A former supervisor from the state Department of Transportation was hired on a probationary basis last month to manage Ansonia’s Department of Public Works.
Mayor David Cassetti said he hired Douglas Novak, a Milford resident, to be the DPW’s new superintendent on an “emergency” basis after the current superintendent, Michael Schryver, sent the mayor a letter Jan. 10 announcing his intention to retire.
Cassetti introduced Novak to the city’s public works board during a meeting Jan. 28.
The mayor said he has known Novak for years through owning a construction business.
“He knows the unions, he knows contracts, he knows how to mobilize men and do different things,” Cassetti said.
The Board of Public Works Jan. 28 hired Novak on a 90-day probationary period starting Feb. 3.
The position pays $71,396 yearly.
The mayor told Aldermen Jan. 14 he brought in Novak to shadow Schryver “given the crucial importance of having a superintendent in place during these unpredictable winter months.”
Novak’s most recent job was as construction/property manager at Stratford-based Southern Connecticut Vascular, a job he had held since September 2012.
He served as the City of Milford’s interim director of permitting and land use from November 2009 to September 2010.
Prior to that, he worked for nearly 24 years in the state Department of Transportation, finishing as a section manager.
His hiring was complicated by weeks of back-and-forth between the city and its insurance carrier over Schryver’s retirement, according to city officials.
City officials said Schryver rescinded his retirement last month because he wasn’t on the city’s health insurance policy but wanted to opt back into the plan. The city’s insurance carrier said he couldn’t.
So they tried to keep a way to keep Schryver, who has worked for the city for more than four decades, on the payroll so that he may get insurance.
The mayor said at the public works board’s meeting last week that Schryver would be moved to a new position under Sean Rowley, the department’s parks foreman.
But on Friday (Feb. 7) Cassetti said he’ll recommend to Aldermen that Schryver would instead be moved to a position supervising the $5 million worth of bond projects voters approved at referendum in November.
City officials said putting Schryver in the new position solves two problems at once.
“We were actually thinking of going with a consultant (to supervise the bond projects),” John Marini, the city’s corporation counsel, said Friday. “Given the switch, it makes complete sense to have him stay on.”
Whether Schryver will be paid at the same rate as he was as superintendent will be determined by the Board of Aldermen’s salary committee, Cassetti said Friday.
The Valley Indy left a message for Schryver Thursday (Feb. 6).
Other Applicants?
The Board of Public Works last week unanimously ratified Novak’s hiring for a probationary 90-day period.
In the meantime, they advised Cassetti to also advertise the position so others interested in the superintendent’s job could apply.
Click the play button on the video at the top of the story to see the discussion and vote.
The mayor’s hiring of Novak rubbed First Ward Aldermen Edward Adamowski and Charles Stowe the wrong way at their meeting last month.
They said candidates from inside the DPW should have been given the opportunity to at least interview for the position.
The department’s union employees agreed, sending a letter to the Board of Public Works read aloud by its chairman, John Finnucan, during their Jan. 28 meeting.
The employees were concerned Novak’s hire hindered opportunities for advancement within the DPW.
Article continues after video of Finnucan reading the letter.
Stowe, an Aldermanic liaison to the public works board, said he’d recommend the city post the position publicly to give others a chance at applying.
After the meeting, Adamowski wasn’t convinced current employees will get a fair shot.
“It’s window dressing,” he said. “They already know they’re going to hire this guy, and everybody else is going to know it too. It’s a slap in the face to all the guys that work down there.”
‘Dysfunctional’ Department
The mayor said at last week’s meeting that Novak’s experience is just what the DPW needs.
“Right now I look at the Public Works Department as a very dysfunctional department,” Cassetti told the public works board. “The men are good. They’re very good. But it’s just not run right, and as the mayor of Ansonia, it’s my opinion, and my pick, that the next superintendent of Public Works will be Doug Novak.”
“That department really needs to be straightened out,” Cassetti said.
The mayor said Friday (Feb. 7) he was referring at the time to a number of recent scandals involving employees of the department, but emphasized he valued the contributions Schryver has made to the city.
“Mike is a good person,” Cassetti said. “He’s a hard worker.”
The DPW has had its share of hiccups in the past couple years.
In April 2012 an employee accused of stealing a plow from the Public Works property and selling it for scrap was suspended for 30 days.
Later that year, a Valley Indy investigation revealed two DPW employees had improperly received waivers from the citys tax office showing they had paid tax bills when they hadn’t.
Last May a DPW employee was charged by police with drunken driving after allegedly crashing into a house.
And last October a supervisor was suspended for using a racial slur toward a DPW employee.
