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Anna Sadauckas

By BONNIE ADAMS badams@leader.net
 Tuesday, December 28, 2004 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1A 





The Pittston Housing Authority Board is seeking a policy waiver so the
board's chairman can serve in the $60,000-a-year post of acting executive
director. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Board Solicitor Michael Butera said the board is awaiting the waiver from
the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Policy prevents chairman
Jerry Shovlin from serving as acting executive director. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The permanent executive director post is a state Civil Service Commission
position, but temporary appointees such as Shovlin do not have to be on the
Civil Service list. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 However, they must have the same two to four years of professional
administrative supervisory experience plus education requirements as permanent
directors, according to State Civil Service Commission spokesman Jack
McGettigan. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Shovlin, who operates an automotive repair business, was appointed as
acting director in November. He referred questions to the solicitor. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It's a stopgap measure until we find a permanent executive director," said
board Solicitor Michael Butera. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 McGettigan said an acting director must meet the same education and
experience requirements as a permanent director. He said the state must
certify any such appointment. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Butera said the Housing Authority board had received prior approval from
the Civil Service Commission for Shovlin's appointment. McGettigan on Monday
said he could not confirm that the authority had done so. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The job requires a bachelor's degree and supervisory housing authority or
residential property management experience or a combination equal to two years
of professional administrative supervisory experience. Butera said he does not
know if Shovlin has a degree but he has been helping the acting director
Andrea Grigas to run the Housing Authority. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Grigas, a longtime authority administrative assistant, was promoted in May
2001 to acting executive director after the death of Joseph Infantino. Butera
said Grigas is "overtaxed" and no longer wants the job. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Housing Authority board oversees 300 federally subsidized housing units
in Pittston. Board members do not receive pay. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Butera said Shovlin's appointment is not a conflict of interest. If
anything, Butera called it a "convergence of interest" that benefits the
Housing Authority because Shovlin has helped Grigas with the job. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He said the board's four other members, attorney Tom Cometta, Mauer
Biscotti, Joseph Tavaglione and Anthony Guariglia, voted for Shovlin to serve
as acting director. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I think the board feels that Jerry's been doing (the job) anyway," Butera
said. Biscotti has since resigned because he moved from Pittston and was
replaced by Pittston Area School Superintendent Frank Serino. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Commission guidelines say a temporary appointment can be for no longer than
12 months. Grigas served in the post for more than three years. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 McGettigan noted the 12-month limit and said the rules do not provide for
an extension. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Butera said Pittston Housing Authority policy states the director must be a
Pittston resident. Butera said there was one person on the Civil Service list
and that person is from Hazleton. Shovlin lives in Pittston. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Civil Service requires a housing authority executive director to have
three years of professional administrative supervisory experience in a housing
authority or publicly or privately owned government subsidized housing and a
bachelor's degree. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Those rules say a director can instead have four years of professional
administrative experience in residential property management, including two
years of supervisory experience, and a bachelor's degree. Or the director can
have any equivalent combination of experience and training equaling two years
of professional administrative supervisory experience. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 There have been questions about the Housing Authority's hiring practices in
the past. The authority hired Charles Infantino as its project manager on a
permanent basis in August 2001. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Rather than hiring from the Civil Service list when the post opened in May
2001, the authority waited three months until it obtained a new civil service
list that included Infantino. Another candidate questioned the hiring. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Bonnie Adams, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7241. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Board Wants Shovlin At Helm Pittston: Housing Authority Board's Chair Would Serve In $60,000 Post If Waiver Granted.