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HAZLETON — Documentation included with the city’s proposed 2017 budget has at least one council member questioning what exactly is going on in the Office of Community Development.
The total compensation budget, prepared by city Administrator Tom Pribula, lists Joe Zeller as the director of the office with a salary of $56,600 and a date of hire of January 2016. Current Community Development Director Fallon Fermin is listed as receiving a salary of $42,000, but with no title.
Councilwoman Grace Cuozzo questioned if Mayor Jeff Cusat appointed a new department head by means of a spreadsheet.
“Fallon will remain as director,” Cusat said. “That was a typographical error.”
Cusat said Monday that Zeller now is the Community Development economic development officer, a full-time position, and the head of recreation, a part-time position.
Seventy-eight percent of his salary will come from the Community Development budget and 22 percent will come from the recreation department budget.
Zeller’s position was the subject of heated debate among council members and attendees of council meetings early this year.
Zeller was originally hired to fill Fermin’s position while she was on maternity leave. A memo issued by the mayor on Jan. 4 named Zeller an “executive assistant and director of recreation.”
At a council meeting in March, Cusat said monies for Zeller’s salary came from three sources: the Office of Community Development, the Recreation Department and the general fund.
Cuozzo also questioned if Cusat’s most recent projected expenditures for the Office of Community Development were inconsistent with the Community Development’s budget passed by ordinance in October. That ordinance lists expenditures for salary at $120,000, with the most recent document listing collective salaries for the department at $141,500.
