Yonkers Finance Commissioner John Liszewski>>>
People create every conceivable protocol and standard in the hope that everyone will follow the standards set. These protocols are devised to protect the workers and the institutions for which they are employed. It seems a simple scenario, one that transpired yesterday, has maligned an error of judgment that has since unraveled beyond reason. All because people are often too quick to judge before they make the time to listen. The circumstances over which we write induced the questioning of the integrity of a man before his superiors and colleagues, despite a heretofore spotless record of work and compliance of adopted standards. By side-stepping long standing protocol of registering payments when received, whether in check form or cash, a man’s reputation was unsettled. That man is Mr Lionel Thomas. He has been disciplined and is undergoing a 30 days suspension.
The crisis may have come to a head today, Friday, November 30th, but it began the day before; Thursday, November 29th. It was on Thursday that a man came to pay his quarterly tax bill. He wanted to pay in cash but was advised that tax payments are only accepted in the form of certified checks or money orders. The man departed only to return later on that Thursday with acceptable form of payment.
After paying his tax bill, the man asked if he could do a title search on a property. There are two rates. One rate is for the owner of the property, the second is for a non-owner of a property. The owner is charged $10 per year being searched, while the non-owner must pay $20 per year searched. The man was not advised of the different rates. It seems Mr Thomas made an error in charging the man the higher rate when the man was qualified to be charged the lower rate. Mr. Thomas advised the cost was $360; the man should have only been charged $180. One may deduce that if the amount collected was $360, the number of years requested to be searched were for 18 years. Mr Thomas gave the man a receipt for $360.
It was today, Friday, November 30th, that the man returned to the Office of the Department of Finance. He was met by Ms. Stephanie Ortero, who happens to be Mr Thomas’ supervisor. Ms Ortero could not find any record of the transaction referred to by the man. She found Mr Thomas and asked him to explain. Before he could respond, Ms Ortero demanded he empty his pockets. Her demand was so forceful in tone and demeanor that he instantly submitted to her orders. He was embarrassed by the insinuation her demands of him suggested. This became evident when she questioned why he had “so much” cash in his pockets. Only then did she listen to him as he explained that the $360 in cash was in his desk draw. Ms Ortero could not find the money Mr Thomas spoke of; another colleague was also unsuccessful. A third person, having listened more closely to Mr Thomas’ telling of where in the desk drawer the money was placed, found it immediately…..
https://www.yonkerstribune.com/2012/11/expose-yonkers-department-of-finance-cover-ups-continue-behind-closed-doors-by-hezi-aris-1