Former Detective Matthews pleaded guilty to 2 counts of Grand Larceny today. He was sentenced to 3 to 9 years in State Prison and ordered to pay over $200,000.00 in restitution. Since he claims to have no assets, the arrangement has been made for his pension to be tapped for payment of restitution.
This marks the end of a very sad era in Kingston's history. To see such a promising career come to such an ignominious end is sad. Do not get me wrong, justice has been done. Yet, I cannot help but lament at the career that could have been but for him surrendering to the temptations that go with having a position of supervisory authority.
The next big legal matter to come forward shall be the investigation into the Kingston Fire Department. Will there be indictments? Will there be other defendants? These are the questions that need to be answered over the next few months.
Perhaps the only positive in all of this is that Kingston's City Hall and its government are being overhauled and cleared of corruption. It is indeed long overdue. I would have liked to have been the Mayor leading the way, but I am happy to follow Mayor Gallo on this one, so long as the goal is accomplished.
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45 comments:
Hope the new mayor doesnt believe he acted alone and continues to find the others that were invloved Rich.
No way no one was aware of what was going on
The two ex-fire chiefs need to be held accountable along with any other employees that were or are currently stealing time or money from us taxpayers. If any employees from ANY DEPTS: DPW, Fire or Police and Cityhall are cashing in time at the end of the year claiming they did or didnt work illegally, they need to be prosecuted,period. If any employees are "padding" they're pay by way of glutonous overtime i.e. treatment plant-- they need to be fired and possibly brought up on charges of breaching the taxpayer's trust. We, the people need to demand so.
Whatever happened to the Vandlemark case?
2:43,
The Vandemark case is still pending.
You are right. There is a real sense of sadness and when I saw the pictures a sense of common community guilt.
Something that tames our self-righteousness as a community and as individuals and gives us all a much needed sense of humility...
Smitty
Ed Boyle and Allen Winchell both made over 50,000 dollars in overtime each for the 2011 year. Those numbers should be looked in to by an audit to see if there is any pause for concern. They both virtually doubled thier salary by doing so and that is what raised the eyebrow for some regarding Mathews and the extravagant amount of overtime he was being paid. Follow the money...
What ever happend to the Graffiti Law that the Common Council passed. Has anyone looked at the old St. Peter's school and all of the graffiti all over it. What a mess and no enforcement of a Law as usual.
8:34 or should we call you Atticus. Boyle and Winchell did not make that much in overtime. Go to seethroughny.org and you will see exactly what they made.
Allen Winchell $73451.00 about 18k in overtime.
Ed Boyle $69,284.00 about 14k in overtime.
Rich you really need to check out some of these comments before you post them.
I hear that Mayor Gallo finally put the stop to the foremen from Dpw taking home our city vehicles along with our cell phones! Three cheers for Mayor Gallo, good job. Word has it that some of these ungrateful foremen are upset. Tough S*#t, I dont have a take home vehicle and i dont have a phone that i get to take home on the taxpayers. If some of these employees are upset, oh well get another job somewhere else! Gallo is doing a superb job. Oh, and i hope that little squirt Mike Schupp is no longer able to take home our vehicle to Highland!
Rich: 8:34 is a liar and you should remove that post. They didn't make $50,000.00 in overtime combined. This is pure slander and anyone printing it should be sued.
they should check all time and attendace in all depts check the rec dept i think you will be surprised who has time and who dosent
To those attacking me for the comments of others, be mindful that comments are the intellectual property of those who submit them. I do not assert that any of the comments are true or false unless I choose to offer specific comment.
As for the poster suggesting that I should be sued based on what someone offered as a comment, I would get that dismissed so fast it would make your head spin.
By the way, the amounts of overtime listed on the website you cited seem quite high in and of themselves.
Thats right Rich,
6:44 is trying to say that a DPW employee is making aprox. 75,000.00 per year working at a poop plant when his base salary is $55,000 is no big deal. PFFF,it is a serious pause for concern and warrants some looking into! Same goes for another DPW employee( Ed Boyle) making 14k in O.T. is a bit much as well. Thanks 6:44 for clearing up the numbers, we will have to push for an audit in that dept pronto! When employees are "working" this much overtime, it is time to reel them in and check things out. Lotsa bells and whistles going off there.
Wow, 6:44 is claiming that 18k in overtime for Mr. Alan Winchell at the waste water treatment plant, that is almost 40% OF HIS REGULAR PAY SALARY IN OVERTIME!! Oh my goodness,the system is broke if any employee is making that amount of money in overtime. The other employee Ed Boyle is making 15k in overtime is outrageous also. We need to look into this and fix the problem. It seems both employees are high ranking DPW employees, and what we are seeing so far in the press is that it is the high rankers that seem to make extravagant amounts of money by way of "overtime". Time and attendance issue perhaps? Lets do an audit like the Fire dept and see what comes up!
