plumbing inspector

Current State law requires the City of Batavia to have a plumbing inspector, and some of the City Council want to see the job filled.

At Monday's council meeting, City Manager Jason Molino called the requirement for a plumbing inspector an antiquated law and City Attorney George Van Nest argued that  the city has done everything it can to fill the position, which is all it's required to do.

Council members Tim Buckley, Rose Mary Christian and Bob Bialkowski all urged City staff to fill the position.

Bialkowski called it a "public health issue."

"Even though state law says code enforcement can do it, you’re not a plumber," Bialkwoski said. "You don’t know what you’re looking at."

Not necessarily, Molino said.

Currently, the city's code enforcement officers are performing plumbing inspections. Molino said they are trained and licensed by New York for such inspections and in towns and villages across the state, code enforcement officers handle plumbing inspection duties.

Only cities, under current state law, are required to have a certified plumbing inspector.

The Town of Amherst, Molino noted, which is larger than Batavia, uses code enforcement officers for plumbing inspections.

"There is no public health risk," Molino said.

Van Nest noted that there are efforts underway to get the state law changed.

"It’s not like there are some safety issues there that are going unaddressed, because these people are certified code enforcement officials for New York State with all licensing and training," Van Nest said.

The topic was opened in public comments by Batavia resident David Pero, who said he has 40 years experience in plumbing.

"Plumbing has to do with public health," Pero said. "Do the right thing council, put back what is right. We are a city, therefore protect our taxpayers. Plumbing inspecting should be done by a qualified master plumber."

After Barb Toal retired as the city's inspector, Ron Toal stepped in on an interim basis, but then quit June 2. Molino issued an emergency declaration to allow the city's code enforcement officers to take over the duties since no certified inspector had been identified.

Batavia City Council's latest public spectacle has its fair share of drama and opinion. On the stage for this act is the story of the plumbing inspector, Barb Toal, whose friends claim was wronged by the city by being demoted. In the past few weeks, the Daily News has featured three articles on this topic, plus a lengthy and impassioned letter to the editor.

But before we get into the details of last night's Council meeting, let's step back and look at the issue from a distance. Back in March, Joanne Beck wrote an article for the Daily detailing the city's decision to demote Barb Toal from full- to part-time in her position as the city's plumbing inspector. At the time, the Council was looking to cut as much as they could from the budget to lower the tax rate and start chipping away at the city's deficit.

At that time, Council was working out the plans for the police dispatch consolidation, trimming down a couple of city posts—including Toal's—and reducing funding in some other areas, as well. Beck wrote: "Those moves are to get the tax rate increase down from an initial 10 percent to about 8.5 percent for a difference of $12 a year less on a home assessed at $85,000."

Toal, then, was informed in March that she would be reduced to part-time—City Manager Jason Molino issued a statement to Council that said Toal was informed even earlier, in January. So why all the uproar now? Why was the Council boardroom "filled" with people protesting Toal's demotion last night, as Dan Fischer reported, and not in March? One of our readers put it succinctly in a comment left on our post yesterday: "Isn't this a dead issue." The decision was made nearly nine months ago.

Toal herself made some noise about the decision back then. She told the Council that the decision could affect public health. From that article in March:

"It's about the future of public health and welfare of the citizens of Batavia. I think it will have an adverse affect in the long run," Toal said. "It saddens my heart how safe and secure our world we live in is, and that the city has forgotten our public health ... that they think the position is only valid part of the time. There's much more to the plumbing inspector job than counting the number of permits issued each year."

Since then, we've heard nothing, until a few weeks ago, when Beck wrote another article in advance of the actual demotion. That was followed by a letter to the editor asking people to support Barb Toal. Then came Monday's article by Beck in advance of last night's meeting, and the article today wrapping up that meeting. That's a lot of coverage all at once. So why weren't more efforts made in the meantime if folks feel so strongly about this—and they certainly seem so: seven people spoke up about Toal's position at the meeting last night, according to Beck. I've never seen even three people speak up at a meeting on a single topic, if even two.

In Beck's article from today, she writes:

(Toal) passed a Civil Service test for the job description more than 19 years ago and has continuously kept her certification up to date, she said. She didn't need to take another test to prove she's qualified, she said. Candidates for the code enforcement job had to pass a Civil Service test. Toal did not make it to final rounds or interviews.

But if Toal has already passed a Civil Service test, as she says, why does she say that she doesn't need to take a test to prove her qualifications? Wouldn't her qualifications already have been proven? Furthermore, Toal has already gone through the certification for code enforcement, and she expressed interest in taking the full-time code enforcement position. Instead, that position was given to someone else, who has not yet gone through the certification. Why?

Don't expect any answers from the City Council. They have been "muzzled"—Fischer's word—by George Van Nest, the city attorney, who claims that if anyone from Council talks about the issue, it could open the city up to a lawsuit for violating the privacy of personnel.

