Independent mayoral hopeful Gary Lawton said he's concerned that city Comptroller Glenn Klocko is "spreading himself too thin and Bristol could pay the price."
"In these hard economic times, his focus should be 100 percent Bristol and its future," Lawton said.
Klocko is working as a part-time consultant for a few months for the town of Westbrook to help it gets its financial house in order and create a finance director position of its own. He said this week he would work for Westbrook only on his own time.
Lawton said, though that the arrangement could hurt Bristol. He also questioned how anyone would know if Klocko is playing it straight.
"If he plans on only consulting before work, during his lunch and when he goes home, who is going to monitor this? I mean, if he comes in at 10 in the morning, is anyone going to be at the Westbrook town hall or if he has to get out late at night, who is going to be there waiting for his call?" Lawton asked.
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
27 comments:
Hafta agree with Lawton on this one although he is not the only one questioning it. Does Klocko really think people don't know he is using his own computer in his Bristol office to do his own work? Is the Personel Director aware of his activities?
Is Art Ward aware of what Klocko does do and doesn't do?
Mr. Lawton,
In 1865 - The United States passed the 13th Amendment making slavery illegal.
Just because Mr. Klocko is a Bristol employee doesn't mean we own him.
What a person does in their own spare time is their own business.
Are you proposing that if you become Mayor you will not do anything but serve Bristol 24/7?
Won't we be lucky!
I dont think anywere did we say the city owns him,but if he were to make a mistake and it hurts the city then who is to blame. You are right he can do as he wants, but as long as it does not hurt the city in anyway and if one night he is tired and maybe in doing some city buisness he is not fully attentive to what he is doing and makes a mistake are you willing to perhaps pay for that , thats all I am saying.
As far as 24/7 from what i am hearing i should be available as much as possible 24/7 maybe extreme but who is to say it might not happen.
Employee rules at any large corporation are as follows:
1) Employees must receive approval from HR that the outside work being contemplated is not considered a conflict of interest with their own job.
2) Employees must not use their work computers to do any freelance work - to do so is considered a breach of security.
Klocko should abide by these rules and use his own laptop on his own time to do outside work.
3:29
Do you really think that Klocko will not be:
using the city computer
using the city phone
Taking time off to do Westbrook work, when he might be needed here
And so on.
Based on our current situation, we might be better off.
What if he is tired and makes a mistake?
What if an off duty police officer (no offense folks) goes out for a couple beers to watch the Sox the night before - should she/he be stopped? He/She might be tired the next day and make a mistake?
What is a town council member in their own time plays 18 holes the day of a council meeting - they may be too tired to make the right decision.
Where am I going? Personal freedom.
We also have a system of checks and balances in government to prevent or mitigate ONE individual from making a costly mistake.
Too much is being made of a non-issue.
You have got to be kidding to think that he will not abuse city resources for this venture. Let us think about this work day. He starts at 8:30 and has an hour for lunch and gets out at 5:00. Okay, now that seems simple enough. He lives in Southington, there is no private Internet access in city hall, no private land lines either. (most cell phone coverage is poor in the building also) So we have to go from the third floor to outside somewhere to use a laptop with a wireless connection or to make a phone call, and if anyone has a wireless connection you know how slow they can be. This would leave about 30 minutes to do some work on lunch, without eating.
Now I don't know where he lives in Southington, so lets say he gets home around 5:30, this would leave plenty of time to do the one half hour of work to make the $32 he would earn if he worked 5 hours a week for the whole year.
Good luck to him if he can do this.
Who am I kidding he can get this one hour in sitting at his desk while he is conferencing with Southington's BOF and Westbrook's Comptrollers office Maybe Artie and Diane can sit it to give them some advice on how to drive a town to the gutter.
The most important part being overlooked here is the role of the supervisor, in this case, the mayor.
Kudos to Ward for trusting a department head enough to allow him to take on these additional personal responsibilities. It reflects well on Bristol that other towns are seeking our advice and counsel.
The challenge now becomes supervision. That's what is necessary to ensure Bristol isn't short changed here. I would argue that there is no demonstrated supervision skill presented by any of our mayoral candidates. That's where the problems can come in.
This is a bad move on Klocko's Part. Where is Ward on this???????
He already does Southington work on Bristol time, why not Westbrook too? Just check his computer logs.
9:36 PM unequivocally stated: He [Klocko] already does Southington work on Bristol time....
And you know this how?
A mayor's job IS 24/7. A mayor is called at all times of the day and night for so many things... the average citizen has no idea. Why do you think mayors, governors and presidents age so much during their terms? It is 24/7, it is a huge responsiblity, it is a fishbowl, and it can be very lonely. So many of your "friends" disappear when things don't go well, just when you need them most. I give a lot of credit to Ward, Stortz, and all the other mayors who have served us.
I challenge, I dare the mayor, to publish Klockos computer log!
Artie???
Klocko will be doing work other than Bristols on Bristol's dime, he always has. Klocko is the worst offender of City Hall rules.
Cell phones work very well in City Hall.
Mr. Lawton, you are on the right track.
The city acts like a slavemaster for the rest of City Hall employees, but not the good old boys. Ward's not the first Mayor to have his blinders on after taking office.
yeah, this is a tricky one.......
klocko probably doesn't make enough on bristols' salary alone, so other work is probably necessary.....
on the other hand, spreading yourself too thin will undoubtedly cause mistakes somewhere......
this guy has done a good job for bristol, and i'd hate to see him pack up and leave over this....
maybe the official job description should be redefined to state that only so much outside consulting is allowed.....
certainly is a tricky one, but one that should be addressed.....
-billy from bristol
Where is Ward on all of this?
Glenn Klocko got paid $120,000 for his job in Bristol this past year, it's outrageous to even suggest that he doesn't earn enough and has to find part time work elsewhere.
Good move Gary.
Shows that you are one step ahead of the Republicans who should be all over this!
3:57
100% correct!
Republican Town Committee should be ALL OVER this.
Lets go TJ, do something!
7:55
Nah, the Republicans would rather beat up on Stortz, than go after Klocko or Ward.
Makes no sense to me, but it does remind me what Frank Johnson used to say: the Republicans eat their own"
Anyone who thinks for a minute Klocko won't do his part time job on Bristol time is extremely naive. He and other department heads know how to play the games so they don't get caught. Certainly hope come November, they get caught in their own game.
Mayor, are you going to review Klockos computer use and report to us????????
Mayor, are you there?
He is probably on vacation again.
Mayor: since when do the mayor report to blogers. don't let these blog losers bait you. Klocko is a good and valuble employee. He knows the rules. its his job like all dept heads to enforc the rules for staff. He has a life before and after Bristol and you guys don't.
Mayors should report to the people and have a responsibility to do so, especially when there are questions and public dollars are at issue!
Of course, Ward may not think so, but that wouldn't be surprising.
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