City Hall: The Honeymoon's over?

UPDATE:  I was told that I failed to link to the P-G article.  That's been corrected.

There's a lot of material in this Rich Lord article, so we’d better get started.

A controversial nomination to the City of Pittsburgh's top public safety post stalled yesterday, as a key councilman questioned its relevance and a police commander accused the nominee of sweeping a discipline problem under the carpet.

So there's two issues here.

Last week, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl picked Dennis Regan, already his director of operations, to add the post of public safety director to his portfolio. The nomination, subject to council approval, was portrayed as a bookkeeping measure to clarify how discipline is meted out in the police, fire, emergency medical services and building inspection bureaus, but has turned into a political headache.

Especially if you have two heads.

This might be another of the young administration's stumbles:

"We have to spend some time looking at the information regarding the public safety director position," said Mr. Ravenstahl. The concerns that emerged yesterday are "something that I'm going to take a serious look at, and it's safe to say that nothing will be going forward" this week.

City Council President Doug Shields said changes in the city code made in 1998 made the public safety post irrelevant, and chided the new Ravenstahl administration for not checking that prior to making the nomination.

"The appointment is unwarranted, and there is no legal basis for it," he said. "I'm taking the time to figure [the code] out. I wish others would do the same."

Maybe Mayor Luke should read the city code during study hall. But this is just regular stuff - the big news follows:

Zone 1 Cmdr. Catherine McNeilly, meanwhile, dropped a bombshell in an e-mail to the mayor and all council members inferring that Mr. Regan was involved in preventing discipline against the brother of his housemate.

The e-mail said that Detective Francis M. Rende, a 14-year veteran of the force, "has been charged with disciplinary action numerous times for a host of charges."

Detective Rende, 49, is the brother of Marlene Cassidy, a senior secretary in the Ravenstahl administration who lives with Mr. Regan in Point Breeze. [emphasis added]

Why do I feel like these two issues are connected? Remember installing Regan

...was portrayed as a bookkeeping measure to clarify how discipline is meted out in the police, fire, emergency medical services and building inspection bureaus...[emphasis added]

So Rende is the brother of Marlene Cassidy who lives with Regan. Why do I feel like I'm about to read something that's gonna make me scratch my head in utter disbelief?

In June, Ms. McNeilly wrote, she completed a Disciplinary Action Report accusing Detective Rende of calling in sick 37 times over four years so he could work side jobs. Police sick leave policy doesn't allow officers to call off for the purpose of working secondary employment, she wrote, adding that she charged Detective Rende with "Incompetency, Conduct Unbecoming an Officer, Neglect of Duty and Obedience to Orders and Laws."

By August, she wrote, she had received no update on any disciplinary action against Detective Rende, and asked about its status.

"The morning following my inquiry, Mr. Dennis Regan appeared at Zone 1 Station unannounced, asking for me," she wrote, "but I was at a Command Staff Meeting, so Mr. Regan left.

"I was then told that my [report] was subsequently 'withdrawn' without my consultation or input" she wrote, which is "not usual protocol."

Here I am a-scratchin' and a-disbelievin'.

But it's even more complicated than that. From the article it looks like someone's not following the usual procedures. Discipline can only happen after an officer is "counselled" about his/her absences.

The Post-Gazette has learned that on Aug. 10, Deputy Chief Earl Woodyard Jr. told Cmdr. McNeilly the report was "withdrawn on the advice of the City of Pittsburgh Law Department."

He said that Detective Rende's supervisors didn't comply with department rules that call for a supervisor to ask an officer if he has a continuing health problem when there is believed to be an abuse of sick leave. Once that counseling has occurred, discipline can occur if the abuse continues, he said.

So let's see if I can figure this out. Rende's supervisors (for some reason) didn't comply with department rules and didn't "counsel" him on his absences and so McNielly's "Disciplinary Action Report" wasn't the proper procedure - and that's why it was dropped?

What about all those absences? Are they or aren't they against the rules? And why didn't Rende's supervisors counsel him about them?

But the P-G does get in a few parting shots over Regan. In the middle of nowhere, Lord writes:

Mr. Regan was a confidant of Mr. O'Connor who became his top aide. Two months after he joined the administration, the Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority hired Ms. Cassidy's daughter to a $32,000 job, and the Pittsburgh Housing Authority hired her son to a $36,000 post.

Both authorities are run by boards appointed by the mayor.

Uh-oh. Hey, how do I get one of those jobs? Looks like I'm outa luck, not being related to the woman living with Dennis Regan and all. Bummer.

But let's get back to the article. It gets murkier and murkier.

The effort to enhance Mr. Regan's public safety role drew criticism from Councilman William Peduto, who pointed out last week that he has no public safety experience.

Cmdr. McNeilly seconded that sentiment, writing that the public safety post "can be a very influential and dangerous position -- one that is better left unfilled rather than filled by someone who is unqualified and unknowledgeable about the bureaus within the Department of Public Safety."

Mr. Ravenstahl said he would look at all of the concerns expressed about the nomination.

"My number one priority is to make sure that politics stays out of the decision-making process," the mayor said.

So I guess we can assume that Mayor Luke's installation of Regan into the post of public safety director had nothing to do with politics. I mean the mayor's "number one priority" is keeping politics out of the process, right? Don't tell Jim Motznik that:

Council was expected to interview Mr. Regan this week, and vote next week, but that process is on hold, Mr. Shields said. He said the city code already treats the heads of public safety bureaus as department heads, so as the law is now written, there's no provision for a director above them. He said he will ask today for a Law Department opinion on that issue.

A rival councilman, Jim Motznik, accused Mr. Shields of "trying to duck a tough vote" by coming up with an excuse not to address Mr. Regan's nomination. "If you can't handle the tough ones, step aside and let someone else do it," he urged in an e-mail.

Do I need to remind anyone that Motznik wanted the position Shields holds now?

Yea, we're keeping politics out of it.

Are things really that messy in City Hall?

One thing's for sure - the Honeymoon's over.