I also hear reports of tools having been "borrowed" and brought home from possibly one of these employees as well as others. It seems there is footage on the hidden cameras at the DPW compound. Lets wait and see.
Rich, the treatment plant runs 7 days a week. So there is overtime every weeekend. That 18k equates to less than 9 hours a week. I think that the treatment plant can run more effiecently and some of the overtime could be reduced by at least 75%.
Allowing people like Atticus(same comment on freeman) to slander these two men is immoral. Atticus should be sued not you.
Rich, you have a great blog and a lot of truth is on it. 8:34 blatantly lied and you printed it.
Don't you think you should do a little research on stuff like that. We don't need another Blaber.
Rich, allowing 8:34 to post mis information on your blog destroys your credibility. The National Enquirer has more truth in it. This is a personal vendetta on two City employees. You should know better than to be used like that.
The same poster, posted this mis information on the freemans website under the name "Atticus".
I hear the men in question are going to find out who "Atticus" is and sue him or her. Atticus's claims are slanderous and he or she should be made to pay for there stupidity.
Rich the two DPW workers that received 18k and 14k are supervisors correct,and don't the receive comp time in addition to their overtime payments.So if that is true they might be getting close to 50k if you add the days they take off to complete their comp time plus the 18k.6:44 pm is probably their union protecting them.
2:03 and 4:29,
If I print it, you make your bogus claims. If I do not print it, then I am accused of cherry picking the comments. It is a catch 22.
The bottom line is that I offer my posts and occasional comments. I am responsible for them and only them.
If you think I have the time or the inclination to conduct research on every single comment I receive from people, you are sadly mistaken.
6:44, or should we call you CSEA 111,(you know, ummm)- everybody in the DPW knows that Allen Winchell along with Eddy Boyle are pigs when it comes to overtime.( that is unless Eddy Boyle is doing favors for employees like putting them on the dispatch desk to keep them quiet!) There are two assistant superintendants at the DPW and the other assist. complains loudly that Ed Boyle takes all the O.T. for himself beteween the two! Also, Winchell made 18k in overtime in 2011 and Boyle made aprox 15k. That is alot of money between two employees that are coming in for an inordinate amount of ahem, "overtime calls". 7:33 is right, these two guys also recieve comp time for overtime which is not figured in with the numbers that easily bring these guys up to the number Atticus is stating. Also, both Boyle and Winchell make a base salary of 50-55k, so its easy for Atticus or others to mistake overtime for base salary. What is important and cannot be denied is that these high ranking DPW employees are being paid obnoxious amounts of overtime compared to other DPW employees.
Lets take a good hard look by way of a dept audit like the fire dept is being studied, and i think the taxpayers will be shocked to find out how these two men from DPW are "working" a lopsided amount of overtime relative to the rest of the dept.
Just because Atticus or others are touching on the massive amount of overtime that is being worked by city employees that WORK FOR THE TAXPAYERS, doesnt mean there is a "personal vendetta". I soppose that the good employee or employees that blew the whistle on Salzmann and Rea have a "personal vendetta" against them too if we are to believe 2:03?? I dont think so.
Mayor Gallo talked about a "culture" of abuse of overtime and attendance problems being perpetrated on the taxpayer by some of the high ranking employees that are capable of doing so because of thier rank. I think he is right, and apparently so do some others and we are all happy to see a comprehensive study come forth to see who is abusing and who isnt. Large amounts of overtime being paid out to certain city employees must be scrutinized, and if that makes some people,including the unions uncomfortable, so be it...maybe drug testing should also be implemented as well.
Rich, Thanks for your blog and providing us all a means to discuss some concerns that we may have on current events in our city. My condolences to your family on the loss of your Dad, he was a good man.
Rich lets not just investigate the overtime issue. Stealing money from workers comp is a crime also. One employee goes to the ER whenever he breaks a nail (AFLAC). Another has been out over a year with a sprained ankle.
