avallone (pictured) will no longer be working in the controller’s office as a part-time “consultant,” a temporary title he’s had for 17 years.
He’s done that work since officially retiring in 1993. It turned out the city kept needing his expertise as it went through a series of managers and complex changes in its record-keeping systems.
Another ongoing retired consultant has been Brian McGrath. The retired city traffic chief last year received $50,000 for up to 21 hours a week of work “providing daily assistance” to his old department. He agreed to review challenges to parking tickets, “analyze enforcement data,” “provide staff support as needed to the group supervisor,” “review … ordinances and other group protocols,” “assist with resource allocation.” This year, he has been working on contract for the Department of Public Works.
The Board of Ed has made the most use of double-dipping retirees, because it has had trouble finding and keeping long-term administrators. Eugene Vitelli, for instance, has had a series of assignments since his retirement from the school system, most recently at the central office helping craft and trouble-shoot policy. Joseph Montagna, who retired as principal of Fair Haven Middle School, took an assignment at Katherine Brennan School, which was struggling and had lost its principal for a while due to illness.
Poindexter, the new president of the city’s management union, welcomed the new rule change.
“This is great. It’s about time they set the standard,” Poindexter said. Her union, AFSCME Local 3144, has railed against double-dipping over the past few years, as members suffered layoffs.
“We’ve been talking about this for a long time, about getting rid of these people,” Poindexter said. She said she suggested ending double-dipping when the mayor asked department and union heads for cost-cutting solutions. Her union is set to begin negotiations on a new contract in July.
Poindexter said after receiving the memo, she emailed Hibson seeking clarification on how far the policy will reach. She said she wants to know if the rule applies to retirees who aren’t getting a pension but are getting other benefits. Specifically, her union has members who retired from the city, then came back to positions paid for by special funds. They don’t get a pension, but they do get medical benefits as negotiated by the union. Those members should be laid off, she argued.
“I want to make sure that this includes special funds employees,” Poindexter said.
City spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga said the policy intends to cover only those retirees currently collecting a pension.
“As for contract employees, my understanding is that all contracts of personal employment expire on June 30,” so all contracted employees should be covered, she said.