Municipal hiring practices are supposed to be based on Rules of Civil Service.

In the City of North Miami, however, it’s all based on the Friends & Family Plan.

It should come as no surprise that getting hired or promoted in North Miami has less to do with competence, experience and qualifications than it does with nepotism, favors owed, and political connections.

To make matters worse, when the people in charge of hiring and promoting are busy clawing their own way up the corporate ladder, anyone not “lucky” enough to be a member of their inner circle need not apply.

As I noted in a previous blog, the Mayor and Council approved of an Early Retirement Incentive Program (ERIP) on November 12, 2013.  This plan was intended to reduce overall payroll costs and result in an immediate savings of over $1 million, as well as a reduction in “annual contributions to the pension fund in the future.”  Not only did those savings not materialize, but the 2014-15 budget reflected an increase in payroll costs of nearly $1 million.

What was intended to be a cost saving venture ended up being a budget busting disaster.  If the additional $1 million dollar expense wasn’t bad enough, the city had to pay out pension benefits of more than $2 million dollars to the 48 employees who opted for early retirement, most of it in unfunded liabilities against which the city had to borrow.

A fiscally responsible manager should have made certain that the retiring employees were replaced by those earning “salaries equal to 30% less than the members they are replacing,” as outlined in the Actuarial Impact Statement on which the Mayor and Council relied when they approved the ERIP.  This obviously did not happen.

In order to figure out what went wrong, it would probably take a small team of forensic auditors to examine the books of every city department.  Although I’m no forensic auditor, I took it upon myself to start with an inspection of the Personnel (Human Resources) Department’s hiring practices, and especially how it fared since the Early Retirement Incentive Program went into effect.

The results were interesting, to say the least.

There also appear to be some odd discrepancies.

According to the list of employees I received, there were eight individuals employed in the personnel department on October 1, 2013.  It also appears that nine additional employees were hired after that date, specifically after the Early Retirement Incentive Program was initiated.

In my review of the employment documents I noted the following:

Personnel Director Rebecca Jones, who was earning $51.34 per hour on October 1, 2013, did not retire early per the ERIP, but she did eventually retire on or before July 1, 2015.

Assistant Personnel Director Susan Luglio, who was originally hired April 20, 1993, accepted the ERIP and retired on November 15, 2013.  At the time she retired, she was earning $40.11 per hour.

Ten days after Susan Luglio retired, Personnel Director Joseph Roglieri, Jr. (Correction: City Manager Stephen Johnson) hired her back on November 25, 2013 as his Benefits Administrator, under a temporary contract for 29 hours per week at $50.00 per hour.  On January 5, 2015, Luglio signed another temporary contract, this time with the title of Personnel Administrator.  On October 1, 2015, she signed yet another temporary contract, which expires on September 30, 2016.

Joseph Roglieri, Jr., originally hired on March 2, 2015 as Assistant Personnel Manager (Susan Luglio’s former position), was promoted to Interim Personnel Manager (replacing Rebecca Jones) on July 1, 2015.  He then became the permanent Personnel Manager on September 14, 2015, which position was renamed Personnel Director on October 1, 2015.

Interestingly, in the nine month period from the time he was hired through November 13, 2015, when he received a random “Pay adjustment with the approval from Interim City Manager,” Roglieri’s salary increased a whopping 24.2%.  Roglieri’s initial salary on March 2, 2015 was $35.33 per hour.  As Interim Personnel Manager, he earned $38.95 per hour.  As permanent Personnel Manager, he earned $40.91.  On October 1, 2015, Roglieri received a cost of living increase to $41.73.  And on November 16, 2015, in keeping with the North Miami Friends & Family Plan, Interim City Manager Arthur Sorey “mysteriously” gifted Roglieri with another step increase and pay raise.  (More on that in a moment.)

Serious questions arose, however, when I reviewed the hiring of an employee by the name of Paola Pierre.  Joseph Roglieri initially hired her as a temporary employee on November 24, 2015 for 29 hours per week at an hourly rate of $29.73.  According to her time sheets, Ms. Pierre worked 78 hours for the three week period beginning December 3, 2015 through December 18, 2015.

Despite the terms of the city’s official Temporary Employment Contract, Section IV. B., which specifically states that “the Temporary Employee shall not be entitled to accrue vacation and sick leave,” or any other employee benefits, Ms. Pierre was also paid 8 hours for “administrative leave” and 8 hours for “holiday.”

Then again … Friends & Family Plan.

The City of North Miami does, of course, have its own Civil Service Rules.

Not that it matters because, in North Miami, rules are obviously meant to be broken.

