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Coons
said at a meeting of Council's personnel committee on Sept. 20
that he was "very agitated" to learn that Lynn Moroz, who is
involved as a contracted consultant in a controversial
arrangement with county government, has been hired as a
full-time employee in a position protected by the civil service
merit system.
That,
Coons pointed out, was done after he introduced an ordinance
imposing a job freeze at Council's Sept. 14 meeting.
Personnel
director Patricia DiIenno confirmed that Moroz has been hired,
effective Oct. 1, and defended the action as having been pending
for several months and completely proper under existing county
law. "Once the ordinance is passed, there will be a freeze," she
said.
She added
that the Human Resources Department which she heads has
cooperated with Council in providing information about personnel
moves under terms of previously enacted legislation inspired by
the indictment of County Executive Tom Gordon and chief
administrative officer Sherry Freebery on federal corruption
charges. In fact, she said, Coons learned of Moroz's hiring from
such a report.
She
acknowledged that she was aware the proposed restrictions had
been introduced.
The
proposed ordinances are sponsored by Coons and have the
co-sponsorship of the other six members of Council. Absent any
very unusual developments, that would assure their enactment.
As
previously reported by Delaforum, the one applicable to Moroz's
hiring, would prohibit hiring, promoting, transferring or
reclassifying rank-and-file employees, except those with
temporary status or who might be needed in an emergency
situation, until Jan. 5. The other would prohibit
moving political appointees to positions protected by the merit
system.
Coons
said he has received several telephone calls from county
employees about "sudden" personnel actions which "threaten to
undermine the merit system."
Councilman Robert Weiner charged the Gordon administration with
"abuse of authority" for using protected job slots "to reward
and punish those that are allies and foes of the
administration." He alleged that "the situation has gotten worse
since the primary [election]." Coons defeated Freebery to secure
the Democratic Party nomination to run in the November general
election to succeed Gordon.
After
Coons announced his plan to call the special session, DiIenno
pointed out that the law requires ordinances affecting personnel
policies to be reviewed by the Human Resources Advisory Board
and said the "earliest date we could get together is Oct. 6."
Moroz,
the county's former risk manager, owns A.I.S. Risk Management,
which now contracts to provide risk management and other
services related to workers compensation. A.I.S., in turn, subcontracts with Freebery
& Houghton, a law firm. Michael Freebery, one of the firm's
principals, is the brother of Sherry Freebery and Joseph Freebery, general manager of the
county Department of Special Services.
As
Delaforum previously reported, he was one of three applicants
deemed qualified to be hired for the risk manager position,
which evidently has been vacant since he left it several years
ago. He reportedly pulls down a monthly salary of $13,500. How
much he will make in the full-time county job was not
immediately disclosed.
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