Fulgenzi, McCarthy War of Words Continues in Mount Pleasant
The infighting between Mount Pleasant Supervisor Carl Fulgenzi and Councilman Denis McCarthy ramped up a notch last week after the two officials bickered over transparency and the process surrounding a recent town hire.
McCarthy, who failed to receive the town Republican Committee’s nomination last month and has vowed to force a primary in September, has questioned the town’s efforts to better communicate with residents, the subject of an article in the June 6-12 issue of The Examiner.
While McCarthy applauded the effort of Councilman Nicholas DiPaolo, he has been sharply critical of Fulgenzi, charging that the supervisor has been ineffective at getting public meetings videotaped. There had been a period of about eight months where meetings were not shown on the town’s public access channels.
McCarthy also said the town board has left the public in the dark regarding issues discussed in executive session and failed to properly publicize the vacant receiver of taxes position. That job is now held by Grace Papa on an interim basis.
“The basic premise of all democratic-republic forms of government is to properly notify the public of any pending government action in order to encourage public input and comment,” McCarthy stated. “Unfortunately, this board has failed to uphold this basic premise on several occasions, most recently by failing to properly notify the public of the vacancy for the receiver of taxes position. The majority of the board neither communicated the existence of this vacancy nor was willing to explore the most qualified applicant, but instead decided to keep the position as a political one.”
Fulgenzi took issue with McCarthy’s comments, saying he failed to understand his job as councilman and hasn’t been a team player. He is also frequently unresponsive in communicating with other board members, he said.
“I did not want to go down this road with Denis, but if he is going to continue to spew lies and deception to try to improve his position then he will need to be corrected,” Fulgenzi said. “His statement about executive sessions is full of inaccuracies. The board is required to go into executive session when sensitive information about an employee is being discussed. That is the law to protect an employee’s information and privacy.”
Fulgenzi said McCarthy has been unfamiliar with town employees as opposed to the remainder of the board, accounting for his comment that he didn’t know Papa. The majority of the board concluded she was well-qualified, he said.
Requests for positions are often received from existing employees and town residents seeking employment. Being familiar with existing employees and many residents is crucial to serving, Fulgenzi said.
“He had a friend he wanted to promote. Four out of five members agreed with our choice. We made sure through the advice of the town attorney that the process was followed correctly,” Fulgenzi said.
Last week, McCarthy also accused the town board of retaliating against him. He said his postings related to some of these issues had been abruptly removed from the town board’s Facebook page.
Tensions escalated during the June 13 town board meeting when the board voted 3-1 to appoint Danielle Drake as second deputy town clerk at a $49,991 salary. Drake would take over the duties of the town clerk and the first deputy if they are unavailable, said Town Clerk June Scova.
McCarthy objected to the board’s process in the hiring, saying it failed to make a motion during the public portion of the meeting and stating it was headed into executive session. It also didn’t identify the general topic that would be discussed, he said.
“I strongly believe that the process and procedures of government are more important than the outcomes. If the process is compromised there is no democracy,” McCarthy said.
Furthermore, he said the newly created position was unnecessary and officials failed to justify its need to the public.
“Thank you for your civics lesson,” Fulgenzi said to McCarthy moments before the board vote on the resolution.
The supervisor described McCarthy’s comments about the lack of broadcasts of town meetings as “ludicrous.” Fulgenzi explained that the interruption in showing the meetings was a result of needed equipment being mistakenly removed by individuals working at Valhalla High School that would have allowed the meetings to air. When the town learned of the cause of the problem, new equipment was obtained and installed at town hall, he said.
Fulgenzi added that the town does not control broadcast schedules, but when there are problems the cable companies are contacted.
Earlier this month Fulgenzi said town website improvements, posting videos of board meetings on the site, e-mailing meeting agendas and creating an emergency alert system for residents have been examples of improved communication with the public.