Case in point.  Rule VI, Section C describes the Career Employment Opportunity Program (CEOP).  In a nutshell, this program allows for qualified city employees to be appointed, promoted or transferred to fill vacant positions when they become available.  Eligible employees are then placed on a list for consideration to fill such a vacancy.  The purpose for this program is to give eligible city employees the opportunity for advancement from within the ranks.   Should there be no qualified employees available to fill a particular vacancy, then and only then will the position be advertised to the general public.  (This is important to remember.  More on that later.)

After Joseph Roglieri, Jr., was promoted on July 1, 2015 to Interim Personnel Manager (and eventually permanent Director), the position he vacated, Assistant Personnel Manager (renamed Assistant Personnel Director), needed to be filled.

Thus began the search.

As I mentioned above, per the Civil Service Career Employment Opportunity Program, the position of Assistant Personnel Director was initially offered to eligible city employees on August 19, 2015.

According to the eligibility list, there were several employees eligible for the position.  One long-time Personnel Department employee in particular, Takisha Williams, was especially qualified to be promoted to Assistant Director.  Ms. Williams had been continuously employed by the city’s Personnel Department since June 10, 2002 as a Personnel Specialist and as a Personnel Administrator since December 8, 2013.  If anyone has the education, knowledge and experience to be promoted to Assistant Personnel Director, it would be Ms. Williams.  Her promotion should have been a no-brainer.

However, instead of choosing to promote any employees from within, the position was advertised to the general public from September 18, 2015 to October 2, 2015.

After all the applications were received and reviewed, the final list was narrowed down to three candidates, who were interviewed on November 10, 2015 by a three member panel.  The results were then presented to Personnel Director Joseph Roglieri for his final selection.

First, a word about the panel.

Interestingly, the three member panel consisted of:

1. The Personnel Director himself, Joseph Roglieri
2. Officially retired (but hired back as a temporary employee) Personal Administration Manager, Susan Lugio
3. Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Director, Derrick Corker

The make-up of this panel was problematic on so many levels, it is blatantly obvious that the process was rigged.

For one thing, the Personnel Director should never have been a member of what was intended to be an objective review panel.  Roglieri’s appointment of himself to a panel assembled for the purpose of reviewing candidates and making a hiring recommendation to … himself, completely flies in the face of all logic.  It also negates any semblance of objectivity whatsoever.  By virtue of the fact that he asserted undue influence over the review process, his recommendation by the review panel, combined with his authority to make a final hiring decision, amounts to nothing more than a “double counting” of input.  That’s anything but objective!

Another problematic panel member is Susan Luglio, who was retired and only in service as a temporary employee, and who was also hand picked by the personnel director.  In fact, her most recent Temporary Employment Contract dated September 28, 2015 was requisitioned by Joseph Roglieri himself.  If Ms. Luglio is interested in extending her “temporary” employment beyond September 30, 2016, guess who she’ll need to suck up to?

Just saying.

Is there any doubt that Susan Luglio’s allegiance to Roglieri had something to do with her appointment to the review panel?  I think not.

And, finally, there is absolutely no rational reason why a director of Parks & Rec would be appointed to a panel formed to assess the qualifications of prospective personnel department employees.

Of course, under the North Miami Friends & Family Plan, there is no logic to any of the city’s hiring practices.

It’s common knowledge that Parks & Rec Director Derrick Corker was initially hired (and continuously promoted) because of his close friendship with Interim City Manager (and fellow “gentlemen’s” club devotee) Arthur Sorey.

Even weirder, both Sorey and Corker also happen to be members of Chief Lenny’s inner circle.

Talk about strange bedfellows!

Derrick Corker was also lucky enough to come on board when former City Manager Stephen Johnson was in power and ordered that no background checks were to be performed for new hires.  Had Corker’s background been checked, his arrest record and a DUI would have been a huge red flag, especially since his job entails working with children.

And yet, somehow Joseph Roglieri believed that Derrick Corker, who probably should never have been hired in the first place, was uniquely qualified to assess potential employees for the city’s personnel department.

As it turned out, however, the interview process was a complete waste of time.  It’s quite obvious that the panel was hand-picked to achieve a desired outcome.  When it came down to choosing the “finalist,” the fix was already in.

According to the eligibility list for this position, the three finalists who were interviewed by the panel on November 10, 2015 were:

1. Personnel Administrator Takisha Williams
2. Paola Pierre, who was employed by the Florida Immigrant Coalition in Miami, Florida
3. Traneka R. Taylor, who is the HR Coordinator for a private company in Fort Lauderdale

Per the memo from Personnel Administrator Babette Friedman to Joseph Roglieri dated November 10, 2015, the interview panel determined that based on a scale of 0 to 5, Paola Pierre scored 3.94, Takisha Williams scored 3.44 and Traneka R. Taylor scored 3.39.