Rich, i am a city employee and I read your blog daily and I enjoy it. It is true that Alan Winchell is making crazy amounts of money in overtime because the contract clause between the city and the workers is being exploited and misinterpreted. He and others are coming in everynight doing a P.M. check-up which means they simply walk through the plant after hours and "check' to see if everything is working o.k. (You talked about this matter yourself when running for mayor) It doesnt take very long, yet they are being paid a 3 hour call-out overtime pay when they should be paid for overtime actually worked since it is SCHEDULED overtime in advance. The problem is is that Mr. Winchell signs off on this overtime for himself and others, or worse yet you have a private company doing so. (Camo Ind.) This is a big problem and needs more oversight. 3:37 needs his head examined if he thinks its o.k. for any employee to make 18k or more possibly with comp time included. This guy Winchell is not being slandered, nor is his side kick Ed Boyle if you include they're comp time and all the little perks these two get. We all see it going on, and most of us city employees dont like it. However, both of these guys are supervisors and are vindictive and have abused their positions from time to time when ever any employee has spoken up about abuse. (After all, Mr. Winchell was a close amigo of the ex-mayor Sottile, his neighbor and the man who hired Winchell)... need i say more? Let me finish up with saying that most city employees are good, hard working people but when we currently have employees in supervisory positions that have been prosecuted for abuse of taxpayer's dollars and then we see big time overtime money being paid out to high ranking city employees(Winchell made just about the same as the mayor in 2011), we should be concerned and if peolpe on freeman websites along with some local blogs are bring attention to it, i think it is good. If there is an audit and everything looks good, well then Boyle,Winchell and others shouldnt have anything to worry about right?
Rich, i think that drugtesting should be done for ALL city employees. Right now only employees that drive vehicles are tested, also i believe the dispatcher for DPW is tested and all employees that fill in on that dispatcher position are to be included mandatorialy in drug testing as well. I believe at this time we should be testing all city employees and cleaning things up .
Workers comp claims need to be investigated also. Ever since the City let an AFLAC rep in, employees are taking advantage of it. Some employees have been out over a year and nothing is done. The workforce is small enough without people bilking the system.
The City use to send WC cases to an Esopus Company for review. Once an employee is out over a year the City can replace them with the laid off workers who want to come to work and work. Not just sit at home and collect a check.
i think drug testing the employees city wide is a god practice that is now being done within most municipalities. While we are checking time, attendance and overtime records is very important, i also think that ensuring that our workers are drugfree whether they are drivers, laborers,dispatchers( i believe drivers and dispatchers along with backup dispatchers MUST be tested currently, if not, they need to be immediately), however all employees should be tested across the board. I know several employees that are willing to do so,why not make it mandatory? Is the union or unions opposed to it? If so,why? Whoever is intensely opposed to it more than likely has something to hide.
Rich-thanks for keeping us informed on the huge amount of overtime being worked by a few of the upper echalon of the Fire department and the DPW. I am hopeful that these employees that work for the public are looked into by the administration to see if there is any further wrongdoing with the people's money. All this overtime being worked at the dpw by a few says to me that some other employees should be hired! Where,pray tell, can you work clost to 20,000.oo dollars worth of overtime at time and a half? It is nuts. If someone is working that amount of hours, I dont think they are being picked on, they are gaining financially in my book!
6:44 and 9:31,
Thanks for your concern about worker's compensation, however you are right and yet you are wrong in a big way.
Worker's comp is hard to "bilk" if you work for the DPW, REC dept., or Cityhall because you have one year to get well and then you are off the payroll, like you stated. You are wrong about the employee that injured his ankle. It was not a "sprain", it was torn cartelidge and after a cast was on for several weeks a blood clot developed that traveled to the employee's lung and almost killed him. He was hospitalized for over a week and had serious damage done to his leg that is on the mend, all while serving the taxpayer in the field.You cant fake that. Also, the employee hasnt been out a year yet, it has only been 10 months.
Usually after about 8 months or so the employee that is out of work on worker's comp MUST see an independent physician (not in Esopus,your wrong) that will examine the patient/employee to determine if he or she is legite--in the case of the employee with the injured ankle, the independent physician agreed 100% that the employee was seriously injured and could not return in the capacity of a laborer at this time. Now, having said that, worker's comp can be abused within the Fire dept or the police dept because the employees within those depts have unlimited sick time, and so most of the time employees go out on their sick time; that is not possible for DPW or Rec employees or even cityhall employees. They do not have unlimited sick time.
As far as Aflac goes,I dont know many employees that have it, but if they do, it is legal and also smart to have it if you can. Stop hating if people have it and you dont.
7:17 said a lot of what I intended.
I can confirm that the person being cited ( workers' comp for an ankle injury) has a situation far worse than just a sprain.
He did indeed suffer a blood clot that went to his lung. He was hospitalized for about a week. I know because he is a personal friend and I visited him in the hospital on 2 occasions. He damn near died.
Rather than get into allegations back and forth, I am going to speak with Mayor and ask him to have the Comptroller audit the Sewer Treatment Plant overtime. This is a way we can get to the bottom of it.
I need to be clear though. Shayne Gallo is the Mayor. He sets the agenda and priorities. I will discuss these allegations with him, but he makes all decisions on how to handle the information. He is the duly elected Mayor and thus is entitled to call the shots. I will bring him the information and then it will be his decision what, if anything, to do with the information.
What I do know is that something is wrong at the treatment plant. There is an overtime line of $100,000 in the budget that is totally unnecessary. It was something that I discussed on the campaign trail, as did Shayne Gallo and Andi Turco-Levin.
