No Rush to Fill Plum Public Works Position

Plum Council isn't rushing to fill the position of fired assistant public works director Alan Lyons.

Other employees will chip in and compensate, with most of Lyons' responsibilities going to public works director Bill Berchick, said councilman Leonard Szarmach, a member of the public works committee.

Lyons' duties included overseeing 19 public works employees and making road maintenance calls during snow storms.

"There's not an immediate need to hire someone new," said Szarmach said.

Council fired Lyons with a 4-2 vote at the Dec. 13 borough council meeting.

Skip Taylor and Chuck McMeekin's counter-votes may have stemmed from their personal relationships with Lyons, Szarmach said.

McMeekin refused to comment, and Taylor did not return calls.

A few council members might have thought Lyons was being "singled out," but Szarmach didn't think that was the case.

The decision was simply a business decision, and it was made with the Plum taxpayers in mind, Szarmach said.

Lyons was assistant director for 10 years, but he was given a two-week suspension in both September 2008 and September 2009 for negligence and violation of duty, borough manager Michael Thomas said.

With the 2009 suspension, Lyons was also placed on a corrective action plan in which he was required to improve supervisory, managerial and communication skills, and to prioritize projects effectively.

Lyons and Thomas both said Lyons failed to make the changes outlined in the corrective action plan.

"He didn't even come close to finishing it," Szarmach said.

The borough offered to pay for Lyons to enroll in community college courses to improve his work skills, but he did not take advantage of the offer, Szarmach said.

Thomas even went through the CCAC course list with Lyons to inform him of which courses were available.

"The borough manager had given him more help than I've seen anyone get, and he wasn't taking advantage of it," Szarmach said.

The borough also accounts Lyons with 26 policy violations.

"He seemed to be a nice person, but he just had not been accomplishing the tasks the job asks of," Szarmach said.

In 2010, Lyons failed to follow proper procedures for purchasing on 23 occasions, Thomas said.

On Dec. 10, the personnel committee listened to Lyons' opinions regarding his job performance.

The committee even offered Lyons the list of violations he faced in hours prior to the meeting, but he opted not to view them. The meeting was "unfruitful" and turned into a "blame game," Szarmach said.

Council fired Lyons rather than repositioning him within the department because Lyons did not qualify for any vacant positions, Szarmach said.