Some people have raised the (very good) point that the bottom line here is: Do we need a full-time plumbing inspector? If no, then Toal has to deal with the demotion. It's in the best interest of the city.  But that point was made—or at least argued—in January, when the staff was first informed of cuts, according to Molino, and again in March, when the decision was finalized by Council! Now, this seems to have become a different issue: Barb Toal should have been given the position of full-time code enforcement officer. That seems to be what she's saying—judging from today's article, anyhow. Instead, that position went to someone else. Why? That seems to be the question underlying this whole brouhaha. If Toal had the qualifications, the credentials and the experience, why wasn't she kept on in that position? Couldn't the city just as easily have hired a part-time plumbing inspector who hadn't already put in so many years of service and given Toal the full-time slot?

Well, quite simply, Molino told Council that Toal was never on the Civil Service list for the position of code enforcer. So that's that then. Right? Right...?

We encourage you to pick up a copy of the Daily News at your local newsstand. Or, better yet, subscribe at BataviaNews.com.

Several supporters of Batavia's city plumbing inspector, Barb Toal, plan to come out for the meeting of the City Council this evening, according to the Daily News. They will attend the meeting to decry the recent "downsizing" of Toal from full-time to part-time only two months before she would have made pension. Reporter Joanne Beck found a couple of folks who were especially worked up about what they insist is unfair treatment of Toal, who has put in nearly 20 years in employment with the city

Larry Conway told Beck: "I'm going to holler like hell. ... this is the way they pay her back? It tells me that council has taken the attitude that there's no sentiment in Batavia."

Carol Grasso said: "When the city manager came here to work, he took a raise. That's unbelievable. He didn't blink an eye to take a raise but he can do this? She's a 20-year veteran. I think Barb has paid her dues."

If you wish to attend tonight's meeting, be sure to show up to the board room on the second floor of City Hall (inside the City Centre) by 7:00pm. Public comments will be taken near the beginning of the meeting.

We encourage you to pick up a copy of the Daily News at your local newsstand. Or, better yet, subscribe at BataviaNews.com.

Today's opinion page in the Daily News features a letter to the editor on the topic of the city of Batavia plumbing inspector, who recently had her full-time position cut by the city to part-time and her hours dropped one half-hour below the threshold to qualify for health insurance.

This story was first reported in a great article by Joanne Beck a few weeks back.

In the letter today, authored by Beth Allen and Carol Grasso, the argument is made that Toal was treated unfairly by the city. In fact, the authors put it much more emphatically, when they write: "Someone very near and dear to the heart of this community is being treated with gross injustice." Here's some more:

Her salary was cut in half just two months before she would acheive 20 years of dedication and service to this community. Who made the decision to cut $25,000 at the expense of our public health in the first place? Barb spent her entire life in this county and we can't think of anyone else we know who cares more deeply for it. Then to top things off, she is cut to work only 19 1/2 hours a week instead of the 20 hours a week she would need to have her health insurance and other benefits covered.

Our county has a financial deficit to deal with, but what about the people who live here and make it what it is? Is this how our officials plan on rewarding all of its workers from now on?! Are we teaching our children that dedicating a lifetime of service and professional ability is to be rewarded in this fashion? Who the heck will want to stay in a community like that!!

It's obvious that Allen and Grasso feel very strongly about this. One needn't even consider the doubled-up exclamation points and the flourish of rhetorical questions to understand that. Yet there is much more to be gleaned from this letter than a simple and emphatic request for reinstatement. This letter and the circumstances that led to its being drafted make for a great time to have the conversation of how cities—especially small cities—ought to be run.

How much should municipalities be run like corporations? Because really, if we're to be honest with ourselves, this move of cutting Toal to half time just before she would qualify for pension and edging her hours just right so that the city doesn't have to pay for health insurance—that's a corporate tactic. It saves money. But at the same time, you better believe it carries the message: the individual is not important here. All that is done is done in the name of the greater good. This brings us to the seeming paradox that we, the people of Batavia—or whatever other community, however that community is defined—are the greater good. Yet, at the very same time, we, the people of Batavia, are the Barbara Toals of the community. So which do we favor? Which do we identify with? Because situations such as this, as that which is presented in this letter, make it clear that we have to choose a side.

Beth Allen and Carol Grasso make it quite clear which side they have chosen. At the end of their letter, they list the names, e-mails (where available), addresses and telephone numbers for the city leaders. So, will you send a letter?

In other new, if you're wondering what the municipal bosses and boards are doing in Albion, Shelby, Warsaw and Le Roy, today's Daily News is your kind of newspaper.

Out in Albion, that Village Board has decided to pursue a legal battle to "oust" Ron Vendetti, the village's current code enforcement officer. Vendetti has been accused of "rudeness with residents" and "incompetence on the job."

More such Albion news, along with what went on at the Wyoming County Board of Supervisors meeting, can be found inside the paper. Also, the town of Le Roy will hold a public hearing on the proposed 2009 budget tonight at 7:00pm at the town hall.

We encourage you to pick up a copy of the Daily News at your local newsstand. Or, better yet, subscribe at BataviaNews.com.