The worker wasn’t casting aspersions on the high-ranking uniformed officers accused of either padding their retirements with bogus time sheets or, in the case of a former police lieutenant, outright thievery. In fact, nobody, other than the mayor and his closest advisors and maybe the district attorney, has any clear understanding of what’s going on.
We have only been told of suspected discrepancies in payroll records and time sheets filed by former fire chief Rick Salzmann and his deputy, Chris Rea, the man the mayor too quickly appointed chief to replace Salzmann. “C-Rea,” to be known in city history as chief-for-a-week (actually, almost two weeks) has been charged with similar offenses and suspended without pay by the mayor.
Before other municipal managers go all righteous about the city’s woes, let no one forget these issues are not endemic to Kingston. The kinds of abuses the city is now attempting to deal with — essentially, independently audited cash control — pop up in municipal audits all the time. WhyAlbanyauditors didn’t catch some of these is a good question.
The rookie mayor’s motives aren’t being questioned at this point. In many quarters, Shayne Gallo is seen as something of a new broom in a government where operating under the rug was more often the norm. (Here, I’ll pause while a chorus of loyal Democrats sings “Hail to the Chief.”) Hindsight being 20-20, Gallo appears to have made a tactical error in rushing to appoint the chief’s deputy, who as it turns out stands accused of similarly questionable bookkeeping. The more prudent path would have been to investigate the chief-in-waiting or install someone absolutely above reproach. Belatedly, Gallo has done both, suspending Rea without pay pending the outcome of the DA’s investigation, while naming rock-solid former chief John Reinhardt as acting chief last week.
Appointing Reinhardt was not Gallo’s only exercise in damage control. Gallo, at a hastily called press conference at City Hall, also attempted to assuage morale issues among city workers in general. The vast majority of city employees are honest and hardworking, he told reporters, something mayors have been telling residents for centuries. Recent events have sorely tested taxpayer confidence.
Gallo now says the state comptroller will investigate both the police and fire departments. He didn’t mention the Public Works Department.
