I was notified today that contract negotiations for custodians/maintenance
scheduled for Monday has been postponed to an unknown date. The reason given this time? Sciarrillo is no longer representing the
Board during negotiations and there is a new Board Attorney.
The public has the right to know that the Sciarrillo
firm has been billing Lodi throughout the year for custodian contract
negotiations. On multiple occasions I questioned Quatrone and Capizzi why there were
so many bills and why negotiations haven’t yet begun.
The custodian contract should have been taken care of
before Sciarrillo’s contract expired on July 1st. Actually, Sciarrillo was still working for
the Board on this matter after July 1st.
This is more irresponsible behavior and reckless
spending by those at the top. It’s a waste
of tax dollars to pay two Attorneys for the same work. All this money could have gone towards the
contract.
The custodians have been working under an expired
contract for over a year. The Board made
it a top priority this year to renegotiate Quatrone’s contract (20% raise,
$200,000 for unused sick/vacation days).
The Board made it a top priority to negotiate a new contract for Capizzi
months before his contract expired (total one year cost: $197,210). The principals’ contract was taken care of
swiftly (Nancy Cardone’s son is the head of that bargaining unit). Apparently, the custodian contract wasn’t a
priority.
It’s
always wrong when those
at the top don’t lead by example and when any employees are treated unfairly.
I made myself available for every date offered for negotiations. Apparently, the same can’t be said for Lodi’s
two highest paid employees (Quatrone and Capizzi).
There is no excuse for the email that I received
today. There is no excuse why this bargaining
unit’s contract has been dragged out this long.
