Still No Signs For Derby Athletic Field

DERBY – With the first high school football game a month away, Ken Marcucio Sr. is still pushing the city to pay for the re-installation of signs at the field.

“We approved these signs and no one knows what happened to the money,” Marcucio said on Aug. 12 during a meeting of the Derby Parks and Recreation Commission.

Marcucio is a longtime Derby volunteer and retired city educator. He is currently on the Derby Board of Education. 

He was also on the separate building committees that oversaw the construction of the city’s multi-purpose field (and track) where football games are played; and the construction of new baseball/softball fields and a field house next door.

The two projects – football field and the baseball field/field house – had different funding sources.

The football field was financed by a state grant, while the baseball field/field house project was financed privately by Joan Payden, the president and chief executive officer of Payden & Rygel, an investment management fund.

Marcucio said prior to construction, there were five signs in and around the football field, such as the one naming the field in honor of legendary former Derby High School football coach (and former New York Giant) Lou DeFilippo.

Marcucio said four of the five signs were not in good shape, so the building committee asked the signs to be replaced, but it never happened.

Last year Marcucio received a $13,000 estimate to install replacement signs. 

The other missing signs are:

* Leo F. Ryan Complex

* Cirillo Press Box

* Mastrianna Pavilion (concession stand)

Marcucio said all the signs were previously approved by the Derby Board of Aldermen. He said it’s important that people who have influenced Derby’s youth and played a positive role in the community get their due.

Marcucio made his case last month to the Derby Board of Apportionment and Taxation. They approve Derby budgets. Its members told Marcucio to see if other funding sources could be found to pay for the signs – such as the Derby Board of Education – and to double check the price estimate.

In Derby, the city owns all property, including fields used primarily by students from Derby Public Schools.

Alderman Ron Sill is on the city’s parks and recreation commission, and he was present when Marcucio spoke to the board on Aug.12.

He said the football field commission had money to pay for the signs – at least in March 2022.

That date is when Sill said he received info from former Derby Treasurer Keith McLiverty saying there was $14,000 or $15,000 available to cover the cost of the signs. Click here to listen to the complete audio posted to the City of Derby website.

“The money went back into the general fund or whatever. It disappeared,” Sill said, noting he kept the communication in his notes.

Marcucio said the building committee’s organization fell apart after McLiverty left city hall, with no one leading the committee.

Marcucio said he is hesitant to ask Payden for more money, saying she had contributed millions of dollars to the football field project because the $3 million from the state wasn’t enough.

“People don’t know that,” Marcucio said. ​“She put a couple of million into that field also.”

Why Not Just Pay For The Signs?

Tracking finances has not been Derby’s strength during the past decade.

In addition to a revolving door of finance directors, Derby is struggling financially thanks to years of filing audits late, bad budget forecasts, and mistakes in budgeting, such as double counting school grants as revenue. 

The result has been budget deficits and, most recently, a 11.9 percent mill rate increase. Click here for all Valley Indy stories on the city’s self-described financial crisis.

After Marcucio spoke to the tax board last month, Derby City/Town Clerk Marc Garofalo said the city should open an investigation into where the money for the signs went.

Garofalo has been sharply critical of former Mayor Rich Dziekan’s administration, saying the mayor’s chief of staff hijacked city finances.

The Dziekan administration, while in office, was highly critical of its predecessor, Mayor Anita Dugatto.

On Tuesday (Aug. 13), Linda Fusco, Mayor Joseph DiMartino’s chief of staff, said the mayor has tasked Derby Finance Director Brian Hall to figure out where the money went. 

Fusco said the mayor will be moving forward with a forensic audit of Derby finances, which was a promise DiMartino made while campaigning.

Fusco said the audit will cover one fiscal year – July 1, 2022 until June 30, 2023. The forensic audit doesn’t have a price tag yet, but forensic audits are expensive. Fusco said the scope is limited due to ​“the financial state the city has found itself in at the hands of the Dziekan administration.”

“The audit would be done with approval of the full Board of Aldermen / Alderwomen. It is my understanding that since this has already gone out to RFP, we could recommend to the full Board someone who has already responded to the RFP,” Fusco said.

Click here for a previous story on Derby’s forensic audit.

Hope?

Dennis O’Connell is Derby’s parks and recreation director. At the meeting he said he was scheduled to talk on Tuesday to Derby Public Works Director Michael Piscioneri to see if the two departments could come up with some money to pay for the signs.

“I presume we need to look for fresh money,” O’Connell asked.

O’Connell also suggested that, going forward, the city honor people by creating a single plaque to which names can be added, which might be less expensive than individual signs.

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Clarification: this story originally reported that Derby’s finance director was searching for money to pay for the signs. The mayor’s chief of staff clarified on Aug. 14 that the finance director is searching for the money previously allocated for the signs.