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Chief Auditor Meets With Thomas See Positive Steps

By:  Brian Meyer
News Staff Reporter

The city office that has been assailed for paying for health insurance premiums for 170 dead employees appears to be taking “positive” steps to address deficiencies, Buffalo’s chief auditor said Tuesday.

But at least one Common Council member expressed doubts and renewed his call on the mayor to fire Human Resources Commissioner Karla L. Thomas.

“She has to go,” said South Council Member Michael P. Kearns. “She needs to be fired, and I think the Council needs to make it clear that we’re not supportive of keeping her in that position.”

Kearns added that if Mayor Byron W. Brown refuses to oust Thomas, he will ask city lawyers to investigate whether the Council has any power to remove her from the $91,374-a-year job.

Mayoral spokesman Peter K. Cutler said the administration had no comment.

Earlier in the day, Thomas met with officials from the Comptroller’s Office. Chief auditor Darryl Pherson said they briefly discussed a controversy that erupted two weeks ago when a follow-up report to a January audit was released. The Aug. 12 report concluded that Thomas’ department did very little to correct glaring deficiencies. For example, seven months after the mayor had ordered Thomas to subscribe to Social Security death data, the department had yet to take action. Only after auditors released the Aug. 12 progress report was the data purchased.

But McPherson said that based on what he heard Tuesday, he is cautiously optimistic that actions are finally being taken to solve pressing problems.

The city will soon hire people to fill two vacant jobs in the Human Resources Department, including a new director of compensation and benefits. City officials have also been talking with insurance companies about the possibility of recouping some of the more than $2 million Buffalo spent on premiums for deceased retirees.

“We’re seeing some forward movement and some positive developments,” McPherson said. “That was the whole point of the audit and the follow-up report. In a couple of months, I’m sure there will be a much improved situation. ”

Still, some Council critics believe Thomas should be ousted for incompetence, even though she has four years remaining on a six-year contract. Under state law, personnel administrators work under contracts in an effort to insulate them from politics.

The fact that Thomas requested Tuesday’s meeting with Comptroller’s Office officials and discussed steps being taken to address deficiencies led numerous City Hall insiders to speculate that Brown has no immediate plans to fire her.

Brown has been accused of skirting the process of hiring a human resources commissioner. Thomas was selected for the job in 2008 after a search committee — made up of political insiders rather than ordinary citizens — recommended her for a job that is supposed to help protect employees from political antics. Until shortly before her hiring, Thomas headed Grassroots, a political group that helped to launch Brown’s career in elective office.

Kearns, who was among three lawmakers opposing Thomas’ appointment in 2008, said he believes the mayor needs to put an end to the controversy and remove her from the job.