The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Provisional hires test the patronage mill
BRIDGEPORT — The hiring of an ex-mayoral candidate who could help Mayor Joe Ganim become governor sheds light on a pathway for the politically connected to land municipal jobs.
When Charlie Coviello popped up as a zoning inspector last month, Hearst Connecticut Media asked Mayor Joe Ganim’s office for an explanation. Mayors have the ability to appoint several municipal positions — often to reward supporters — but Coviello’s zoning job is not supposed to be one of those.
Coviello is an entry-level “provisional” hire who would have to take a competitive test.
“It has not been advertised yet but it will be,” said Ganim’s office. “Once the exam is advertised there will be other candidates.”
But the administration subsequently admitted there is no money budgeted for such a test, even though the city charter calls for an exam to be held within 120 days.
According to a list Hearst obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, Coviello is hardly unique. There are 100 other provisional hires on the payroll, some dating back 15 years, who have never been given an exam.
That list includes other zoning inspectors; positions in the building, maintenance, roadway, social services, lead prevention, comptroller’s, purchasing, printing, fire and police departments; staff for the town and city clerks; library jobs and several public school custodians.
The city did not include salaries in its response to the FOI request.
One veteran city employee said decisions not just by Ganim’s administration, but that of his predecessor, Bill Finch, to ignore the testing requirement create the potential for even more so-called patronage jobs for the politically connected.
“When I came here, everything was an exam,” the person said. “The only thing they’re testing is for police and fire” personnel.
There were 63 provisional employees hired between 2008 and 2015 when Finch was mayor. Since Ganim took office in December 2015, 32 provisional staffers have joined the municipal workforce.
Coviello is expected to be a delegate at the upcoming state Democratic convention to choose a gubernatorial candidate. Ganim is seeking that nomination and relying on strong support from Bridgeport’s 90 delegates.
Coviello in an interview in February admitted he had sought the $43,000 zoning position — vacated last year — because he was “really hurting” for money. According to information obtained from the Water Pollution Control Authority, Coviello fell nearly $5,000 behind on his sewer use bills for property on Willow Street and recently set up a payment plan to clear that debt by June and avoid foreclosure.
Ex-Councilman Scott Burns, who until late last year chaired the budget committee, said the zoning department has been operating with a limited staff and zoning inspectors are needed.
But, Burns said, “If he’s (Coviello) provisional, with no real intent to verify his credentials, it looks like a favor.”
Coviello has insisted his work as a Realtor and as a community activist prepared him to be a zoning inspector. “I feel qualified for this job.” He has also said, while he plans to be a delegate, he was not asked to support Ganim for governor.
Ironically, David Dunn, head of Civil Service — the office that would administer the testing — is also listed as provisional. Dunn in a statement for this story said the city needs funds and more staff to administer all of the exams necessary for provisional employees. He said with limited money, the priority has been testing for public safety positions.
But Dunn also thought testing could be eliminated for some entry-level jobs.
Freshman Councilwoman Maria Zambrano Viggiano, a budget committee chairwoman, has voiced concern about Ganim’s decision to lift a deficit-related hiring freeze to fill some jobs the administration views as critical. Viggiano said the concept of provisional workers “is new to me.
“We should take seriously anything that’s in the charter,” she said about the need for the testing.
Another budget committee member — freshman Christina Smith — agreed. “The budget committee should scrutinize our spending or lack thereof for competitive tests. I believe it is the collective responsibility of the budget committee to ensure that the tests are funded.”