Rich your friend must have some lawsuit. Most doctors take precautions after surgery to prevent this from happening. After repairing the torn cartelidge the doctor should have prescribed blood thinners to prevent this.
I hope you get him a big payday.
6am,
I do not represent him.
The firm that I work for represents Ulster County Self-Insurance, which is the insuring agency for workers' compensation for the City of Kingston.
To represent him would pose a legal conflict of interest. I also am conflicted out of appearing on the other side of the case as well since the person in question is a close personal friend.
I am hearing that several other employees from the fire dept are being looked at and could possibly be let go soon.
RC, what happened to Blabers News? Did he delete the blog as it is currently no longer accessible? Perhaps you know the inside story now that he is working for the City of Kingston.
This sounds like a malpractice case not workers comp??
Why are the taxpaers paying for some Doctors mistake?
The other asst. super that 5:49 refers to ripped the taxpayers off for more than $20,000.00. Seems him and Sottile cut an illegal deal. When the right people found out about it nothing was done.
Rich-please keep us posted on the status of the situation at the treatment plant. I am appalled at the incredible amount of overtime being worked down there, I also heard that there is less than ten people employed there and that 100 grand is the overtime budget? That means if the supervisor Mr. Winchell made 18k in overtime in 2011, he has collected aprox 20% of the overtime money himself!!
4:55,
If you are going to accuse someone of entering an "illegal deal" with former Mayor Sottile, then I need you to be more specific.
Please detail this "deal" and offer any proof of same.
4:51,
By law, if a workers' compensation claimant is further injured by medical practice, said claimant is entitled to coverage and indemnity for said injuries.
The claimant and/or the compensation carrier may have a lawsuit against the physician in such a circumstance. Should there be a recovery against the physician, the compensation carrier would have a lien against this settlement within the confines of the law.
All that being said, I do not know if the person in question has a malpractice suit. There are always risks with treatment and sometimes medical complications arise with or without medical malpractice.
8:31,
I do not know the status of Jeremy Blaber's blog. If he offers a comment to this blog on the subject, I will post it.
4:51--malpractice is mighty tough to prove when the number one and number two causes of bloodclots are imobolization(casts) and trauma or injury to lower extremities(ankles,knees,thighs).
It is a risk for any human being to clot when those two factors are in play, both of which WERE for the employee that suffered. The questions you pose are a tad buffoonish aren't they? You know, you know, I meannnn...LOL! Are you sure you want to play?
Rich,
I too am interested in calling for a more stringent policy on drug testing for our city employees. I saw a guy on the back of a trash truck wearing a yankee hat with glasses walking so slow he looked as though he was off balance a bit.
Also, I wonder what 4:51 is smoking, the question he asks doesnt make much sense. I wonder if he has to ask his wife if its okay to turn on the computer and ask dumb questions in the early morning hours? LOL!
All kidding aside, we do need to get a handle on the absurd amount of overtime being worked by a few employees within the various departments of the city workforce. Thanks for keeping us informed Rich.
Rich, the fire department and the DPW top positions are costing the city an exorbant amount of money and need to be addressed pronto.You are right, you did call for a hard look at the treatment plant for the last year, and now it is time for that to come to fruition starting with comptroller Tuey and then the Comptroller Dinapoli. If it is going on in the fire dept, it probably is going on there too. Where there is smoke there is fire.
I deleted a portion of a comment. As the allegations have been going back and forth, a reference was made to a person that is the wife of one of the people offering the comments.
I will allow comments back and forth between people, but I cannot in good conscience allow attacks against spouses or family. If the spouse chooses to post, then they are fair game. Otherwise, spouses and family are out of bounds.
To quote Right Time Radio, "You can vent your spleen, but keep it clean."
Thanks Rich for deleting that. YOur "friend" is giving you bad advice. His numbers at the treatment and his remedy is bogus. He hates the ex Mayors neighbor and Ed Boyle. They make him do his job. No one at DPW ever seen him on the back of a packer, in fact most people who know him say they have more time on the toilet than he does on the back of a truck. The only thing they remeber is him being on the phone all day at the parking garage. Maybe he can kick over a gallon of paint with his good leg. LOL
9:08, do I detect a little jealousy? I can kick more than just a can a paint with my good leg,you should know you are on the end of it right now, and remember, i dont get tired. It must really suck to look at the back of a packer all day, it is a view I have avoided with great pride for many years. No shame at all, growing up to be the guy that is perpetually buried on the back of a packer isnt a healthy aspiration. However, you might as well get used to it, thats all you are ever gonna be from here on out. Anytime you were ever let out from behind it, you couldnt "find your gloves". LOL! Oops, I better be careful, you might just pee your pants again. Gotta go, I hear the phone ringing! LOL
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