OBSERVER Photo Former Festivals and Special Events Coordinator Hector Rosas.

COVID-19 not only shutdown many of the city of Dunkirk summer festivals and events, it also put the clamps on overtime for the city’s special events and festivals coordinator.

According to the information received by the OBSERVER through a Freedom of Information Law request, the years 2019 and 2018 paint a vastly different picture when it comes to overtime for the mayor’s brother.

Both of those years saw Hector Rosas among the top earners in the city as far as overtime, placing 12th in 2019 and 13th in 2018. In 2019, Rosas earned $14,624 with 357 hours of overtime and in 2018 the numbers were $13,710 with 339 hours of overtime. Combined, that is $28,334 over two years compared to only 12 hours of extra time earning $493.77 this year.

The wastewater treatment plant still had some of the largest numbers in those two years with sanitary chemist Suzanne Johnston topping the list both years with more than 2,500 hours.

At the June 16 Common Council meeting in the city, Rosas’ overtime was called into question.

“Several people have seen Hector mowing his lawn. He’s been out of work since March, with festivals canceled currently, these people would like to know why he’s not put to work in other areas such as the gate on Lucas Avenue so it’s open in a timely fashion,” Fourth Ward Councilwoman Nancy Nichols asked that evening. “He put in for two hours of overtime. How can this be justified?”

As reported by the OBSERVER last week, Mayor Wilfred Rosas would later say the overtime for his brother, who serves as Special Events & Festivals Coordinator, came due to last-minute planning for the Memorial Day services that were held on May 25.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the ceremony went from not happening to being a 20-minute affair.

Still, that did not sit well with council. Overall, through the first five months, 2020 overtime was at $294,829.

It was much higher in previous years. In 2019, police were the biggest chunk at $276,413; wastewater had $193,088; fire had $189,984; streets had $91,966; water had $85,457; development department had $14,624; city hall employees had $7,510; and parks and rec had $5,374.

The previous year of 2018 was similar with police again topping the list with $244,150; wastewater at $206,647; fire at $167,472; water at $147,889; streets at $91,768; development department at $13,710; city hall employees at $12,048; and parks and rec at $5,938.

Those receiving the most overtime in hours in 2018 and 2019 were:

¯ Johnston, 2,534 hours, $69,185 in earnings.

¯ William Moore, wastewater treatment plant operator, 1,972 hours, $80,919.58 in earnings.

¯ Jason Sebzda, wastewater treatment plant operator trainee, 1,361 hours, $54,09.96.

¯ Steven Huels, lab tech, 1,038 hours, $38,448.73.

¯ Michael Porpiglia, public works supervisor, 905 hours, $29,911.57.

In total for the year of 2019, the total number of overtime hours were 19,876 with a payout of $864,418. In 2018, the combined hours of 21,125 hours paid out as $889,624 — $25,206 more than last year.

At the current pace, 2020 overtime earnings are expected to be about $707,000.

“We always budget about $1 million in overtime every year,” Mayor Wilfred Rosas said. “Overtime this year will certainly be down due to COVID-19.”

Rosas also said the overtime in the wastewater treatment plant will go down soon as several trainees are gearing up for their certification. “We have had some issues at the wastewater treatment plant this year so there may still be an increase there,” Rosas said. “It’s too early to tell, however.”

“The wastewater treatment is under construction right now as well,” said Department of Public Works Director Randy Woodbury. “We can’t leave the plant unattended, otherwise everything goes haywire.”

When questioned on police overtime, Rosas said when bigger crimes hit the city, overtime will inadvertently go up.

“We can never predict the overtime there. That will be needed as crimes play a huge role,” Rosas said. “Also if there are court proceedings, that to makes an impact. We do have minimum staffing requirements there and in the fire department, so if someone calls in we have to call someone else up.”

Rosas said the overtime issue is something that could be looked at with the council.

“If the council wants to do something about overtime then let’s sit down together and look it over,” the mayor said. “Perhaps the sanitary chemist might need some more help, maybe we could sub contract that out, we could look at cutting in some areas that might benefit the tax payers more.”