Smart move or 'here we go again?'
Ralph Valenzisi has been appointed by Manny Rivera for the technology job, but not before Rivera increased the salary and changed the title of the position. We all remember Ralph. He worked in Norwalk and left (I believe) to work for Manny Rivera.
So, is this a smart move, a repetition of what happened in Rochester (appointment of friends with added salary), and/or a ' we are hiring a past employee' - why???? kind of decision.
You tell me......
Every BOE member voted for the re-org. plan that increased the salary and the duties for the position.
ReplyDeleteSad to see Haynie refuses to support Manny with Dadonna's contract- guess her vendetta more important than supporting the superintendent.
Isn't it good that Supt Rivera can bring back a solid professional? Come on, let's not look for trouble where none exists.
ReplyDeleteFor Haynie and Barbis to vote against Dadonna is sad- they had their love affair with Marks, slammed anyone who didn't support her blindly, but now they both vote against the deputy the new superintendent said he wanted.
Uhmmm, we give Daddona a $7500 raise yet we take away benefits from employees with 20+ years? Can we afford this when we have a $2+ mm budget gap next year?
DeleteDaddona's raise was contractual. He took a three year freeze. Do you understand the difference between contractual and increase in salary because of additional duties. Daddona did NOT get an increase in salary because of his new responsibilities. He was the only one who did not.
DeleteDid they vote 'against' Dadonna or against his $7200 'raise.' I can think of a few library aides that might have an opinion on that.
ReplyDeleteMore than just a few librarians, how about those 15 or 20 Group 6 secretaries who had their hours/pay cut? But have been given more work. Where is this money coming from? I thought NPS was short on money. Rumor has it that the money from the secretaries cuts is paying one "principal on special duty" in central office? Is that true? Repulsive!!!
ReplyDeleteDaddona got a 2% raise- but didn't get a raise before that for 3 years.
ReplyDeleteThe principal on special assignment is part of the lingering hangover from the Susan Marks binge. From what I heard, Marks paid lip service to teachers, but never put any complaints in that personnel file. Guess what? Couldn't fire her, but had to move her out of her school
You want to talk about repulsive- read Fred Wilms' comments in The Hour- justifying stealing money from the school department that our kids need. But what do you expect from Moccia's mouthpiece?
I'm not someone who paints elected officials with broad brush strokes. So I've never been one to think of Moccia as "anti-education". He just doesn't like to pay for it.
DeleteIf you look at the history of his BET- he has after all nominated all of them- they find excuses to take money away from the schools. This "insurance" scam is the latest. Years ago, the BET reduced school funding when federal stimulus money was paid to school districts. They did the same thing when Norwalk got a small bump in priority school money from the state. Now, they take a piece of the surplus to pay off a "loan", but nobody has ever offered an agreement about how this "loan" was supposed to be paid.
I don't think I'm alone thinking that Moccia and his crew can't be trusted to properly fund our kids' schools.
Get your facts right ... Dadonna has had raises ... in fact he's up $20,000 over the last five years. Must be nice!
DeleteDear RedApple,
DeleteWouldn't you want raises when everyone else is getting large raises? Daddona did take a freeze for the last 3 years. You sure know how to spin to make Daddona look bad. Truthfully, he should have had a contractual raise and a promotional raise because of his new responsibilities. He will now be doing the superintendent's daily work. Spin! Spin! Spin!
Valenzisi was not memorable, as far as I remember. A real search would have yielded a credentialed candidate who would have brought new blood to Norwalk. In my opinion, this is the Rochester Rivera manipulating a great raise so that a friend could be appointed to the position. As for Daddona, why shouldn't he take his contractual raise? He was the only one not given a huge increase in salary with the new title. Actually, he didn't get any increase in salary. He just got his contractual increase after taking a freeze for three years.
ReplyDelete1. Valenzisi did the job he got with Norwalk in the private sector. Seems like he's qualified.
ReplyDelete2. The entire BOE approved the reorg. plan that had all the salaries. Why didn't we complain then? I think Rivas and Collorossi asked questions about the salaries. No one else did.
3. Dadonna suffered under Haynie's nonsense and Lyons looking the other way. Whatever good will got him to take furlough days and no raise for years, Lynn Sue Daley Haynie ended.
4. It was nice to Moccia sticking up for Dadonna when Haynie voted against him-- wait, he didn't. Guess that tells you a lot about his loyalty. So much for Moccia's orders to his "team" to stand behind Manny.
5. Read Barbis' comments about the City grabbing BOE surplus. Barbis is right- good job, Mike. Too bad he didn't have a Finance Commmittee meeting to expose the Moccia-Wilms underhanded dealing.
Haynie and Barbis, get your facts straight, seven and a half furlough days a year that was given back by Daddona amounts to about $18,000 given back to the Board. $20,000 - $18,000 = $2,000 over five years. That's the lowest administrative raise in the district. This appears to be harassment. We all know Haynie is Daddona's biggest basher. Haynie approved a $20,000 increase in salary for the IT Director. If Daddona's smart, he will get an attorney.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't he already have one...Steve?
DeleteAlthough Mr. Dadonna has never retained me, thousands of Norwalk voters retained me four years ago to fight for the interests of their fellow taxpayers, families and students.
DeleteI've been proud to represent them ever since- even when it's meant taking a stand against Norwalk's vested political interests.
6:22, Haynie was not the only one that agreed with a $20K increase.
ReplyDeleteHaynie is the only one who agreed to the 23,000 dollar raise for Valencizi (who was obviously going to get the job) but who voted against Daddona's contractual raise. Therefore it wasn't about money.
DeleteFunny to see the bullies haven't learned that Steve C. fights back.
ReplyDeleteKeep fighting, Steve. Keep focused on doing what's right for us!
There were no interviews for the IT job. Rivera knew all along who he wanted. He increased the salary for Ralph.
ReplyDelete