Mayor Natalie Rogers apologized for giving a village employee an unapproved raise, but some in Ocean Beach are unsatisfied and asking for more information about what exactly happened. The village board refuses to provide any details or answer any questions.
Attorney Kenneth Gray from the village law firm read a short statement on the mayor’s behalf at the August 21 village meeting concerning the union grievance filed by Shoshanna McCollum. The grievance concerned the salary of a member of the village administrative staff, Susan Cafuoco. According to the grievance, Mayor Rogers granted Cafuoco a significant salary increase in violation of the union contract the village had signed that stipulated that all village employees would receive a 3.5-percent raise. Cafuoco apparently received a 12.8-percent raise, according to village officials and the union grievance. She also receives health benefits to which she is not entitled, according to the grievance. In addition, village officials said the mayor had granted the raise without their prior knowledge and in violation of the uniform pay raises the village had agreed to give all employees.
“I have been authorized by the mayor to say that an error in judgement was made by her, in the setting of Susie Cafuco’s current salary and that will be corrected,” Gray said. “On advice of counsel, nothing further will be said by anyone on the board during the pendency of the related union grievance.”
Ocean Beach resident Steve Himes said during the meeting that “It’s very important that errors like this are brought to light and corrected,” adding that he hoped some sort of protection for “whistleblowers” was in or would be put in place – an apparent reference to McCollum.
“You didn’t answer the question of whether Ms. Cafuoco will return to her previous title,” Himes said, referring to the promotion Cafuoco was given in what McCollum claims was an attempt to explain away the unusual raise once word of it became public.
The board declined comment to Himes’s inquiries, and soon the meeting had moved on to other topics.
Cafuoco’s pay has been corrected and the village is currently investigating what to do about her medical insurance, to which as a part-time employee she is not entitled, one source said. The source was unsure whether Cafuoco had retained her new job title, been demoted to her old title, or been given a new title altogether.
Word of the raise and a tightlipped village administration have left many in Ocean Beach wondering what exactly went on and how concerned they should be.
“If her board said no one is to get a raise other than the 3.5-percent and then she decided at a different time after her board said ‘no’ to give that raise, that’s bad,” said Catherine Wolkoff, who challenged Mayor Rogers in the 2002 election, when contacted by The News. “That’s really bad.”
“Even the apology was done where nobody was allowed to question anything,” Wolkoff continued. “There would have been a lot of questions from the audience so people would have had more of an idea of how upset they were going to be.”
Ocean Beach resident Andrew Was also took issue with the gag-order attitude the board has expressed to discussing the issue publicly.
“The fact that there was by Mayor Rogers unilateral action against a majority of the board to increase the pay raise of Ms. Cafuoco, and the deal that was made not to have it discussed at the meeting on Saturday, are examples of a unilateral decisions that cannot be tolerated by the Ocean Beach community, and I call for her resignation,” Was said when contacted by The News.
“Ignorance is never a good quality to have,” he said. “Lack of information is always a bad situation that doesn’t allow you to make an informed decision.”
Another village resident who has been attending community board meetings for four years and asked not to be named said, “Not to discuss it and to use the attorney way of doing it means maybe there’s more fire to the smoke. Unfortunately, it was a very bad choice.”
“Apparently it was resolved satisfactorily to everyone, probably, except Susan Cafuoco,” said Ocean Beach resident Judith Steinman. “They were very clear they were not going to discuss it.”
Some regular attendees of community board meetings felt that it was addressed enough for their tastes, including resident Edith Charlton.
“It’s like beating a dead horse,” Charlton said. “You could have, I guess, discussed it ad infinitum but there was no need for it.”