Captain Frank's Pension Waiver Not Renewed

Upon hire in January 2006, Harry G. Frank, who retired from the New York City Fire Department after 27 years of service, the last 10 as a battalion chief/commander, said village officials assured him that his pension waiver would be renewed as necessary during his employment as captain of the Garden City Fire Department.

This year, however, Frank said village officials "changed their minds."

Hired from an open, competitive civil service list, Frank said he actually turned down the position the first time it was offered to him due to the uncertainty of the waiver. When the village re-offered him the job approximately a year later, Frank said he was "assured" the waiver issue was addressed and resolved and that the village would "make application for renewal as necessary."

"As of August 31 my waiver expired at which point my New York City Fire Department pension would have been at risk for being frozen if I continued to work," Frank said. "I told [Village Administrator] Bob Schoelle if they were not going to apply for a waiver than I was not going to expose my pension and I was not going to freeze my pension to come to work."

Frank said "in theory," if his salary in Garden City was $50 and his pension was $50 "and they told me I was going to lose half of it, it just didn't make sense to go to work for half of it."

Last summer, the village board of trustees voted on a resolution that enabled the village to re-apply for the waiver, which normally runs a two-year period. The state approved an eight-month waiver, which expired Tuesday.

The state advised the village that they had to administer a test to determine if there were any non-retirees eligible for the position. That test was given in May and results have not yet been published.

Frank said he was under the impression he had a "little leeway" from the time his waiver expired to the time the village had to take action.

"On Thursday I was informed that counsel for the village had been in touch with counsel for the state retirement system, who told them there was no leeway involved and that once my waiver was expired that was it," he said.

When he approached Schoelle about re-applying for an extension, Frank learned that obtaining enough trustee votes to have it approved was unlikely.

"I'm not optimistic at all that they're going to take any action on my behalf," says Frank, speaking candidly with Garden City Patch Wednesday. "I have no confidence at all that they are even going to acknowledge the fact that I am gone or even talk about another vote … There's enough of them there that don't want me. If they wanted me this would have never come to pass."

Frank believes ongoing "resistance" from the department's volunteer side may have influenced the board's deadlocked vote last summer.

Trustees voted on waiver renewals for both Frank and Kevin Ocker, chairman of the board of cultural and recreational affairs. The board voted on each waiver separately, becoming deadlocked with Frank's vote.

Deputy mayor Don Brudie, along with Trustees John Watras, Laurence Quinn and then-fire commissioner Nick Episcopia (whose abstention counted as a no) voted against the renewal while Mayor Robert Rothschild and Trustees Dennis Donnelly, Andrew Cavanaugh and then-trustee John Mauk voted yes. The mayor voted again and it passed. (The board voted 7-1 – Quinn the sole nay vote – in favor of Ocker's pension waiver renewal.)

"In my opinion, the volunteer fire department has flexed some muscle at the trustees and implied that they have a voting block that could make or break a trustee at an election and I think some of the trustees buckled to that threat and chose to support the volunteers as opposed to act in the best interest of the village," Frank said. "The bottom line is the volunteers have not been happy with the additional accountability and training, and standards they've been asked to live up to through me at the direction of the village administrator."

On numerous occasions, Frank said he asked Schoelle if he should continue what he was doing despite that resistance.

"He asked me to do so," he said. "We had a meeting in January with the four chiefs, the mayor and village administrator and then-fire commissioner [Nick] Episcopia. The mayor laid out some ground rules for the volunteer fire department and many of those ground rules they've chosen to ignore."

Chief William Graham said the department's goal is to provide the highest level of service to the residents and businesses of the community. "The chief does not comment on issues related to personnel," he said.

Effective Friday, Aug. 27, Frank served his last day as captain of the department, which is running without that leadership until civil service releases results of those who took the promotional exam.

Schoelle said Wednesday the village lost "an outstanding professional."

He explained that in order to comply with newly enacted regulations of the New York State Civil Service Commission, he requested that the board adopt a resolution authorizing him to file for a Section 211 waiver to extend Captain Frank's employment for an additional two-year period effective Jan. 1, 2010.

According to state civil service law, the waiver allows a person who is retired and collecting a pension to continue employment by a municipal agency in New York State and continue to collect his/her pension. The state's civil service commission granted a waiver from Jan. 1, 2010 to Aug. 31, 2010.

"The limited period of approval through August 31 was granted with the stipulation that the Nassau County Civil Service Commission conduct an examination to determine if any qualified non-retirees are available for appointment," Schoelle said. "An open competitive and a promotional examination were given and a list of candidates has been established by the Nassau Civil Service Commission."

The commission has the authority to grant or extend a waiver. "The waiver expired on August 31, 2010, which resulted in Captain Frank's separation from the incorporated village. He neither was terminated (fired) nor resigned. There is a civil service list for the position," Schoelle said, adding, "I do not know who will replace Captain Frank at this time."

Garden City's is one of only two combination departments on Long Island (Long Beach) with both volunteer and paid firefighters. Captain Frank oversaw the department's paid force from Fire Headquarters and also served as a member of the village's executive staff, regularly attending board meetings and overseeing the department's budget.

Frank said he was in the midst of writing a grant application and working with the Nassau County Office of Emergency Management for shelters. He also noted he co-authored the village's emergency management policy along with Fire Lt. Doyle.

"Now with the hurricane coming up the coast they are without one of the people who would spearhead that coordination," he said.

Mayor Rothschild said Frank has been "an invaluable member" of the department. "Personally, I will acutely miss Capt. Frank's experience, leadership and professional management skills in the efficient operation of the department," he said. "He always required the best from his force to insure the safety and protection of the residents and our commercial district."

Mayor Rothschild added, "Until such time as the position is filled, we expect Chief Graham and all members of the department will step up to fill this void left by Capt. Frank's departure."

The village has put an additional lieutenant on duty to replace Frank in the interim.

"It's kind of ironic that I've done everything I've been asked to do and here I am, I'm the one pretty much being shown the door," Frank said.