Buckle up, this ride is about to get bumpy today. We've been eagerly awaiting information regarding an alleged personal assistant of the Meadville Mayor for quite some time. After a couple of requests, and lots of waiting, we finally received what we were looking for. Since the name of our game is transparency, we are going to share this info with you. So, strap yourselves in, and let's get to it!
Let's start at the very beginning of this dilemma, shall we? Someone tipped us off to a situation, and as any good investigative journalist would do, we did a right-to-know request. Here's a snipping of that;
No problem with the extension, but take careful note of the date of the request. That information will come into play later.
Then, there was the City Council meeting on November 2, 2022, where Chaz Montgomery was listed on the agenda, but subsequently removed.
What did they say when they finally did respond to this right-to-know request?
We accepted what was stated, and moved on. But it always sat in the back of our minds. Especially when someone brought it up again and mentioned that if this independent contractor did work, they would have been paid. That assumption was correct. Chaz Montgomery was paid.
This was his first time sheet. We'll come back to that date at the bottom in a moment. For now, we'll focus on the hours reported. Now, apparently, someone isn't great with math, as evidenced by the hour removed from each day. We do have the corrected timesheets for two of these pay periods. We also wanted to point out October 7, 2022, where Chaz listed that he met "co-workers". That would lead one to believe that Chaz was under the impression he was an employee of the city, not simply an independent contractor of the city.
Be sure you pay special attention to October 5, 2022, and the 17 hours that we paid an independent contractor to attend a Diversity Expo in Harrisburg, PA.
Remember if you will, on November 2, 2022 city council removed the agenda item to approve Chaz as an independent contractor. But that didn't stop him from working after that date and being paid for such.
Let's go back now to the very beginning. The first request for information occurred on October 20, 2022. The first check paid to Chaz Montgomery, as evidenced by the timesheet, was dated October 20, 2022. We know you're probably saying that they must not have had that information. Clearly, to pay a timesheet from October 5-October 14, 2022, they would have had that timesheet in their possession prior to then. We're not one to make assumptions, you should know that by now. We do actually have proof that this information was in the city's possession prior to the date of the first right-to-know request.
(Yes, we blacked out the email addresses. Not all employee's emails are listed on the city website, and Chaz's email is not public information.)
Now we bet you're saying, that doesn't mean it was received by the accounts payable department by October 20, 2022. You'd be naive in that assumption.
What is his amount per hour?
These emails, and the timesheet that Chaz Montgomery was paid on, were received by the city prior to the date of the initial right-to-know request. The first timesheet was paid on the date of the request. A request that was not replied to until November 4, 2022. Meaning that the city was in fact in possession of information pertaining to an employee, contractor, sub-contractor, independent contractor, or otherwise by the name of Chaz Montgomery.
In total, Chaz Montgomery was paid $2,412 from the City Council Budget.
Just for kicks and giggles, this is what the Mayor and Council Members are given in a year. This doesn't include any health benefits or general budget allowances that they would be entitled to.
You likely are questioning if those totals are correct and if we're actually finding the right information to give to you. Enter 2022 Adopted Budget for the City of Meadville;
There still remain some questions; Who "hired" Chaz to begin with? There was nothing presented to city council as an appointment from the city manager, as he wasn't an "employee". Although judging by the wording used, he thought he was an employee. Why was an independent contractor submitting timesheets and not invoices? Why did the city pay an independent contractor to duplicate duties that are already being done by city staff? Why was an independent contractor given access to the Mayor's email and responding to them? Why did we pay an independent contractor to go to a diversity expo? That's like paying a building contractor to take continuing education classes. Does any city pay for building, electrical or other contractors to take classes or attend seminars to further their craft? Not any that we've heard of. But the city of Meadville surely isn't like most cities. And that my friends, is a statement that you can take however you want.
As a disclaimer, we do not fault Chaz Montgomery for his involvement here. He likely did what he thought he was supposed to do, and was likely under the impression that he was hired by the city to do a job. Whoever portrayed this opportunity to him as a job, was likely not in a position to be able to offer said job. The underlying issue here is transparency. Especially when you request information and are not provided with it.
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