In reviewing the score sheets by the panel, it is patently clear that Joseph Roglieri’s number one choice was Paola Pierre.  He gave her a top score of 5 in three of the six categories, but did not give either of the other two a 5 in any category.

The only other candidate who received a 5 in any category was third place Traneka Taylor for her computer skills.

The panel gave scores of 3 and 4 to all three candidates in the remaining categories, with one glaring exception.

In the area of management skills, Ms. Takisha Williams received a score of 3 from both Joseph Roglieri and Derrick Corker, but only a 1 from the retired employee Susan Luglio, whose former position was the subject of this search.  Despite her high ratings from the other panel members and in all other areas, this lowly score was the nail that sealed the coffin, guaranteeing that Ms. Williams would not get the promotion.

It certainly appears that Susan Luglio, who is now in her third “Temporary” Employment Contract, either felt compelled to go along with her boss, or possibly outright conspired with him, to make sure Paola Pierre was chosen.  After all, she’ll need him to approve her next “temporary” contract in less than six months from now.

Just saying.

Lest anyone believe that Derrick Corker’s involvement in this fiasco is just by happenstance, keep in mind the entire hiring process became the responsibility of the newly appointed Interim City Manager, Arthur Sorey.  Derrick Corker’s appointment to the review panel was obviously not random.

Once Roglieri made his final decision, he would need Arthur Sorey’s approval of the new employee’s contract.

In fact, Arthur Sorey had already approved Paola Pierre as a “temporary” employee a mere 21 days before she was permanently hired as Assistant Personnel Manager.

The fix was definitely in.

Interestingly, when Susan Luglio retired, her pay range and step was listed as 32-9, the “9” indicating that she was at the top of her pay scale for her position.  She was earning $40.11 an hour.

According to the the Early Retirement Incentive Program, replacement employees should have been hired at “salaries equal to 30% less than the members they are replacing.”

A 30% salary reduction amounts to hiring replacement employees at least three steps below that of the retiring employee.

In Luglio’s case, her replacement, especially a brand new employee from outside the City of North Miami, should only have received a starting salary of no more than $28.08 per hour, and have a pay range range and step of no higher than 32-6.

Newly hired Assistant Personnel Manager Paola Pierre, however, was hired at a pay range and step of 32-8, just one step below the employee she replaced who had been a 20+ year employee of the city.  Pierre’s starting salary was $39.73 per hour.

Instead of the reduction of payroll costs envisioned by the Mayor and Council in November of 2013, this outrageous violation of the terms – and the spirit – of the ERIP ended up costing North Miami taxpayers an additional $24,232.00 per year.

And that’s based on only ONE city employee’s salary!

This is also not including the ADDITIONAL PENSION COSTS that North Miami will now have to contribute to this new employee’s retirement plan.

One can only imagine how many other overpaid replacement employees have been hired or promoted since the ERIP was implemented!

Then again, it’s the taxpayers’ money being wasted, not Arthur Sorey’s.  Why should he care?

Even more incredulous, in a Memorandum signed on November 17, 2015 from Personnel Director Joseph Roglieri, Jr. to Interim City Manager Arthur Sorey regarding the Re-organization of Personnel Department, Roglieri wrote that the “Assistant Director has indicated that she needs $82,644 to accept the position.”

Mr. Roglieri then went on to state, “This salary is appropriate, but may cause compression issues with my own, therefore, my wages should be adjusted to maintain separation and to ensure parity with the Purchasing Director, as we had discussed.”

Although the Memorandum was signed on November 17, 2015, the promised “wage adjustment” had already been in the works for days, which explains the “mysterious” pay raise he received on November 16, 2015 which I mentioned above.

By opening up this job opportunity to the general public instead of promoting from within, the management violated the city’s own Civil Service Rules, and especially the Career Employment Opportunity Program.

As I mentioned earlier, city employee Takisha Williams, on the other hand, who is at least as qualified, if not more so, would have received a much deserved raise, but she would not have cost the city nearly as much money in new pension contributions.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Ms. Williams is considering filing a discrimination lawsuit against the city as we speak.

At least, I hope she does.

As I noted above, it would take a small army of forensic auditors to find out if these questionable hiring practices are even more widespread throughout the city.  I only examined one department, but I can think of at least six more departments that should be audited.

And that’s not even including the police department, which we already know is a complete disaster under Chief Lenny’s “leadership.”

Hopefully, when Larry Spring starts running the show on March 23, 2016, he’ll finally put a stop to all the corruption, cronyism and government waste that’s been going on in North Miami for well over a decade.

North Miami residents deserve better.

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”