Time to Do the Right Thing

It was recently reported that Phil Onofrio, named as Emergency Medical Service director last year, is leaving Stratford for a job elsewhere.

Mr. Onofrio was a good man who may have done Stratford a favor by resigning. This is an opportunity to resolve a messy matter by doing what should have been done in the first place: follow the town charter provisions that do not allow a mayor to create and hire for new positions without budget approval from the Town Council.

On December 10, 2012 a State Superior Court Judge ruled the hiring of Onofrio violated Stratford’s town charter. The charter provides for a single director of each department, and the position of EMS director is still occupied by Donna Best.

I sincerely hope the mayor is not planning to recruit and hire another person into a position that was neither budgeted for nor approved by the Council, and that was ruled invalid by the State Superior Court. More importantly, I hope that this position will not appear in the mayor's 2014 budget. This would mean that the mayor is still trying to pay for two directors, which violates the town charter.

My suggestion to the mayor is to stop spending taxpayer dollars frivolously. The mayor is over-spending taxpayer dollars by paying twice for a single position. He is spending taxpayer dollars on appealing a court case that was settled with a
very clear ruling, and puts the town in the position of defending a former employee who was in a position that the court ruled invalid. 

The situation makes very little sense. I’m sure I speak for many taxpayers when I say that we can no longer afford these excessive salary and legal expenses.

Nevertheless, I am using this platform to enable anyone interested in Straford's fiscal management to express their thoughts on whether the mayor should hire another EMS director without Town Council approval. Your constructive participation in this blog would be greatly appreciated.

Joe Paul