By Mike Murphy
Daily Messenger
CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. — City staff have not provided “accurate, truthful and complete information” about suspended Fire Chief Mark Marentette to members of City Council, according to a prepared statement read by Canandaigua volunteer firefighter Adam Faville Thursday night.
About 20 supporters of Marentette attended the regularly scheduled City Council meeting, although they did not speak publicly.
Mayor Ellen Polimeni said the matter is a personnel issue and was the only one on council to address the statement.
“We are not allowed to comment,” Polimeni said.
Marentette, who has been city fire chief since 2011, was suspended for 30 days without pay by City Manager Ted Andrzejewski.
When asked afterward, Faville said the crowd was there to show support for Marentette.
“As a group, we feel he has been unjustly suspended without pay,” he said. “And we’re here to support and see that he is put back on the job full-time and we’re able to move forward again as a department.”
The statement, which was read on behalf of many of the active members of the Canandaigua Fire Department, said the firefighters are confident Civil Service proceedings will result in Marentette being returned to his job.
The statement indicated that by city charter, City Council is not allowed to intervene in the city manager’s actions and supporters are not asking councilmembers to intervene.
“The City Council is not able to make good decisions when City Hall staff provides you with bad information or withholds information from you,” according to a portion of the statement. “In the very near future we would like to have a meeting with City Council to go over these issues.”
Andrzejewski has cited allegations of “internal policies” as the reason for the suspension, but has declined further comment, as he did when asked to comment on what was said during the meeting.
Andrzejewski did say the issues will come out during the Civil Service hearing, which is scheduled to begin Feb. 16.
“There are two sides to every story,” Andrzejewski said. “The other side of the issues will come out in the hearing.”
The hearing was originally scheduled for Friday but was moved to later in the month because of scheduling issues, according to Michael Harren, an attorney with Trevett Cristo Salzer & Andolina P.C.
Harren, who is representing Marentette, has characterized the charges as related to how Marentette reported shifts his employees worked. He indicated they don’t rise to the level of the punishment his client has received.
Harren said he expects Marentette will be “reinstated with full back pay.”
The 30-day period will expire before the hearing. Andrzejewski said the suspension will hold but Marentette will be paid.
According to the 2017 city budget, the fire chief’s salary is $84,858 this year, which is an increase from the $84,018 salary in 2016. The city’s other exempt managers also saw increases.
While Polimeni did not comment on Marentette, she did say fire service is an important part of services provided by the city and she urged those who attended to visit a finance committee meeting Feb. 28 that will begin a months-long look at how the fire service is provided.
“I think you’re right,” Polimeni said to Faville. “There needs to be a dialogue.”
Faville said he believes this is a step in the right direction.
Copyright 2017 Daily Messenger