Retirements Continue because

“Playtime is over and a

crackdown is coming”

Journal News story comes out and

Fire Commissioner Sweeney resigns

the same day.

1-Assistant Fire Chief Thomas Bonanno-$308,714

2-Assistant Fire Chief Thomas Girardi-$286,207

3-Assistant Fire Chief Robert Levine-$281,325

4-Anthony Campanile,former Police Officer -$281,283.50

5–John Aitcheson, YFD Captain-$271,964

6-John Flynn, former Assistant Fire Chief -$269,839

7-Kevin Ford, former Assistant Fire Chief-$265,242

8-Achille Celio, YFD Captain -$263, 762.

By Dan Murphy

On Feb. 24, The Journal News and reporter Mark Lungariello wrote their annual story on a number of Yonkers Firefighters and cops earning more than $200,0000. The story was on the front page that day and posted online at 6am.

Later that day, Feb 24. Yonkers Fire Commissioner Robert Sweeney announced his resignation and quickly packed his belongings and left the Fire Department HQ’s for the last time. Many believe that while Sweeney was set to step down this month, his quick and speedy exit was a result of Mayor Mike Spano’s “disappointment” in the inability of Sweeney to try and control and regulate his Fire Departments overtime costs, and specificaly the costs of the 8 Assistant Chiefs and high ranking officers listed above.

Mayor Spano, to his credit has worked hard over his 10 years in office to try and control the costs of salaries and overtime in both the Fire Department and Police Department. And as one Yonkers elected officials told us, “You can see by the list how its going. The Police Department and Commissioner Mueller are trying. The Fire Department still has the same problem.”

Twenty-four Yonkers firefighters and police officers earned more than $200,000 in 2020, with all of their additional earnings coming from working massive amounts of Overtime, which while required to meet mandatory minimum manning requirements.

But the amount of OT that these top 24 firefighters and police officers are allowed to take has been an upopular subject with not only the Mayor but with the taxpayers as well.

The argument always given by the YFD and YPD unions is that these hours are required to be filled, and if an officer calls in sick that day, his tour has to be filled, so if the officers who got all the OT didn’t take it, somebody else would.
But in other, larger Police and Fire Departments, like New York City, officers are limited to a certain amount of OT based on their yearly salary, usually 10% of your salary. In Yonkers police and fire officers earning more than $100,000 in OT has been common practice for the better part of 25 years that this reporter has covered Yonkers.

Why do the officers want to take so much overtime in one year? Their pensions are based on the average of their last three years total pay, including OT, so the more they work in those last three years, the larger their pension will be. And of the top 10 YFD and YPD officers with the highest salary, 3 retired after 2020.

To his credit, Mayor Mike Spano has tried to control Overtime spending and other abuses in the system which have resulted in skyrocketing cost for the Yonkers taxpayers. Spano battled publicly for years with the YFD union and former President Barry McGoey over the continued cost of personnel, which has always been higher than in neighboring communities.

But the clauses in the union contract which require these types of personell costs have never been able to be removed. But, new pension laws passed by New York State, creating a new Tier 6 for new hires means that Overtime costs will be capped.

“That is why you are seeing alot of retirements, because they know that playtime is over and there is a crackdown on these types of overtime abuses. In a few years, you won’t be able to take advantage like this anyomre,” said one City Hall insder.

And that is good news for elected officials who hope to be around for a while. City Council President Mike Khader called the city’s first responders “among the best in Westchester County, and I thank them for keeping our community safe,” he called the top 10 salaries “outrageous.”

“If you look at the numbers, the people that are making $250,000-,$300,000 per year in salary and OT, -they’re not your patrol officers, or firefighters that go and respond, These are the bosses and that’s where the reform needs to take place.” Said Khader, who added that Department heads need to control or cap overtime costs.