Below is a "Letter To The Editor" from Nick Woerner to the Daily Freeman regarding the Federal investigation into the City of Kingston Police/School District pay debacle.
A reprint of such letters do not necessarily equate to an endorsement of the statement.
Dear Editor:
In following the news coverage regarding the issues surrounding the Kingston Police Department Double Dipping Probe, I felt it would be prudent to point out a potential solution that may have stopped this from occurring. The Town of Ulster Police Department regulations require that officers seeking outside employment obtain the approval of the Chief of Police prior to engaging in such employment.
The request for approval is made on a form on which the officer is required to indicate the name and address of the proposed outside employer, the hours and dates the officer proposes to work and the nature of the employment. Any approval given is valid for a period of one year. The policy also provides for an appeal of a denial of approval to the Police Commission.
This policy is consistent with New York State General Municipal Law 208-d which specifically authorizes police officers to:
“engage in extra work for another employer outside his regular hours of duty for not exceeding twenty hours a week provided that such extra work does not interfere or conflict with his regular duties as a member of the force or his availability for emergency duty nor affect his physical condition to the extent that it impairs his ability to efficiently perform such duties and further provided that the type of employment shall first be approved by the appropriate police department or police commissioner.”
I would urge the members of the Common Council of the City of Kingston to consider the adoption of a policy similar to that of the Town of Ulster.
Respectfully,
Nicky B. Woerner
Former Supervisor
Town of Ulster
9 comments:
The state has a similar policy unless you are self employed or are working in a family business for which you are not paid.
I can't disagree with Woerner on this one. His letter is on point and helpful while not being inflammatory. Well done Nick, well done!
Our police department are over worked and underpaid. They don't get enough overtime to support their families so you can't blame them for wanting to have a side job. And if that other job is paying them more, can you blame them for wanting to work more at that job than their cop job?
Even with that policy and 20 more like it, crooks will be crooks and will find a way to hide their dirty deeds, at least temporarily as in this case.
BTW... I pity the politician that takes advice from Woerner
With a policy it's harder to do wrong. Woerner is on point. Get over it!
The only problem with this letter is that the PD's chain of command already knew about Mathews' outside employment and did nothing to monitor it. So it would seem to me that they also would have approved it if this policy was in place and probably not monitored it. Judging from the fact that the city and the school district allowed Mathews to approve his own overtime among other lapses in management I would say that all of the written policies in the world wouldn't have stopped the incompetent administrators from allowing this to happen
How about Gretzinger, he make more than any other public emplyee in Ulster County, was told about the problem, and took the detective's side instead of supporting his own business manager. For this great service, the incompetant school board will probably give him a contract extension. And the taxpayers continue to get screwed.
To 10:12 - I will give you that. But with the lack of policies in place there can be not oversight from the top i.e. the Commission and the Mayor. Kingston needs a revamping of the Police Department. It's time for an outsider to lead the agency. Jerry's time has come, he is a good person but a bad leader. When the Mayor leaves so should the Chief.
to 11:16, I agree with you the Mayor, police chief, and gretzinger have to go. No good for our city. They should be ashamed of themselves.
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