November 20, 2009

City to drop local emergency planning position

The city plans to eliminate the part-time local emergency planning coordinator position it created 15 years ago.
Its functions will be shifted to the Capitol Region Emergency Planning Committee beginning in January.
The former chairman of the city’s Salary Committee, Frank Nicastro, said the move is part of the ongoing effort by the city to look at the regionalization of services.
“We’re transitioning this position to the state,” Nicastro said, adding that nobody was doing it in order to dump Ed Luczkow from the job at City Hall.
The two part-time city workers who handle emergency planning -- Emergency Management Director Richard Ladisky and Luczkow – together earn a bit more than $20,000 annually.
The emergency management post held by Ladisky won’t be touched.
City councilors unanimously approved the change last month – after debating what to do for at least seven years -- and established the switchover will take place January 1.
Mayor Art Ward said it makes sense “to utilize the services of the state” where possible and putting the LEPC function in the hands of the regional planning committee makes sense.
He said that the regional committee can take “a coordinated effort” to take care of issues raised.
At least 28 municipalities in the Hartford area have signed on with regional planning committee since its inception a decade ago.
The city’s fire department is already heavily involved in emergency planning with the regional committee.
The city created the part-time planning coordinator position in the first months of Nicastro’s term as mayor, with the primary responsibility of organizing and making useful the federally-mandated chemical disclosure forms filed by city businesses and other entities.
The forms disclose which companies are using potentially toxic chemicals and provide a sense of the scale of the use as well.
Only two people have held the job – Robley Newton, whom Nicastro said did “a fantastic job,” and Luczkow. Nicastro said Luczkow did “an outstanding job.”

*******
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

If there are 3 people in fire or police that can identify Richard Ladisky by face, i would be shocked. No need for that position either

Anonymous said...

Doesn't Ladisky live in Florida?

Anonymous said...

And Burlington!

Anonymous said...

There are many jobs in the city at the upper levels that need to be dropped.Do a study on that.

Anonymous said...

7:42

Most are Arties friends!

woe is he said...

looks like "smokey da' bear luczkow" will need another forest to chase his sirens and flashing lights in - has depression set in yet?

Anonymous said...

7:42- who's gonna do that study? There's no one in the "upper levels" available to even work on it. I see Bristol as very bottom-heavy, with little in the way of professional administrators to coordinate city-wide projects or analysis. You think the budget's a mess due to too many people working on it? If there are so many jobs at the "upper levels" to cut, name them!

lights and siren said...

want to see a real dork? need to have to work with him at barnes' and watch him walking around spreading rumors about ward and the city; maybe when he wakes up, he'll work like the rest of us.

Anonymous said...

LEPC should have been taken over by the Fire Department, and Emergency Management absorbed by the Police Department as Stortz suggested some time back but was rebuffed.
We needed to keep them under loscal control.

Anonymous said...

Stortz plan is why the city is now in trouble. Fire Dept was not authorized to be EMS responder untill 9/9/08. They billed for grants under homeland security and committed fraud and now feds want hundreds of thousands back. PD never should of dispatched them. Thanks again Bill!!!!!!!

flash gordon said...

luczkow won't be able tp walk straight without his radio in his hand and one on his hip - "roger, over".

Anonymous said...

A lot of waste at city hall. But on one ready to move forward and make a lot of cuts.

Anonymous said...

We need Stortz to come back.

Anonymous said...

If I read it properly, Stortz suggested that POLICE be responsible for Emergency preparedness, and Fire for LEPC.
I don't know if EMS and Emergency preparedness is the same. I thought Emergency preparedness covered floods, huricanes etc. We need local control of that.

Was anyone charged for fraud, punished for fraud?
Never saw it in the paper